Determinants of Students’ Satisfaction with Welfare Services in Halls of Residence at Makerere University. Case Study Livingstone and Africa Halls.

Abstract

The importance of the social environment in students’ life cannot be overemphasized. Availability, adequacy, and functionality of welfare services are the key factors in the determination of students’ satisfaction. Using the halls of residence at Makerere University, Livingstone and Africa halls of residence as a case study, the welfare services provided in the halls were identified and the level of satisfaction with each of the facilities measured using Relative Satisfaction Index. This study was designed to investigate the determinants of students ‘satisfaction with welfare services in halls of residence at Makerere University. Questionnaires were used in data collection from a total of 340 students taken as the sample size for the study using the simple random sampling method. To analyze the data, the ANOVA table and the Pearson product moment correlation statistical tools was used with the aim of establishing the relationship between students’ age, program of study, attitude and level of satisfaction of welfare services offered at Makerere University Halls of residence. The study revealed that respondents were dissatisfied with the adequacy and functionality of some facilities such as the bathroom and toilet facilities due to distance from rooms and the level of cleanliness. The paper recommends the need for provision of more welfare services with better designs and current facilities through public-private partnership to meet the needs of the growing students’ population.