Students Perspectives on Participation in Student Affairs and Development Programs: A Participatory Inquiry

Student services have always been regarded as an essential aspect of every academic institution. This study aims to gain insights from the perspectives and experiences of college students on their participation on various student welfare and development initiatives being implemented by the university. This paper explored how students have perceived these programs and services based on their experiences and what they recommend for the improvement of their participation on the different student development initiatives delivered by the school using participatory collaborative research design. This is considered participatory in the sense that the researchers and the participants are active components of the various units under the Student Affairs and Services (SAS) of the university and Collaborative approach was evident in all phases of development of this study from the conceptualization down to the analysis of data. Based on the narratives and shared experiences of the participants of this study, it can be noted that while the different programs and services of the university on student affairs are already in-place and functional, there are still areas which need to be given attention for continued improvement. Improvements can be on students’ engagement, relevance and effectiveness of the programs considering the changing landscape of the environment affecting the learners, and essentially for an informed decision-making.