Higher education institutions were established for teaching, research, dissemination of knowledge and community service. Rapid development in higher education and a corresponding increase in human and material resources and demands have not only made administration and management of higher institutions a very complex task but a cause for concern in the preparation of students’ results, examinations and other forms of information. Disseminating information in the period under review has witnessed advancement in communication technological facilities in a manner that has resulted in far reaching developments in the administrative system of higher education. Cost effective communication facilities such as computers, internet, email etc combined with the flexibility in administrative activities enhances effectiveness in discharge of duties.

Communication facilities can be used widely in higher educational administration. [1] identified the following as areas where communication facilities can be used for effective educational administration: General administration, Payroll and Financial accounting, Personnel records maintenance, Library system, Inventory management and Students records. Communication technological facilities therefore play a vital role in supporting powerful, efficient management and administration in higher education. Administrative effectiveness as an important functional area in higher educational institutions is usually mentioned as managerial. Roblyar [2] opines that Provision and sustainability of communication facilities could improve the overall environment and operational effectiveness of higher education institutions. It helps also to improve other functional areas in addition to the ones enumerated above such as allocation of resources, fiscal management, employee productivity etc.

The challenges of provision and sustainability in the use of communication facilities for administrative effectiveness in higher institutions include: Global competitiveness and local challenges, Universal and individual challenges, and balancing between traditional and modern approaches; long term and short-term considerations, Expansion of knowledge and many more. These  challenges  could be  overcome with the  provision and sustainability in the use of communication technological facilities in higher institutions of learning in Cross River State. Studies have shown the need to integrate Information Communication Technology facilities into administrative activities of higher educational institutions. Salerno outlined the following activities or ways in which communication technological facilities promote administrative effectiveness in higher educational institutions viz; Sending email notices and agenda to staff rather than printing and distributing them, Submission of Teaching plans through email, Insist that all lecturers create a class web page, Administration through web enabled services, Day-to-day General administration, Staff administration, Students records management, Public relations. Fedrikson and Gajek view communication and general administration as the two main areas in which ICT is used in the management of educational institutions. It is therefore seen from this view that administration in higher educational institutions consist of students’ management, staff and resource management.

Zainally noted that information and communication technology provide several facilities and possibilities for educational administration to do their tasks. His findings reveal that communication systems have changed the nature in higher education administration because it allows information to be transferred, stored, retrieved and processed by all who work, study or interact with the school. This means that there is increase in administrative effectiveness through the provision and sustainability in the usage of communication facilities.

Research studies conducted by Kumar [1] to evaluate the extent of usage of information and communication Technologies in multiple aspects of higher education in India revealed that heads of faculties utilized technology in planning, supervision and evaluation by academic affairs, students’ affairs and administrative affairs. The result further concluded that information and communication facilities have an impact on increase of the scientific level of faculty members, students and staff. Suri, also reported that Spanish and Indian universities have been changing fast due to the development of New information and communication facilities. The report highlights the importance of communication facilities as modern day technological management tool that would benefit higher educational institutions. The findings of the study concluded by providing a conceptual framework to support strategies, processes and a new shift in higher education administration due to the application of Information Communication Technological facilities. This of course aids increased efficiency and user-friendliness in large and complex institutions.

In an investigative study of access, use and constraint in the use of information and communication facilities by administrators of tertiary institutions in Imo state carried out by Asiabaku and Oku [3] revealed that tertiary institutions administration had access to computers, CD Rom, internet, email journals, newspapers and magazines to a very large extent. This underscores the importance of information communication technology in all spheres of national developments even though high cost of equipment, poor power supply, lack of professionals to train Administrators, poor telecommunication network was found to be the constraints in the use of ICT in the administration of tertiary institutions.

In another study by Adeyemi, [4] to examine the impact of communication technological facilities on the effective management of universities in South-West Nigeria, it was found that there was a significant relationship between availability and utilization of Information Technology facilities and effective management of universities. It was specifically reported that there was a low availability of information communication facilities in South-West Nigerian universities. This implies that the low availability and utilization of communication facilities will jeopardize effective administration of tertiary institutions.

