Safety in Higher Education Institution

Transcription

1 Safety in Higher Education Institution NOORFAZILAH BINTI MOHAMAD YAHYA, ZURAIDAH ZAABA, HAIJON GUNGGUT, Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Sabah Branch Locked Bag 71, 88997, Kota Kinabalu Sabah MALAYSIA Abstract: - Campus safety is an important factor in the private higher education institution's preference. Parents and prospective students do not believe private higher education institutions reported their own misconduct statistics fairly. This research provides additional guidance for prospective students to select private higher education institutions wisely, instead of only focusing on the reputation of the private higher education institutions such as program offered, education cost and facilities. This research focuses on two aspects of safety; physical aspect and academic aspect. It is aimed to examine the effectiveness of Hossler and Gallagher Model to include safety as a factor to consider in decision making. The significance of this research is widely accepted to both organization and society. The findings showed that, majority students rated extremely important for the campus safety issues. Based on the model, majority respondents agreed that the three stages in Hossler and Gallagher Model is focused more on students' benefits rather than the institution benefits. The significance of this study is to assist and improvise the institutions' college safety and attract more students in the future being. Private higher education institutions' safety is one of the important aspects of higher education institution preference for parents to know the safety of the institution. Key-Words: -safety, premises, academic, Hossler and Gallaghar model 1 Introduction Higher education is very significant to the country of an economy. Both as a significant sector in its own right and as a place to train and educate personnel for the rest of the economy. Both public and private higher education institutions offer similar services that are educational. They are struggling to be more competitive in the recruitment market. Malaysia is currently ranked as 11th in the world by UNESCO for its appeal to students. They are gaining worldwide recognition as a preferred destination for tertiary and higher education institution. In 2010, the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia reported the increasing number of students at various public and private higher education institutions significantly from in 2006 to 541, 629. The figure of foreign colleges or universities and international students are varies. There are less than 200 Australian select Malaysia as destination to study. While the numbers of the Malaysians students in Australia reach more than 20,000 [10]. Numerous measures are taken to promote Malaysia as a provincial center and as one of the finest selected educational cities in the world. To achieve this, Malaysia aims to become a pioneer in forging partnership channels with foreign public and private higher education institutions. The comprehensive and worldwide of education nowadays force future students and parents to include college safety before the final decision to enroll their children in the private higher education institutions. It is because there are quite numbers of issues occurred related to college safety. Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said to The Malaysian Insider among problem occur into the private higher education institutions (PrHEI) is there is misuse or unauthorized use of premises furthermore ministry viewed the problem seriously and will take action on it [10]. It is because the number of unauthorized use of premises in Malaysia is increasing from 2010 to 2011 and it shows eleven PrHEI were ordered to pay RM110,000 while in 2011, 26 PrHEI were ordered to pay RM260,000 [10]. The ministry of higher education institutions also had mentioned to The Malaysian Insider all premises are not be allowed to operate in unregistered premises after accepted to be a private higher education institution (PrHEI) in Malaysia [10]. 2 Hossler and Gallagher Model As the problem focus to student difficulty in making decisions, we determine to adopt the existing theory to our research that is a model using psychology as a lens. The reason to select this model is to examine the influence of other factors such as campus climate, cost and academic programs of student choice. Hossler revised his 1986 definition of enrollment management in 1991, stating that it is an administrative concept and a ISBN:

