Implementation and Challenges of Graduate School Programs: Insights from the Cagayan State University-Aparri Campus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21366376Keywords:
graduate school programs, implementation, challenges encountered, higher education, quality assuranceAbstract
Graduate education is critical to preparing highly competent professionals, educators, researchers, and leaders. Disparities in institutional resources, program implementation, and support services, however, continue to impact the quality of graduate education across higher education institutions. However, there are few studies on the implementation of graduate school programs in state universities despite the availability of policies and quality assurance procedures and the obstacles faced by stakeholders. The study investigated the state, level of implementation, and problems encountered in the Graduate School Programs of Cagayan State University-Aparri Campus and if there are significant discrepancies in the execution of the different graduate degree programs. The study used descriptive-correlational design. The respondents of the study were 42 and they were graduate students and administrators. The respondents were picked by stratified random sampling method. Data were collected by researcher-made questionnaire and analyzed with frequency and percentage distribution, weighted mean and One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. Results showed that the Graduate School Programs are Board of Regents approved, CHED regulations compatible, Level II AACCUP accredited with highly qualified faculty members and appropriate fiscal support. However, the lack of CHED notation, the decline in enrollment in various masteral programs, and the deficiencies in physical facilities, ICT infrastructure, and digital research resources are still causes of concern. The implementation of the Graduate School Programs in terms of curriculum and instruction, faculty competence, learning resources and facilities, student support services, and research and professional development services was rated as Highly Implemented. Administrators reported more operational and resource issues than faculty and graduate students, who only sometimes reported issues with implementation. Also, the ANOVA findings indicated that there was no statistically significant variation in the level of implementation across the Graduate School programs. The study concluded that Cagayan State University-Aparri Campus can deliver Graduate School Programs through competent faculty, quality instruction, and responsive support services. However, for quality graduate education to be sustained and the strength of the university’s competitiveness to be improved, continuous improvements in infrastructure, research support, digital resources, and institutional funding are needed.
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