Service Quality Imperative for Quality Assurance in Higher Education

Author(s):  
Vannie Naidoo

In higher education, quality is often looked at from an education perspective. This chapter will take another stance by analyzing and discussing service quality within tertiary education from a marketing perspective. The literature review put forward by various theorists argues that service marketing has evolved over time, as more research has been conducted on service quality and how it impacts on the customer/clients. Since tertiary education forms part of service marketing, this chapter aims to identify the quality variables attached to this service sector and illustrate how each quality variable affects the students and staff within the university environment. Service quality, if developed and implemented accordingly within a higher education institution, can become an important element that a university can use as a competitive advantage. This in turn can yield long-term benefits to the organisation.

Author(s):  
Shpëtim Çerri

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the electronic service quality (e-SQ) offered by a higher education institution in Albania. Many universities are implementing web-based solutions to facilitate the delivery of their services, previously offered by appointed staff and physical facilities. These electronic services aim to increase the effectiveness of university's activities as well as to increase the convenience and the quality that both students and faculty receive. This study employs a modified E-S-Qual scale to measure the perceived service quality offered by a public university in Albania. Exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were used to confirm the proposed factor structure, while ANOVA served to measure the differences in e-SQ perceptions between students and faculty. The data analysis reveals interesting findings about the e-SQ offered by the university, as well as highlights the differences in perceptions between students and faculty. The study also affirms the E-S-Qual scale as a suitable instrument for measuring the e-SQ in higher education institutions. The results of the study are helpful for university management as they provide an overview of actual conditions of the quality the university offers and serve as a benchmark for further improvements. A limitation of this paper is that it focuses in measuring the e-SQ in a single setting. Nevertheless, this does not compromise the generalizability of the results and encourages the replication of this kind of study with further research.


Author(s):  
Simachew Alemneh Haile

Service quality has played a significant role in the Higher education institution. It is essential that Higher education institution recognizes student perceptions and expectations and those factors that influence their satisfaction with the service provided. The purpose of this research is to assess students’ satisfaction and Service Quality in Addis Ababa University during the year of 2012. To address this objective, descriptive survey method was employed since it is believed that the method is more appropriate for gathering relevant research information on the measurement of service quality. A 42-items Service quality measurement in the Higher education scale having the six basic service quality dimensions, viz., Teaching Methodology (TM), Environmental Change in the Study Factor(ECSF), disciplinary measures are taken, students’ complaints and response practices, students demographic profile information and overall rating of the service quality, satisfactory level of service were used. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire from the prospective undergraduate and postgraduate student of Addis Ababa University. A total of 331 respondents were selected using stratified random sampling from each college found in the University. The data collected are analyzed from the entire sample. Data analyses have been performed with Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) using a technique that includes descriptive statistics, regression analysis and ANOVA test. The major finding of the study indicates that the overall impression given by the students is that they are considerably dissatisfied than satisfied. However, on an individual item basis, graduate level of satisfaction varies from an undergraduate level of satisfaction from item to item. The perception level of students in the four quality dimensions is either moderate or to the lower level. The perception levels are 2.91, 2.83, 2.97 and 2.54 respectively, for the four quality dimensions best faculty teaching methodology (TM), best physical infrastructure, disciplinary action is taken and student`s complaint and response practices). The perception levels of undergraduate and postgraduate students are not significantly different under each quality dimension. Based on the major finding of the study, the researcher recommends that quality in higher education is a holistic concept that should involve various stakeholders. Addis Ababa University should develop and maintain knowledge of the staff through scholarship and improved pedagogical skills possibly with latest technological aids. Moreover, it should create enabling working conditions for academic staff so that it will best promote effective teaching scholarship, research and extension work and enable its staff to carry out their professional tasks, and designing techniques that will encourage formal and informal contact between faculty/staff and students is essential so as partly enhance students’ educational experience by the university. Conclusively, the study proves that the perception level of students in the four quality dimensions is either moderate or to the lower level. There was no area where the university exceeded the students’ expectation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (01) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
R. Nadia R.P. Dalimunthe ◽  
Dahlya Indra Nurwanti ◽  
Siti Nuraeni Muhtar ◽  
Nurul Hilaliyah

