EVALUATING THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR DELIVERING ADMINISTRATIVE JUSTICE TO STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI.

Abstract

This research study investigated University of Nairobi’s institutional framework for delivering administrative justice to its students. The research was undertaken in response to the evident increase in number of students aggrieved by administrative decisions of universities who successfully seek judicial review outside of the confines of the university. The study assessed the university’s internal administrative justice structures and processes and how students’ knowledge and perceptions relate to their ability to access administrative justice at the university. Literature was reviewed on the concept, international, regional and local trends pertaining to administrative justice in institutions of higher learning. The study is posited on Paul DMaggio and Walter Powell’s Theory of Institutional Isomorphism that describes the character of institutions operating within a sector. The research adopted an exploratory research design which was very useful because it does not allow the manipulation of the variables. Survey questionnaires, Key Informant Interviews and Focus Group Discussion were used in addition to obtaining secondary information from desktop research of previous scholarly works. The study found that students at the university were not sufficiently empowered to interact with the institution’s administrative justice structures and processes due to several underlying factors including gender-based dynamics, student orientation and structural factors. This is compounded by the prevailing wide perception gap (between administrators and students) on the quality of administrative justice structures and processes at the university. University administrators perceive the structures, processes and prevailing student knowledge, awareness and perceptions as adequate. Students, however perceive the structures and processes as laden with bureaucracy and norms that do not promote efficiency and effective delivery of administrative justice and are also susceptible and vulnerable to internal and external influences. The study made several policy oriented and administrative recommendations towards improving on the student access and interaction with the university’s institutional arrangements for delivering administrative justice to students.