Student Affairs and Services: Enhancing Academic and Personal Development in Higher Education Institution
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24151501Keywords:
student engagement, student support services, student well-being, career guidance, peer mentoring, leadership development, academic performance, PhilippinesAbstract
Student Affairs and Services (SAS) support students’ academic engagement, well-being, and personal development in higher education. This study assessed the awareness, participation, and perceived contributions of SAS at BIT–International College (BIT-IC), and examined their relationships with academic performance and leadership development. A mixed-methods approach was employed involving 282 student respondents. Quantitative data from survey questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation, while qualitative information from in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions was examined thematically. The findings showed that awareness of SAS was comparatively high, particularly for career and placement services (85.46%), peer mentoring and tutoring (84.75%), and student leadership training (83.33%). Participation was lower: extracurricular activities had the highest participation (31.21%), followed by mental health and wellness programs (24.47%) and student organization involvement (22.70%). Students generally agreed that SAS supported their academic life and well-being. Correlation analysis indicated very weak positive relationships between SAS participation and academic performance (r = 0.13) and between SAS involvement and leadership scores (r = 0.10). The findings point to an awareness–participation gap and the need to improve accessibility, communication, student engagement, and responsiveness. The study proposes the Student Success through Strengthened Student Affairs Services program to strengthen awareness, support, leadership development, and program evaluation.
Downloads
References
Canlas, D. B. (2016). Promoting inclusive growth through higher education. Philippine Institute for Development Studies. https://doi.org/10.62986/pn2016.08
Commission on Higher Education. (2016). Pathways to equity, relevance and advancement in research, innovation, and extension in Philippine higher education (CHED Memorandum Order No. 52, series of 2016). Commission on Higher Education.
Culla, C. C. (2020). The state of public policy research in the Philippines. UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies.
Franco, I., Saito, O., Vaughter, P., Whereat, J., Kanie, N., & Takemoto, K. (2019). Higher education for sustainable development: Actioning the global goals in policy, curriculum and practice. Sustainability Science, 14(6), 1621–1642. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-018-0628-4
Head, B. W. (2016). Toward more evidence-informed policy making? Public Administration Review, 76(3), 472–484. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12475
Hollands, F., & Escueta, M. (2020). How research informs educational technology decision-making in higher education: The role of external research versus internal research. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(1), 163–180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-019-09678-z
Horta, H., & Mok, K. H. (2020). Challenges to research systems, academic research and knowledge production in East Asia: Learning from the past to inform future policy. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 42(2), 119–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2020.1738125
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2020). Building capacity for evidence-informed policy-making: Lessons from country experiences. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/86331250-en
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2023). Who really cares about using education research in policy and practice? Developing a culture of research engagement. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/bc641427-en
Quitoras, M. C. L., & Abuso, J. E. (2021). Best practices of higher education institutions (HEIs) for the development of research culture in the Philippines. Pedagogical Research, 6(1), Article em0087. https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/9354
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Celeste D. Recente (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
