Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Charlene Desir

Committee Member

Mary A. Clisbee

Committee Member

Ronald P. Kern

Keywords

Learning Environment, Academic Environment, Undergraduate Education, Undergraduate Students, Faculty

Abstract

This applied dissertation investigated faculty and student satisfaction with the learning environment at a school at a university in Haiti (SUH). After the devastating earthquake of January 2010, administrators recognized that the SUH must update its programs to compete with other universities and uphold the role higher education plays in the rebuilding and stabilization of Haiti. To date, no studies had been conducted on faculty and students’ level of satisfaction at the SUH.

Three research questions investigated faculty and students’ levels of satisfaction and whether significant differences existed in responses of the 2 groups. Researcher-designed instruments were based on similar studies with the Service Quality (SERVQUAL) instrument. The domains were tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Additional considerations for each group included faculty salary and student course availability.

With descriptive statistics, results for the 1st research question showed that faculty rated the SERVQUAL domains from close to satisfied to slightly more than satisfied. For additional considerations, results showed from somewhat satisfied to satisfied. For the 2nd research question, results showed that students rated the SERVQUAL domains from between not satisfied to somewhat satisfied to slightly more than somewhat satisfied. For additional considerations, results showed between not satisfied and somewhat satisfied to between satisfied and quite satisfied. For the 3rd research question, results of independent samples t tests showed that, for the SERVQUAL, a significant difference existed between faculty and student satisfaction levels (p = .00).

The different contents of the additional considerations precluded tests for significance. Results should help university leaders implement changes to improve recruitment and retention of faculty and students and assure the survival, continuation, and excellence of the SUH.

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