University of the South Pacific students' voices about improving their campus experience

Loriza Zinnie Rafiq and Jeremy Dorovolomo
The University of the South Pacific, Fiji

This study investigated the factors that students feel can lead to improved student experience at the University of the South Pacific (USP). Framed on Astin's theory of involvement, our study used two methods to collect data. The first was through the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) process, a consensus-building tool, with 9 students in a half-day workshop. The second method was interviews with three students from the NGT sample, to have them expand on the results of the NGT. We found that students are, firstly, more concerned about the physical environment and services on campus such as having more conference rooms at the library to discuss, water fountains around the campus for drinking, and more power points at study huts. Secondly, the students were concerned about the need to have programs that develop skills and knowledge for the industry and the workplace. The third factor that students were concerned about was the need to have more variety in social activities such as sports and fun days, quiz competitions, and debates, among others.
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Authors: Ms Loriza Zinnie Rafiq is a Teaching Assistant in the School of Pacific Arts, Communication and Education, The University of the South Pacific (USP), Suva, Fiji. She taught in Fiji primary schools for 19 years, progressing to being Head Teacher before joining the University of the South Pacific. Email: loriza.rafiq@usp.ac.fj Associate Professor Jeremy Dorovolomo is with the School of Pacific Arts, Communication and Education of the University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji. He taught in Solomon Islands high schools since 1989 and went into Teacher Education in 2000 at the local teachers College and with USP since 2004. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3769-2202 Email: jeremy.dorovolomo@usp.ac.fj Please cite as: Rafiq, L. Z. & Dorovolomo, J. (2024). University of the South Pacific students' voices about improving their campus experience. Issues in Educational Research, 34(2), 682-698. http://www.iier.org.au/iier34/rafiq.pdf