Mahasantri (an Islamic university students) is an agent for Islamic Higher Education Institution to face the Moderate Islam Malay Era. In Indonesia, for example, there is a university boarding school program for Mahasantri to improve their personality and competence. This study is trying to find out whether the program has been aligned with their satisfaction. One of service they received in the boarding is English Language Learning program. They are going to be interviewed about their satisfaction toward the program. Then, the interview result will be analyzed to generate the satisfaction indicator referring to five dimensions of Service Quality (SQ) by Parasuraman and Berry (1991).


Author(s):  
Erda Wati Bakar

The Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) has become the standard used to describe and evaluate students’ command of a second or foreign language. It is an internationally acknowledged standard language proficiency framework which many countries have adopted such as China, Thailand, Japan and Taiwan. Malaysia Ministry of Education is aware and realise the need for the current English language curriculum to be validated as to reach the international standard as prescribed by the CEFR. The implementation of CEFR has begun at primary and secondary level since 2017 and now higher education institutions are urged to align their English Language Curriculum to CEFR as part of preparation in receiving students who have been taught using CEFR-aligned curriculum at schools by year 2022. This critical reflection article elucidates the meticulous processes that we have embarked on in re-aligning our English Language Curriculum to the standard and requirements of CEFR. The paper concludes with a remark that the alignment of the English curriculum at the university needs full support from the management in ensuring that all the stakeholders are fully prepared, informed and familiar with the framework.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Noorlaila Hj. Yunus ◽  
Siti Musalmah Ahmad Fuad

Work-Life Balance (WLB) is an important factor that the Human Resource Management of private higher education Institution (PHEI) should concern about in order to gain high Job Performance in theinstitution. If there are WLB practices implemented by the university, the Human Resource Department (HRD) must always get feedback from the employees to continuously improve the WLB policy. This will benefit not just the employees but the most important to the PHEI by having a good productivities and high job performance employees. The result shows that most of the employees in the university have good social support from their colleagues at work place, friends and their families. This support have given them inspiration and motivation in doing their job properly and finally they might achieved high job performance. Eventhough the result were positive about the social support the employees receives, the top management including the HRD need to revise their policy of WLBespecially other factors that can influenced the employees to optimized their efforts in doing their job.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Nur Zihan Abd Rashid ◽  
Tuan Nur Athirah Nabilah Tuan Ismail ◽  
Bibianah Thomas

Service quality is a very crucial element in ensuring the competitiveness of various institutions. By having a good service quality, the reputation of the organization will enhance and thus become their added competitive advantage. In higher education institution, service quality is important to ensure the students whom are their primary stakeholders are able to have a good learning experience in which will then influence their satisfaction. The primary objective of this paper is to analyze the correlation between five elements in SERVQUAL dimensions (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy) and the student satisfaction. The questionnaires were distributed among the students in various faculties in UiTM Sabah by using convenience sampling technique and 250 questionnaires were managed to be collected for analysis. Overall, the result shows that the students are satisfied with service quality in UiTM Sabah. Specifically, all five SERVQUAL dimensions correlate with student satisfaction. Reliability, responsiveness and empathy dimensions have strong correlation with student satisfaction. Meanwhile, both tangibility and assurance have moderate correlation with student satisfaction. This study is hoped to contribute towards the new knowledge in the field of service quality especially in higher education institutions Future research is also proposed at the final section of this study to discover new findings from different perspectives of service quality. Keywords: servqual; students’ satisfaction; service quality; higher education institution; service delivery.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 21-25
Author(s):  
Susanne Maier ◽  

The family-friendly university audit (“audit familiengerechte hochschule”) is studied. The audit is available to German universities in order to support a familyfriendly working environment. Practices of an auditor coordinating several workshops for rectorate, HR department and functionaries, as well as representatives of all university groups are considered. The experience of the auditing at the University of Applied Sciences – Public Administration and Finance, Ludwigsburg is analyzed.