In an earlier related study of the impact of Technological infrastructure on Academic staff work performance in southern Nigeria universities by Bassey et al. [5] revealed that the perceived level of provision of technological infrastructures in terms of e-learning, online facilities and maintenance of website with adequate server space was significantly inadequate and low. This indicates that efforts, especially around funding should be increased to provide more technological infrastructure so that higher Education Institutions especially Universities can rise to the challenges of Global competitiveness.

Research studies conducted by Kumar [1] to evaluate the extent of usage of information and communication Technologies in multiple aspects of higher education in India revealed that heads of faculties utilized technology in planning, supervision and evaluation by academic affairs, students’ affairs and administrative affairs. The result further concluded that information and communication facilities have an impact on increase of the scientific level of faculty members, students and staff.

However, the problems facing the effective use of information communication technology facilities in the management of tertiary institutions tend to support the suggestions made by earlier researchers. Awe (2000 and Adeyemi [4] see inadequate power supply as constraints in the utilization of communication facilities in institutions of higher learning. This implies that sustainability in the use of communication technology and administrative effectiveness in higher Education would be a mirage where there is no regular supply of electricity. Despite these claims, Anagbogu and Owor [6] in their study of school factors as correlates to examination malpractice among students of secondary schools in Cross River State, Nigeria, found that the causes of administrative ineffectiveness could be attributed to other factors such as teacher’s commitment, school facilities and class size. The above assertion was supported by Anagbogu, OLuseyi, Sunday and Owor [6] who in their study on assessment of social media immersion and undergraduate students’ academic performance in research methods in University of Calabar, Nigeria, revealed that administrative ineffectiveness of principal officers in higher educational institutions is also not hinged on lack of  implementation of school policies only, but other variables such as reckless use of and paying more attention to the use of social media platforms such as whatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, 2go, Myspace among others. The study recommended among others that a seminar be organized to educate staff on the appropriate use of their mobile phones so as to increase administrative effectiveness in schools.

Administrative ineffectiveness among officers in higher educational institutions according to the study conducted on the influence of personal variables on students' academic performance of virtual classroom learners of social studies in secondary schools in Uyo Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, by Bisong, Oko, John, Achu and Owor [6,7] could also be caused by personal variables such gender and their age of the administrators. This contention was affirmed by Anagbogu [8] who revealed on his study of path analysis model for correlates of secondary school students’ performance in financial accounting in Southern Education zone of Cross River State, noted that variables such as attribution, achievement motivation, self-concept, attitude among others could also be responsible for administrative effectiveness in schools.

Anagbogu, Ofoegbu, Ovat and Owor in their study of a path analytical model on factors with the implementation of civic education curriculum among teachers in Cross River State, Nigeria, noted that factors such as lack of teacher’s supervision, teacher’s knowledge of subject matter, teachers’ attitude, and the lack of implementation of subject curriculum could hinders administrative effectiveness of principal officers in higher educational institutions. Supporting this assertion, Anagbogu and Idajor [8] noted in their study on socio economic factors as attributes for examination malpractice among Secondary School Students in Cross River reported that socio economic factors such as income, educational qualification, gender, income level, age and so on could be responsible for administrative ineffectiveness in higher institution of learning. 

The above problem necessitated the researchers to carry out an evaluation of the provision and use of communication facilities in higher educational institutions in cross river state for effective administrative effectiveness.             

