Influence of facilities performance on student’s satisfaction in Northern Nigerian universities

Abstract

PurposeHigher institutions in Nigeria have witnessed an increase in the number of student enrolments; Northern Nigerian universities are not excluded. As the number of students increases, so do their needs in terms of facilities such as lecture halls, libraries, laboratories, accommodation, studios, furniture and other auxiliary facilities services (among others things). The purpose of this study is to explore the structural characteristics of building features’ performance and to statistically group them into building components (dependent) and physical and non-physical building features (independent) constructs, relating to influence of facilities’ performance in student satisfaction in Northern Nigerian universities.Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaires used were designed to collect data on both academic facilities, based on student experience and satisfaction with respect to physical and non-physical facilities. The school building assessment method questionnaire by Sanoff (2001) was adapted. Hence, the validity and reliability of measures was examined via academicians and data analysis with statistical package of social science (SPSS) version 22. In general, the values of alpha coefficients were above 0.80.FindingsThe result of exploratory factor analysis revealed that all factors loaded more than 0.61. In conclusion, the results indicated acceptable factor loadings and effective grouping of the features according to the conceptualised framework for the building component. A hypothetical model of building components was then proposed, suggesting the effects of physical and non-physical building features on building components.Research limitations/implicationsThis research has been applied to a Northern Nigerian university. The research should be expanded to other institutions offering higher education.Practical implicationsBased on a conceptual framework, the study gives practical insights concerning the performance of building component as a key success factor for higher education institutions’ (HEIs) facilities.Originality/valueTherefore, the need to develop and improve instruments that will reflects facilities performance for students satisfaction in Nigerian universities became paramount. Thus there is lack of an integrating framework for facilities performance as well as students satisfaction and experience in the context of Nigerian HEIs, especially in the region of northern Nigeria.