2 systematic set of activities designed to allow educational institutions to utilize more influence on their enrollments. Hossler and Gallagher model is designed to provide a framework for this research on student decision making. Outlined in Table 1 are the three stages in this model. They are (1) predisposition; (2) search; and (3) choice. A significant attribute of this model compare to others is the focus on the student rather than the institution. As a further result, students and parents will consider the new aspect i.e. the private higher education institution's safety. The techniques of promoting higher education institutions in Malaysia have gone substantial changing process. Among the prospective dimensions of choice are the reputation of the institution, the program structure, the quality of the facilities, the influence of the student's family and peers, and customer orientation in terms of entry requirements and availability of programs [15]. 3 Students Preference on Private Higher Education Institutions College preference known as a complex, multistage process during which an individual develops aspirations to continue formal education beyond high school, followed later by a decision to attend a specific college, university, or institution of advanced vocational training. The increased community demand for tertiary education and the government s goals to position Malaysia as a regional center of academic excellence lead to the higher education market becoming monopolistically modesty. As for August, 31 st 2012 the total registered of Private Higher Education Institutions (PrHEI) in Malaysia are 506. And in the total of 506 institutions, the numbers are including 24 university-level institutions, 21 university colleges and 6 foreign university branch campuses. The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) was established on 27 March 2004, and the intention is developing and building a higher educational environment to inspire the establishment of centre of knowledge, and the development of proficiencies, innovative and ethical individuals thus fulfilling national and international aspirations[14]. The student enrollment into private institution is fewer hard compare with enrollment in a public institution. It is because the entry requirement for private institution is more easier and location is convenient to those students. Based on few researches, there are few criteria or factor influences student to make a college choice for example the facilities, quality of faculty members, programamme offered, campus social life, the condusive learning, recreation and sports, cleanliness, safe environment and so forth. In the previous researches the discussion on safety of the student especially in physical aspect and the academic aspect is not done yet. The location of the premises especially sharing building with a shoplots showing the importance of the safety in physical aspect for students colleges choice. The researchers highlighted reputations and image have a tremendous effect on college preference. These two criteria are extremely influential in the college search and selection preference. A study conducted by Nagaraj et al., [17] investigating students' preference for University of Malaya (UM) stated that the most influential factor that students' preference are based on four reasons. The reasons are good reputation of the university, the availability of programs desired by students, good job prospects and the reputation of the program. The second most important criteria that influence student s college choice are academic programs. A study conducted by Joseph [12] found that the most influential factors that attract post-secondary students in Sarawak to study in PrHEIs shows the University has the availability of required degree program. This indicates that the accessibility of degree program means students are able to study on a specific course that suits their attention and determination. Thus, it is crucial that PrHEIs offer a wide range of degree programs to suit different needs of students [13]. The third most important criteria that influence students college choice are job opportunity. Students are often attracted to undergraduate because of the career opportunities. A study conducted by Fernandez [5] in an exploratory study of factors influencing the college s preference decision of undergraduate students in Malaysia, the finding was the first of three main reasons students further studies are: to get a good job; to increase knowledge; and to gain experience. In personal factors there are seven most crucial variables that influence students in decision making. The first factor is job opportunities, availability of course, time required for completion, tuition fees, and entry requirements, availability of part time studies and marketability of the degree. The finding shows that students enroll in PrHEI is most likely for job opportunity rather than prominent of the programs offered. The fourth most important criteria that influence students college choice are facilities, environment and convenience. Physical evidence is the solid component of the service offering. Ivy [8] argues that varieties of tangible aspects are evaluated by university s target markets, ranging from the teaching materials, the appearance of the buildings and lecture facilities at the university. The study conducted by Absher & Crawford [3]stated that educational facilities such as classrooms, laboratories and libraries are important in a student s selection of a college or university. Therefore, study hypothesizes that educational facilities are a significant predictor that influences college choice decision. ISBN:

3 Finally, the most important criteria that influence students college choice are financial aids. A study conducted by Yusof [18] found that financial support offered by institutions as one of the four very important attributes expected from a particular higher education institution of preference. Ismail [7] studied about the mediating effect of information on college preference indicated that students are satisfied with college that provide financial aids, affordable fees and cost of living. 4 Safety in the Institution The safety in private higher education institutions is a new issue in college choice. In the occupational safety term, it is concerned with risks in areas where people work: offices, manufacturing plants, farms, construction sites, and commercial and retail facilities [1]. The purpose of this research is the safety issue is mainly focused on academic aspect and physical aspect only. First are the accreditation and the quality assurance of the programs. According to research done by Sohail, Rajadurai et al, [17] there are many institutions had taken initiatives to get ISO accreditation few years back with the optimism of improving the excellence of service and gaining competitive advantages. In an internal system the ISO accreditation cannot ensure about the teaching quality, it is because ISO does not accredit teachers and teaching standards [11]. In that case, the students are not aware about lecturers' experiences will influence their future especially in employment prospect. The information display in the advertisement is incorrect or inappropriate and provided students misleading information. And the misuse or unauthorized use of premises. Currently, the numbers of private higher education institutions were fined for irresponsibility is increasing since 2010 until 2011 and the number of private universities and colleges compounded until December 2011 was 208 institutions plus a variety of faults [4]. According to Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) [6], the accreditation is an official recognition that a certificate, diploma or degree program has obtained the quality standards criteria set by MQA and is in accordance with the Malaysian Quality Framework (MQF). It is an assurance by MQA to all participants in higher education institutions. The private higher education institutions had the accredited programs from MQA is allowed to include MQA recognition in their advertisement. A private higher education institution without the recognition from MQA is not eligible to publish their advertisements because the misleading of advertisements and wrong information about the program make the students and family confused about the program and institutions as well. The private institutions with MQA recognition will benefits to future students especially in financial matters. Some students from low income families will eligible to apply for financial aids such as from the funding agencies such as National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN), MARA Loan Scheme, government state scholarship and any educational grant. Not only has that, some benefits to students also are they can be considered for better prospect of employment in the an organization, qualified for further studies at the higher level, and obtain credit transfer if applicable. And finally, from the recognition itself, the respective private higher education institutions can expand their accredited programs to other higher education institutions. Another major problems for the private institution if they did not have the recognition are the certificate were not been recognized for instance, the Professionals Bodies such as the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM). BEM will use the accreditation to recognized all graduated students in an engineering field as professional engineer. Those engineering without the recognition is not entitled as professional engineer. As for the safety in the aspect of physical, offices premiseses relocation must be informed to Ministry of Higher Education Institution and students. It is because the students' safety is a serious matter and it will negatively impact the institution as a whole. According to Ministry of Higher Education Institution Datuk Saifuddin to The Malaysian Insider the movement of colleges must be informed and the institution also would not be allowed to operate in unregistered premises [10]. 5 Objective This paper aim to examine the importance of proper safety in private higher education institutions, especially in two aspects that is in physical aspect and academic aspect. The research will benefit future students and their parents when making decision for career development or further studies. The paper will identify the effectiveness by adopting Hossler and Gallagher Model 1987 in decision making related to safety. 6 Methodology The research will apply Hossler and Gallagher Model to to formulate questionnaire and the research only cover the current issues i.e. safety of the private higher education institution preference in term of academic and premises (location of the premises). The research design are combination of three surveys: questionnaire; interviews and focused groups. The first step in collecting data is interviewed. The purpose to conduct an interview is to gather quick and effective responses to survey questions [2]. The samples are random interviewing those private higher education institution students. ISBN:

4 The second method was to collect data through the distribution the questionnaire to the private universities and college students in private higher education institutions. The rationale using this method is for the questions to have the element of stimulation or prompt the respondents to provide the required responses [2]. For the purpose of the research, respondents are selected students from private universities and private college students. Questionnaire-based approach is taken in order to obtain data on people s preferences towards particular institutions [9]. A common questionnaire was administered to focused group respondents. It has three parts; demographic background, asked respondents to rank the different dimension scale of 1-5 (extremely not important - extremely important); and the last parts are fixed alternative questions. It requires respondents to choose one closer to his or her viewpoint about safety in private higher education institutions. And the third method is focused group which is refer to the first year students in the private higher education institution and the future students that is after Form 5 students in secondary schools. The true reason focused on this group are they can give different information and it is useful to the educational institutions to utilize more influences in their enrollments. Respondents are 200 first year students from private institution and after Form 5 students in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah with years old and years old range. In this study there are 50% male students and 50% female students involved. Overall respondents are originated from Sabah and come from different districts in Sabah. The population of respondents is come from Kota Kinabalu, Likas, Papar, Penampang, Tanjung Aru, Menggatal, Sepanggar and Inanam. Secondary data or information will be obtained from journals, newspaper, and magazine taken from the internet and library. 7 Findings The findings show that majority students rated extremely important for the campus safety issues in private universities and colleges. Then, overall students had selected campus safety and academic programs as the highest factors to be considered before they enroll in private college or private university. In part C, the students basically made a hard decision to choose the best answer in their point of view about how Hossler and Gallagher Model suit to this decision making. The overall respondents agree that the three stages in Hossler and Gallagher Model is focused on students. The choice phase is most challenging because all PrHEI come up with innovative illustration and list various privileges to attract students enroll with them. But when it comes to the safety factor, some of the choices were excluded because not listed in the student satisfaction. Finally, majority respondents agreed that the prior process before making a decision must be identified clearly and transparently to avoid the prospect students make incorrect decisions. The financial aids of the colleges or universities are ranked lowest in most categories of respondents. This is considerable evidence that prospective students are aware of the standard of the education. Hence, the respondents willing to choose private universities and colleges that provides campus safety with acceptable fees and have facilities such as WI-FI, library, transportation and hostel. This result support the campus safety should not be ignored when choosing higher education institutions and the Hossler and Gallagher Model is a match framework in decision making. 8 Conclusion We can conclude that safety issues should not be ignored when deciding which private higher education institutions need to enroll. There are many factors to be considered in private higher education institution preference. Hossler and Gallagher model is a tolerable option to guide prospective students and parents. Especially after the pre-decision process, both future students and the parents will think through the safety aspect first in order to select the institutions. As the result, when it comes to preference process, parents will be more confident to send their children to study. The narrow down of 3 basic principles in Hossler and Gallagher model will assist future students and parents to choose the most suitable private higher education institutions. References: [1]Topic: Safety, 2013 Answers Corporation, January 2013, Accessed 8 February [2]Abdullah, H. S., Research Method Handbook for B.A.S, Shah Alam: Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies, 2005/6. [3]Absher, K., & Gerald, C., Marketing the community colleges start With understanding students' perspectives. Kuala Lumpur: Community College Review, [4]Adnan, M. Z., & Shaari, S., 300 IPTS Bermasalah. Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA: Utusan Malaysia, [5]Fernandez, J. L., An Exploratory Study of Factors Influencing the Decision of Students to Study at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kajian Malaysia Vol 28, No.2, (2010), pp [6]Goverment, M. The Official Portal of Malaysian Qualifications agency, Malaysian Qualifications ISBN:

5 Agency: 1 January 2012, Accessed 8February [7]Ismail, N., Hassan, F., Sheriff, N. M. & Daud, N. M., Determining Mediating Effect of Information Satisfaction on International Students' College Empirical Evidence in Malaysia's University, International Journal of Science Research in Education (IJRSE), 2010, pp [8]Ivy, J., A new higher education marketing mix: the 7Ps for MBA marketing, Kuala Lumpur: International Journal Education Manage, [9]Mahmud, Z., Handbook of Research Methodology, Shah Alam: University Publication Centre (UPENA), [10]MALAYSIA, T. M., Saifuddin: 37 private colleges fined over unlicensed premises, Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian Insider Press, [11]Maleyeff, J., Benchmarking performance indices: pitfalls and solutions. Benchmarking An International Journal. 2003, pp.9-28 [12]Ming, K. S., Post-secondary students' behavior in the college choice decision, Journal of Marketing Research & case studies, 2011, pp [13]Ming, S. K., Institutional Factors Influencing students' College Choice Decision in Malaysia: A Conceptual Framework, International Journal of Business and Social Science, Vol 1. No.3, 2010, pp [14]IPT Perlu pertingkat ciri keselamatan dalam pengeluaran ijazah. Kota Kinabalu: Mstar Online, [15]Padlee, S. F., Kamaruddin, A. R., & Baharun, R., International Students' Choice Behavior for Higher Education at Malaysian Private Universities. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 2010, pp [16]Lima IPTS Di Sabah Dikehendaki Kompoun RM50,000. Kota Kinabalu: MStar Berita, [17]Shyemala, N., Susila, M., Jaafar, N. B., & Mirzaei, T., How Do undergraduates choose their university/ A study of first year university of Malaya students. FEA Working paper, [18]Yusof, M., Ahmad, S. B., Tajudin, M. M., & Ravindran, R., A study of factors influencing the selection of a higher education institution, Kuala Lumpur: UNITAR E-Journal, 2008, pp ISBN:

6 Table 1 Models of the stage in college choice ISBN: