Staff participation and quality teaching and research in private universities in Uganda

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between staff participation and quality teaching and research in private Universities in Uganda. The study was triggered by the persistent criticisms about the low quality of university graduates and the poor research output from the private universities. The study was approached from the positivist research paradigm and a descriptive cross-sectional survey research design was specifically used to conduct the study. Data were collected from four private chartered universities and the respondents included 181 lecturers, 23 heads of department, 5 Deans, 3 quality assurance officers, 3 Directors of research, 3 senior staff from National council for higher education (NCHE) and 39 student leaders. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and content analysis were used to analyze the data collected. Study findings revealed that there was a significant positive relationship between staff participation and quality teaching (r =0.457, P=0.000<0.05) and, staff participation and quality of research (r =0.562, P=0.000<0.05). Thus, it was concluded that the level of staff participation in planning, implementation of the planned activities, and decision making, partly corresponds to improved quality teaching and research, other factors notwithstanding. Therefore, the researchers recommended that in order to enhance quality, the private universities and the NCHE need to develop comprehensive policies that can be based upon to enhance staff participation in planning and decision making on activities that directly enhance the quality of teaching and research.