STUDENT-SUPERVISOR RELATIONSHIP AND ACADEMIC STAFF'S STRIKE ACTION AS DETERMINANTS OF TIMELY COMPLETION IN POSTGRADUATE EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME IN UNIVERSITIES IN NORTH-EAST, NIGERIA

This study investigated how student-supervisor relationship and ASUU’s strike action determine timely completion in Postgraduate Educational Management Programme (PGEMP) in Universities of North-East, Nigeria. Three research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The study employed a descriptive survey research design to guide the study. The population for the study was 296 respondents (21 PGEMP lecturers and 275 PGEMP students) from the study area. The sample for this study 296, which was selected using census sampling. A structured questionnaire titled: “Postgraduate Educational Management Programme Variable (PEMPVQ)” and a checklist titled “PGEMP Completion Rate” were used as the data collection instruments. PEMPVQ was validated and pilot tested through Cronbach Alpha, which revealed a reliability co-efficient of 0.81. At the end of the data collection exercise, 283 valid questionnaires were retrieved, which represented 95.6% of the total questionnaires administered. The data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions, while linear regression was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results of the study showed that students-supervisor relationship (F (1, 281) = 11.902, p < 0.05) and ASUU strikes (F (1, 281) = 7.494, p < 0.05) significantly determines students’ timely completion in PGEMP in Universities of North-East, Nigeria. The study therefore concludes that student-supervisor relationship and ASUU’s strike action significantly determine timely completion in PGEMP in Universities of North-East, Nigeria. Hence, the study recommends amongst others that PGEMP supervisors should facilitate meaningful interactions and communication between students and themselves, which can provide opportunities for regular thesis feedback, and support to enhance the quality of supervision.