Investigating ways of improving facilities management in Makerere student halls of residence.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to understand the level of the overall function of Facilities Management in student Halls of Residence at Makerere University. The study also sought to examine its effectiveness and implication to the University as a whole. Facilities Management and its relevance are a growing need for Uganda and the university should handle this need with care. The research identifies eleven halls of residence of which nine are for under graduate students while the two are for the postgraduate students. Chapter one of the studies introduces Facilities Management in a wide view so as to bring an understanding of the research topic. This is followed by the literature review, which clearly explains the literature read by the researcher in respect to the area of study. Methodology comes forth in the third chapter that explains in detail of how the research was undertaken. The research was mainly and involved gathering data by observing and noting down, it uses descriptive as a tool to organize data ad often uses visual aids. The student Halls of Residence at Makerere University were the area of study, which are estimated to accommodate 6,000 students. The researcher selected the most populated halls of residence. Questionnaires, observations and interviews were the main data collection tools used during the research to obtain data. The researcher thought it imperative to break the large quantities of data in to small manageable portions and hence the process of data processing and analysis entailed editing, coding, tabulation and data analysis. The researcher moved to each of the selected Halls of Residence in such for the information required. The damage in the student Halls of Residence totaled to 50% generally and this indicated poor facilities management within the student Halls of Residence at Makerere University. Some of the facilities were found non-existing while the others that existed were damaged though student could still put them to use. Among the non-existing facilities included the fire safety equipment, due to the poor conditions of the student Halls of Residence there’s a need for a renovation and recycling project, which will aim at installation of additional facilities, raise awareness of waste reduction and maintenance of existing facilities.