Administrative Effectiveness in University System: The Trajectory of Students’ Involvement in Governance

Much vacuum has been identified in the trajectory of university governance, which had led to epileptic university operation as a result of student and university management dichotomies in Nigeria. To this end, this study investigated students' involvement in university governance and administrative effectiveness in public and private universities in Ekiti state. The study adopted survey design. The population consists of all staff and students of all universities in Ekiti State. The sample consisted of 500 respondents selected using proportionate sampling technique. A questionnaire titled, “Students Involvement in University Governance and Administrative Effectiveness Questionnaire” (SIUGAEQ) was used to collect data. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive and Inferential Statistics such as Frequency Counts, Percentages, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC), and T-test. All hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that the level of students' involvement in university governance and administrative effectiveness was high which indicate that there is a high level of students' involvement in university governance and administrative effectiveness in public and private universities. The study revealed that there was a significant relationship between students' involvement in University governance and administrative effectiveness. Findings also showed that there was no significant difference in the level of students' involvement in University governance in public and private universities as well as in the level of administrative effectiveness in public and private Universities. The study recommended that students should be actively involved in university decision making process. This will accord them a sense of belonging, reduce incessant conflicts between the university management and the students which will, in turn, lead to improved administrative effectiveness of the university system.