HUMAN RESOURCE UTILIZATION AND INTERNAL …

1 International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences April 2011, Vol. 1, No. 1. HUMAN RESOURCE UTILIZATION AND INTERNAL EFFICIENCY IN. STATE-OWNED UNIVERSITIES IN NIGERIA. Dr. A. Y. Abdulkareem Department of Educational Management, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. : Dr. Y. A. Fasasi Department of Educational Management, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. : Dr. O. P. Akinnubi Department of Educational Management, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. : Abstract This paper examined the relationship between HUMAN RESOURCE UTILIZATION and INTERNAL efficiency in Nigerian state universities.

2 It was a descriptive survey research. Stratified random sampling technique was adopted for selecting 6 out of 12 state-owned universities. Also, 572 lecturers were sampled from Humanities and Science Faculties of the institutions. They responded to HUMAN RESOURCE Checklist . (HRC) and INTERNAL Efficiency Checklist (IEC) designed by the researchers and validated by experts in the field of educational management. Student Teacher Ratio, Refined Cohort Wastage Rate and Graduation Rate were used to answer three research questions raised in the study. Pearson product-moment correlation statistic was used to test the formulated research hypothesis at level of significance.

3 The study revealed over- UTILIZATION of teachers, low wastage rate with a mean of 23%, and high graduation rate with a mean of 85%. Also, there was a significant relationship between HUMAN RESOURCE UTILIZATION and INTERNAL efficiency in Nigerian state universities (calculated r-value= .347 > critical r-value =.06, p <..05). Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that the universities should employ more lecturers in humanities (Faculties of Arts, Business and Social Sciences/Management Sciences and Education) and sciences (Faculty of Science) in order to reduce the workload of the existing lecturers in these discipline.

4 Key words: HUMAN RESOURCE UTILIZATION , INTERNAL efficiency, state- owned universities, Nigeria. Introduction In Nigeria, the society depends on educational institutions for production of individuals who can fit properly and contribute meaningfully to the development of the environment. Universities, as the highest educational institutions, are statutorily charged with the responsibility of producing high level manpower. In addition, the institutions are to: Develop and inculcate proper values for the survival of the individual and society;. Develop the intellectual capacity of individual to understand and appreciate their local and external environments; and HRMARS, Pakistan 26.

5 International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences April 2011, Vol. 1, No. 1. Promote national and international understanding and interaction (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004 ). In pursuit of these goals, the Federal Government established universities and allowed state governments, private organizations and individuals to establish theirs. Thus, universities in Nigeria are owned by Federal Governments, State Governments, private organizations and private individuals. In these institutions, HUMAN (academic and non-academic staff), material and financial resources are made available, and students are admitted annually to undergo various programmes.

6 In admission process candidates usually give preference to university education as a source of high level manpower while other tertiary institutions such as polytechnics and colleges of education are less patronized. This has lead to an increase in demand for and subsequently enrolment into the universities. The expectation is that graduates from these institutions would become productive workers and good citizens who would be able to contribute to the development of their society and make the nation truly self reliant. However, according to Babalola (2007), many of them wonder around without gainful engagements.

7 This implies that the nation's aspiration which has led to investment in education is yet to be actualized and resources are wasted. This situation calls for a re-examination of inputs into the institutions and how the inputs are processed, so that necessary measures will be taking to prevent wastages. All educational resources are vital to the achievement of national objectives. HUMAN resources, especially the academic staff are to control other resources and ensure that national goals and objectives are achieved. As observed by Afolabi (2005), no matter how beautiful the programmes and assets of an institution are, without the academic staff, attainment of the institutional goals and objectives would prove abortive.

8 In this paper, HUMAN RESOURCE UTILIZATION and its influence on INTERNAL efficiency of state-owned universities in Nigeria, is examined. Specifically, the purposes of this study are: i. To examine student-teacher ratio in the state universities in Nigeria. ii. To determine students wastage rate in the universities. iii. To determine the graduation rate in the universities. iv. To examine the relationship that exists between RESOURCE UTILIZATION and INTERNAL efficiency in Nigerian universities. HUMAN RESOURCE UTILIZATION HUMAN resources are the people who constitute the workforce in an organization.

9 According to Olagboye (2004), people and knowledge, skills and attitudes in them constitute resources. Okwori (2006) agreed with this assertion and added that expertise in technical, mechanical, managerial, social and other areas potentially available for UTILIZATION in social and economic institutions constitute HUMAN resources. University as an educational institution has teaching staff, non-teaching personnel and students including their knowledge, abilities and skills as the HUMAN resources. Essentially, the personnel within the institutions and their capabilities in contributing to productivity and achievement of institutional objectives are referred to as HUMAN resources.

10 In the university system, the teaching staff is referred to as lecturers and teachers. They are engaged in the processing of all educational inputs, students inclusive, so that the educational institutions will be able to achieve their objectives. They disseminate knowledge and skills through teaching, contribute to advancement in knowledge through research and engage in community services. Their availability and UTILIZATION would determine the success or failure of the educational system. A method of determining the extent of teacher's UTILIZATION is through the HRMARS, Pakistan 27.