Author(s):  
A. Artyukhov

The article is devoted to the description and analysis of factors that potentially and actually affect the socio-economic development of the state on the example of the higher education institution. It is established that at the system level the level of ensuring the quality of educational activities and the quality of higher education has a decisive influence on the formation of a positive image of a higher education institution. The results of a survey of students on the criteria for choosing a university to study are presented. Statistics on public funding of education in general and higher education in particular are presented and analyzed. It is established that, despite the formally high percentage of education funding from the level of GDP in absolute terms, the actual funding is low and needs to be strengthened by attracting external funding from customers. Attention is also paid to the state of development of educational services for foreign students. In a competitive environment at the national and international level, the decisive influence on the involvement of foreign students in the university is influenced by the structure of the training program, teacher qualifications, organization of the educational process in the classroom and so on. The article on the example of a higher education institution presents the main stages of formation and development of the internal system of quality assurance of education as an object of influence on the socio-economic development of the state. The development and/or improvement of internal quality assurance systems in universities is becoming a powerful basis for increasing university funding from external (personally involved) sources, reducing the outflow of applicants abroad and the successful provision of educational services to foreign students. At this stage, given the limited opportunities for funding of educational activities by the state (compared to EU countries), the successful implementation of the university development strategy is possible provided that systematic work is done to improve the quality of educational services for domestic and foreign citizens. As part of further research, it is planned to analyze the mutual impact of the education quality assurance system on the effectiveness of scientific activities, the provision of additional paid educational services, training for external customers and other sources.


Author(s):  
Mónica Natalí Sánchez-Nítola ◽  
Diana Grijalba ◽  
Manuel Embus ◽  
Andrés Suarez ◽  
Juan Esteban Guevara Montoya

Dropout is a topic of significant concern to Higher Education Institutions, especially in Colombia it is considered one of the most important indicators to define higher education quality. Nevertheless, in Colombia, and particularly at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, it has been generally assessed only academic dropout. This decision has prevented understanding other types of dropouts that also occur in the university. The research group performed Multiple Correspondence Analysis to assess the relationship between dropout types (academic, dropout on request, and expiry of time limits) and variables such as sex, socioeconomic stratum, type of admission, and semester of dropout. In the results, we found a disparity between types of dropout concerning the type of university admission, sex, socio-economic stratum, and the semester in which dropout occurs. Women are related to the dropout request while men are associated with the academic dropout. Additionally, the academic dropout occurs in the first 4 semesters, and the expiry of time limits occurs in the last ones.


2020 ◽  
Vol 202 ◽  
pp. 03026
Author(s):  
Tri Handayani ◽  
Daivangga Maheswari

Diponegoro University is one reputable university belonging to Indonesia. This state university is located in Semarang, Central Java Province. Global dynamics have also colored its journey in implementing its traditionally assigned three missions: teaching, conducting research, and providing public services. These make this university highly confident heading to become a research university. A research university is a step to take that the university has its competitiveness to compete with the others in the world. There are some Higher Education-rankings institutions which evaluate all Higher Education Institutions in the world, such as Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, Times Higher Education (THE) University Rankings, 4 International Colleges and Universities (4ICU), and Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). Meanwhile, the ministry which has the function to make coordination with higher education institutions in Indonesia has also conducted higher education institutional ratings, primarily for Indonesian internal needs. The criteria of a research university refer to those evaluated by the higher education institutional ratings in the international level. A research university is a new paradigm which encourages a higher education institution in Indonesia to become highly confident to globally compete with the others in the whole world.


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