The purpose of the study was to determine the level, patterns, and extent of academic staff participation in the decision-making process in Nigerian Federal Universities.
A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select participants. The primary sampling units were nine Federal Universities randomly selected from 21 universities. Three universities were selected from each of three regions in Nigeria. The secondary sampling units were 701 academic staff also randomly selected from the nine universities. Unstructured personal interviews were conducted for data clarification. A total of 575 usable questionnaires were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi square test, t-test and one-way analysis of variance.
Results of the data analysis revealed: (1) academic staff are actively involved in making decisions that are academic in nature through the senate, (2) academic staff are told about nonacademic decisions after such decisions are made, (3) those with less than five years experience were more enthusiastic about the impact of their participation on decision outcomes, (4) a complex relationship was observed between the administrators and the academic staff. For example, a separate jurisdiction pattern of participation (where academic staff make academic decisions and administrators make personnel decisions), and also administrative primacy kind of governance dimension (where administrators consult academic staff and consider their views carefully before decisions are made) was indicated. (5) Academic staff who were former administrators perceived their participation in governance as effective while academic staff who had never served in administrative positions perceived their own participation as ineffective. (6) Although there were regional and age differences in "attitude toward participation" and "when academic staff are usually consulted," responses were in the same direction. (7) Academic staff were not satisfied with the consultation process at their universities. (8) Attempts were being made in some universities to decentralize authority.
The recommendations made include: (1) improvement of the consultation process, (2) improvement of the relationship between academic staff and administrators, and (3) more involvement of academic staff in other governance issues especially selection/appointment of administrators.
