Academic Staff Perception of the Extent of Politicizing Administration of Universities: Implications for National Development

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine academic staff perception of the extent of politicizing administration of universities: Implications for National Development. The study adopted survey research design. The study was guided by two research questions and two research hypotheses. The population of the study was made up of all academic staff in the University of Calabar and Cross River University of Technology, all in Cross River State, Nigeria. Out of the sample size of 430 academic staff used for the study, 250 were males while 180 were females. The instrument for data collection was entitled: “Academic Staff Perception of the Extent of Politicizing Administration of Universities Questionnaire (ASPEPAUQ).” Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions. While independent t-test was used to test the two hypotheses formulated for the study. From the result of the study, academic staff members were positive in their perception of the extent of politicizing administration of universities. Male and female academic staff did not differ significantly in their rating of the extent of politicizing administration of universities. It was also found that provision of adequate funds, provision of adequate facilities, proper management of available resources, discouragement of ethnicity and improvement in staff physical/social environment were rated as the vital roles of universities administrators in the administration of universities for national development. It was concluded that due process in practice should be maintained and improved upon by the respective universities administrators to ensure equity and for national development to abound.

Politics of managing university education with emerging technologies in the covid-19 pandemic era: perspectives of academic staff in cross river state, nigeria.

“…The outcome of this study is not surprising because politics is pervasive and cannot be avoided in the management of university education. This result is in line with Edet et al (2020) who found among others that administrative processes in terms of allocation of courses to the lecturers, methods of offer of appointment in recent time, appointment of principal, officers within the university, appointment of membership into various committees within university, appointment of academic advisers, office of the HODs, Deanship position, award of research grants, award of Honorary Degrees by Universities to political office holders and academic staff promotion criteria are highly politicized within the universities.…”

“…To achieve educational predetermined goals, all educational activities and programmes are done under a given governance (Edet, Asuquo and Okon (2020). Governance are the values and rules through which public affairs are managed in a manner that is transparent, participatory, inclusive and responsive (Ogbodo, 2019).…”

“…Politics has permeated every aspect of human life, the home, religious institutions, public and private organizations as well as educational institutions (Ekpoh & Edet, 2017). Edet et al (2020) affirmed that politics exists in every group or organization whether formal or informal and also within a political party that controls the government policies at the Local, State and Federal levels. The issue of politics of managing university education with emerging technologies in the covid-19 pandemic era appeared unavoidable because university system is a subsidiary of the society where politics reside.…”

“…It is common knowledge that various times, each political class/government determines when to go to school, why going to school (aims and objectives), where to be educated, who is to be educated and by who, and what to teach (curriculum contents). Edet et al (2020) stressed that any form of government in power wants every sector and education sector in particular to function vis-à-vis the needs and interest of the incumbent government. Based on the foregoing background, the present study was conducted to assess academic staff perceptions of politics of managing university education with emerging technologies in the Covid-19 pandemic era in CRS, Nigeria.…”

University Education and Politics of Funding in Nigeria

“…According to the authors, it would be a bad idea to rely solely on one source of funding for universities since it would pose problems with the budgetary allocation for education in the event of a change in government. In agreement with Akindutire, Ayodele Osiki and Edet et al (2020) claims that politics exists within all associations and organisations, formal and informal, as well as among political parties that control governmental policy at the local, state, and federal levels. This shows that politics permeates every aspect of most organisations and influences the choices that are made there.…”