Objectives of The Study

The study is designed to determine the provision and sustainability in the use of communication facilities and administrative effectiveness of principal officers in higher educational institutions in Cross River State. Specifically, the study tries to determine:

• The extent to which needed equipment for office use are Available or not

• Constraints in maintenance of communication facilities

•   use of communication facilities and administrative effectiveness in terms of:

• Information dissemination

• Students record preparation and retrieval

   

Statements of Hypotheses

• There is no significant relationship between use of communication facilities and administrative effectiveness in terms of:

• Information dissemination

• Students record preparation and Retrieval

Methodology

The study was an ex-post facto design, with 685 using purposive and accidental sampling techniques, to officers drawn from all the principal officers in the higher institutions in Cross River State, Nigeria, were equally used. There are basically four government owned higher institutionsin Cross River State; Cross River College of Education with 6 schools and 23 departments; Federal College of Education, Obudu 4 schools and 25 departments; Cross River University of Technology 8 Faculties and 38 departments and University of Calabar with 13 Faculties and 147 departments respectively. the 685 respondents were key officers of the higher institutions who were directly or indirectly involved in the school administration. To test the two propositions in the study, data was collected using a 20-item structured questionnaire titled “principal officers, administrative effectiveness in higher institutions” (POAE).

The items in the questionnaire were in form of statements. Administrative officers were requested to respond to the phrases and statements in the instrument. The extent of their response spans from to a large extent (TLE), to some extent (TSE), rarely (RA) Not at all (NA) and YES or NO. The validity of the instruments was ensured by the authors who are themselves experts in instrument construction and validation.  The reliability was also determined using Cronbach alpha procedure which yielded high internal consistency values.

Data collected were properly scored and coded to ensure precision in analysis. The two propositions are hereby stated and tested as summarized in the corresponding tables.

Research Question One

What is the available office equipment’s in your department? In response to this question the descriptive statistics was used to respond to the respondents’ response in number and percentages. The result of the analysis is presented in Table 1. The data in Table 1 shows that most of the needed office equipment are available in most institutions of higher learning, ranging from generators with 604 respondents representing 88.18 percent out of which 435 offices had functional generators representing 72.02 percent of the offices while 169 offices had generators which were not functional representing 27.98 percent, for computers, 633 respondents representing 92.40 percent had computers 52 offices had no computers representing 7.59. Out of 604 representing 95.41 percent had functional computers but 29 offices out of the 604 had nonfunctional computers. For photocopiers, 554 respondents, representing 80.88 percent had photocopiers; only 132 respondents declared that they had no photocopiers representing 19.27 percent. Out of those who had photocopiers 316 representing 57.04 percent were functional while 238 representing 42.96 percent were seen to be nonfunctional. Internet connectivity had a response of 204 respondent representing 29.78 percent while 481 respondents owned that they do not have internet connectivity representing 70.21 percent of the total number of respondents. Out of the number of respondents, 112 respondents representing 54.91 percent had functional internet connectivity while 92 respondents representing 45.09 percent were not functional.

Test of Hypothesis

The first preposition states that there is no significant difference between functionality of communication facilities and administrative effectiveness in terms of:

• Information dissemination

• Students record preparation and retrieval

The data collected was analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) as shown in Table 2. The information in Table 2 reveals that there was no significant difference between administrator who had functional office equipment and those who do not have. This is so because the calculated F = 0.077 is less p-value 0.926 at 2 and 682 degrees of freedom. This finding can only conform with a situation where workers are not committed to their duties. Despite the position of this finding [4,5] found that there was a significant relationship between availability and utilization of Information Technology facilities and effective management of universities. It was specifically reported that there was a low availability of information communication facilities in South-West Nigerian universities. This implies that the low availability and utilization of communication facilities will jeopardize effective administration of tertiary institutions. This finding is quite astonishing, as there have been several complains of the difficulties faced by administrative officers in discharging their duties. In another way, does it imply that they have devised a means of performing their duties outside the office or by using public computer centers to perform their duties? The implication is that most of the office secretes might not be kept by the various offices, because they might not be able to complete and maintain the secrets of the establishment, if they don’t have control of those processing their jobs.

