Student Digital Admission and Academic Management in Public Universities in Western Kenya

Abstract

COVID-19 crisis forced Education Systems worldwide to find alternatives to in-person Management. As a result, digital management of student’s academics was used on an unprecedented scale. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of digital platform on the management of student’s academics in public universities in western Kenya. The study was designed to examine the use of digital tools on Admission in management of student’s academics in public universities in western Kenya. The target population was picked from 1043 respondents comprising 543 university academic staff in Western Kenya comprising; lecturers, CODs’ and 500 students. The study adopted a sample size of 289 respondents that were a representative of the study population. The mixed research design was adopted where both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. Sampling involved the use proportionate stratified random sampling. Data collection instruments included the use of questionnaires, interviews and observation. Data was analyzed using Descriptive statistics; Mean median and standard deviation while inferential statistics used were Logistic regression analysis and Chi square test. The study was informed by the theory of online collaborative learning and the management theory. The outcome displayed that student digital admission had some significance on academic management in public universities in Western Kenya with a constant coefficient value of 2.534. Based on the results of this study, it was concluded that digital admission of students offers consistent evaluation techniques, assessment, tracking, monitoring and evaluation of students. This study recommends that admission of students in universities should be done through the digital platform in order to reach out many students and especially those who are very far from the university.