INFLUENCE OF GOVERNING COUNCILS ON THE MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTH-SOUTH, NIGERIA

Abstract This study investigated the influence of governing councils on the management of public universities in South-South, Nigeria. Six research questions and six hypotheses guided the study. Related literature was reviewed under theoretical framework, conceptual framework, empirical studies and summary. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of 2380 personnel in 14 public universities in the area. A sample of 612 respondents (i.e. 49 governing council members, 454 senate members, 79 staff union executive members and 30 student union government executive members) was selected for the study using proportionate stratified random sampling technique of balloting without replacement was used to select the respondents for the study. A 30-item four points rating scale structured questionnaire titled “Governing Councils and Management of Public Universities Questionnaire (GCMPUQ)” and interview schedules were used for data collection. The instruments were validated by three experts, one in Educational Management, one in Measurement and Evaluation and one in Vocational and Technical Education all from Benue State University, Makurdi. The reliability of the questionnaire was ascertained through a trial-test. The overall reliability test yielded a Cronbach Alpha Correlation Co-efficient of 0.90 which was considered high enough and reliable to use for the study. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, frequency, percentages and bar charts were used in analysing the responses from the interview, while chi-square (x2) test of goodness of fit was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings indicated that governing councils significantly influence the appointment of vice chancellors, responsibilities of senate, staff personnel administration, students’ personnel administration, staff union activities and financial management of public universities in South-South, Nigeria. It was recommended among others that university governing councils in federal and state universities should apply the law establishing the councils strictly in appointment of vice chancellors; senate responsibilities should not be interfered with; staff and student unions’ activities should be through democratic process; recruitment and promotion of staff should be based on qualification and merit; fiscal responsibilities of the university should be transparently done through due process