STAKEHOLDERS’ VOICES ABOUT QUALITY OF UNIVERSITY SERVICES

Abstract

The ability of an institution to deliver services that satisfy its stakeholders’ expectations is one of the most important factors for survival and success of any institution in contemporary global society. Until this condition is met, the existence and contribution of an institution towards national development becomes questionable. This paper critically analyses mechanisms adopted by the University of Dodoma (UDOM), the largest university in East and Central Africa, to obtain feedback from stakeholders for quality enhancement purposes. Using a case study design, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) techniques were deployed to analyse four major feedback mechanisms where two were regular and the other two were periodic. The CDA techniques used entailed analysis of written texts about stakeholders’ quality demands in relation to an institution’s responses so as to gather insights into power relations arising therefrom. These feedback mechanisms were: Student Course Evaluation (SCE), Graduating Student Exist Survey (GSES), University-Wide Study on the State of Teaching and Learning, and a Study on the Conduct of Field Practical Training (FPT). In addition to these four feedback mechanisms, papers written to describe the university state of performance were also reviewed. All documents were reviewed while paying attention to the cultural climate of the university and practices on the ground.
The results indicate that the organisational cultural climate of the university has for the past nine years of its existence, swiftly moved from being inhibitive to highly facilitative where the adoption of an open door policy has enabled development of confidence and ownership spirit among the university community towards quality enhancement. The adoption of a decentralised mode of administration since March 2011 has empowered each of the seven colleges in the university to devise measures considered necessary for quality improvement. At UDOM, different quality matters are regularly and openly discussed in-depth in relevant organs at both college and university levels, thereby serving as a unique strategy for monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of quality improvement decisions. The two regular mechanisms for feedback–SCE and GSES are done online and the results presented to all relevant organs which are highly representative to ensure that all segments of the university community understand, own and act on different quality decisions with morale. The University-Wide Study on the State of Teaching and Learning as one of the periodic feedback mechanisms has yielded ground breaking results on nine themes: (1) Teaching and Learning Environment; (2) Human Resource; (3) Student Reception, Orientation and Registration; (4) Pedagogical Practices; (5) Library Information Resources; (6) On-Campus Practical Training; (7) ICT-Related Service; (8) Student Support Services; and (9) Links between Learning Experiences offered at UDOM and the labour market. The recommendations are currently being implemented while observing the timeframe set in the report. The other periodic feedback mechanisms-Report on FPT has recently been conducted to provide a comprehensive picture about the theoretical and practical matters of the curricula in different colleges. The results have been presented under three major themes: (1) Long-Term Perspective of FPT; (2) Short-Term Perspective of FPT; and (3) Implementation of FPT. As for the recommendations featuring in the former report, the recommendations in the FPT report are being implemented by different actors across the university. Finally, implications for the future are discussed.
Keywords: Quality assurance mechanisms; quality university services; stakeholders’ voices; Tanzania University.