Managing Role Conflict among University Administrators in Nigeria

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to find out the types, causes, and management of role conflict between university professional and academic administrators that may become destructive. The administrators were the Vice-Chancellors, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Registrars, Librarians, Bursars, Heads of Departments, Deans of Faculties and Postgraduate Schools, Directors of Programmes and Services, and Provosts of Colleges. A sample of eight universities selected through stratified random sampling was used for the study. This comprised three State, two Federal, and three Private universities. The ex post facto research design of an analytical survey was employed. Three research questions were raised and answered. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data which were analyzed using the Pearson's Product Moment Correlation. The study identified the most common types and causes of role conflict between academic and professional administrators and determined appropriate management strategies to minimize, resolve and avoid them in Nigeria Universities. Recommendations were made to maintain peace and harmony among all Nigeria University administrators for effective University administration.Keywords: administrators, role conflict, management strategies, universities, NigeriaINTRODUCTIONOrganizations like the universities need to operate in peaceful environments where there is a high level of understanding, tolerance, and compromise among administrators, other staff and students, and unions. Where this exists, conflicts are minimized, and there is always greater commitment and high productivity which in turn leads to better provision of services and overall organizational development. It is alleged that bad-belly exits among professional and academic administrators in universities. It is believed that a major cause of this antagonism could be traced to the conflicts that manifest as a result of their roles as administrators of universities. The modern university system comprises a variety of communities based on the wide range of academic disciplines and functions involved therein. Its internal behavior constitutes a very complex organism shaped by these many hands. This implies that its entire life is extensively shaped by its internal logic, habits, and dynamics. It is also influenced by the challenges, constraints, and pressures bearing upon it from the outer environment. The university is therefore made up of people with different backgrounds almost certainly having different needs, skills, talents, aspirations, visions, missions, and status. They also probably possess and pursue different interests, values, competencies, knowledge, and behavioural styles. This also means that members of this complex social organization could exhibit different preemptions and aggressions.In this study, the professional administrators include the vice-chancellors, the deputy vice-chancellors, the registrars, the bursars, the librarians, the directors of health services, and the directors of physical planning, while the academic administrators were the provosts of colleges, the deans of postgraduate schools, the deans of faculties, the directors of academic planning, the heads of departments, and the heads of academic units of public universities. Administration in universities provides the matrix which binds together various integral and important parts of the university. It also lubricates the machinery of governance to sustain a smooth and effective operation. The degree of complexity attendant in university administration is hardly to be encountered in any other situation with peculiarities which distinguish it from others. Among these are examinations and high degree of concentration of brains. Many universities are residential institutions with municipal characteristics namely halls of residence, staff quarters, primary and secondary schools, medical centres/health clinics, student bursary, sports, security, and agricultural centres, water scheme, power plant, drainage and sewage, etc. …