To respond to the second part of this hypothesis as it relates to the students record preparation and retrieval the Analysis of Variance was equally used at 0.05 level of significance. The result of the analysis is presented in Table 3. The information in Table 3 reveals that there was a significant difference between administrator who had functional office equipment and those who do not have in terms of record keeping and retrieval. This is so because the calculated (F = 389.432; df = 2,682) was significant at p-value of 0.000 with 2 and 682 degrees of freedom.  This result implies that there was a significant difference between those administrators who had functional office facilities and those without functional office facilities in their record keeping and retrieval in higher institutions in cross River State- Nigeria.  This result is quite revealing and could be seen to be responsible in the delays of student’s graduation, transcript preparation and other needed information that traces its root to the various departments. This finding agrees with the views and findings of previous researchers who had in various dimensions noted that information and communication technology provide several facilities and possibilities for effective educational administrators to do their tasks. Their findings reveal that communication systems have changed the nature in higher education administration because it allows information to be transferred, stored, retrieved and processed by all who work, study or interact with the institutions. This means that there is increase in administrative effectiveness through the provision and sustainability in the usage of communication facilities.

Table 1: Available Office Equipment in Higher Institutions in Cross River State According to Type, Availability, Functionality and Non-Functionality

Table 2: Results Analysis of Variance of The Influence of Availability of Communication Facilities and Administrative Effectiveness in Terms Of: Information Dissemination

Not significant at 0.05 level of significance; df = 2 and 682; critical F=

Table 3: Results Analysis of variance of the influence of functionality of communication facilities and administrative effectiveness in terms of: Students record preparation and retrieval

* Significant at 0.05 level of significance; df = 2 and 682; critical F = 3.02; calculated F = 389.432

In conclusion however, there is a need to reflect on the findings of this research, since there are so many bottle necks in the higher institutions in the state, particularly the issue of complains by graduating student not knowing their position because of their inaccessibility to their results. This may be a stumbling block in securing admissions into the graduate school for those who desire to continue in academics, while those seeking for jobs, their years of getting ready for available job opportunities are increased, thereby causing unnecessary pain on the young graduates, consequently, this can lead to role confusion and correspondingly pose a security challenge to the system. This may have a negative effect on the parent who shall continually take care of their expected independent children.

Therefore, based on the aforementioned, school management should engage in aggressive acquisition and maintains of office facilities to enable smooth discharge of duties by the various bodies.

Recommendations

It is recommended that all blocks or buildings in the university should be run by a stand by generator to enable steady power supply and maintenance of the available office equipment. On the alternative, giant generator or alternative power sources be sourced to provide needed power for the day to day running of the University. It does not end in acquisition but doing everything within the reach of management to be able to sustain power within the University system.

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2. Robyler, M.D. “Educational technology research that makes a difference: Series introduction.” Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, vol. 5, no. 2, 2005.

3. Asiabaka, I.P. and O.O. Oku. “Access and use of information and communication technology (ICT) among administrators of tertiary institutions in Imo State, Nigeria.” Education Foundations and Administration Department, Imo State University, 2010. www.herp-net.org/revitalization-of-African-higher-education. Accessed March 2014.

4. Adeyemi, J.O. “Impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on the effective management of universities in South-West Nigeria.” American Journal of Social and Management Science, vol. 2, no. 3, 2011, pp. 248–257. https://doi.org/10.525/ajsms2011.

5. Bassey, U.U. et al. “Impact of technological infrastructure on academic staff work performance in southern Nigerian universities.” 12th International Conference on Education, University of Brunei Darussalam, May 2007.

6. Anagbogu, G.E. et al. “Evaluation of incidences of examination malpractice and intervention measures among undergraduate students in university of Calabar, Nigeria: Implication for assessment and certification.” International Journal of Arts and Commerce, vol. 10, no. 8, 2021, pp. 11–19.

7. Anagbogu, G.E. and E.O. Owor. “School factors as correlates to examination malpractices among secondary school students in cross river State, Nigeria.” IAR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, vol. 2, no. 4, 2021, pp. 31–34.

8. Anagbogu, G.E. and C.O. Idajor. “Socio-economic factors as attributes for examination malpractice among secondary school students in cross river state-Nigeria: Implications for unemployment.” Journal of Science Art and Commerce, vol. 1, no. 2, 2016, pp. 23–29.