Administrative Practices Influencing Students Indiscipline In Public Universities

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate administrative practices influencing indiscipline in public universities a case of Machakos University in Machakos County, Kenya. in public universities, a case of Machakos University, Kenya. The study objectives were: to find out the influence of timely address of grievances on students indiscipline in Machakos University, to establish the influence of adherence to the rules and regulations on students’ indiscipline in in Machakos University, to analyze the influence of counselling on students’ indiscipline in Machakos University and to assess the influence of involving students in decision making on students’ indiscipline in Machakos University. This study employed mixed methods approach which were descriptive and phenomenology research designs. The target population was 800 students, 62 lecturers and 5 deans. Simple Random sampling technique was employed to sample 160 students while purposive sampling was used to sample 62 lecturers and 5 dean of schools. Data were collected using questionnaires and interview guide analyzed and presented in tables in frequencies and percentages. Findings revealed that: a positive correlation between timely address of students grievances and students indiscipline (r = 0.721, p-value=0.000), a positive correlation between adherence to rules and regulations and students indiscipline (r = 0.628, p-value=0.000), there is positive correlation between counselling and students indiscipline (r = 0.487, p-value=0.004) and there is a negative correlation between involvement of students in decision making and students indiscipline (r = 0.153, p-value=0.117). The study concludes that there are various indiscipline cases in Machakos University but effective administrative practices could help to maintain discipline in the university. The study recommends: that commission for higher education should consider the workload of the some administrators to enable them have more time to listen to students’ grievances; rules and regulations should be emphasized and students sensitized on the rules and regulations to fully understand them and counsellors who also serve as lecturers should be offered further training and orientation in guidance and counseling through pre-service and in-service courses.