kajian paper

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Abstract
A campus living environment has significant impact on a student’s progress during his or her study time. Therefore, a university should always consider the importance of providing quality student’s accommodation with consideration on the aspects of design, social and also public amenities available to the students. This is to ensure that students will live in suitable and comfortable surroundings thus will enhance their satisfaction towards the university accommodation services. Recently, Student Representative Council of University Utara Malaysia receive some complaints from the students about the university accommodation and public amenities .So the Student Representative Council decide to conduct a research to investigate deeply on this issues. The objective of this study was to determine the students’ perception and satisfaction towards the university accommodation facilities and public amenities Data were collected using survey method, whereby questionnaires will be used as the tool to collect the relevant data and information. University students staying in the university accommodation were selected as respondents using simple random sampling. Analysis was presented in terms of percentages and mean scores to show the students’ satisfaction level towards the attributes given. The result of the study showed the aspects of the university accommodation that meets the students’ needs and expectation, and as a result it will help the building contractors and university management to provide better students’ accommodation in future.

1.2 Introduction
Education industry is part of the major contributor to growth of service sector. Universities provide accommodation and public amenities to students as part of the physical evidence for quality education. Student’s satisfaction plays important roles in ensuring the long lasting relationship with their universities. This research will explore the students’ satisfaction towards the accommodation and public amenities provided to assist the decision maker in contrasting and building the right facilities for students. Students are the customer to university where their satisfaction is the key success for auniversity. If an expectation that cannot be fulfilled on the institutions will lead to students’ withdrawal ( Alridge and Rowley,2001). According to the study by Kanji, Abdul Malek and Wallace (1999) do give some insights on the real situation of the Higher Education Institutions in Malaysia. Most institutions do give great deal of importance to meeting customers’ expectation which is similar to business organization, but they still lack customer awareness among the staff

1.3 Problem Statement Student Representative Council is the council that handles the student’s complaints, benefaction, and the mediator between students and university administration. There 14 student residential hall available at UUM , 12 residential is located in campus and 2 is located out campus where 4 km far from main campus. Recently, SRC receive some complaints on university accommodation and public amenities that provide by UUM where the students feel dissatisfaction towards it.

Perception
According to Tucker.M. & Smith. A refer to the users’ observation, opinion, and awareness of the both environment they are in and the services they are receiving. In order for the user to reach a final conclusion of environment and services they have received, they will distinguish a level of satisfaction based on the difference between their initial expectation and their final opinion (2007).
Attitude
The Attitude construct received its first serious attention from Darwin in 1872. Darwin defined attitude as a motor concept, or the physical expression of an emotion. In 1975, Fishbein and Ajzen published belief, attitude, intention and behaviors: an introduction to theory and research, arguing that attitude towards behaviors is made up of beliefs about engaging in the behaviors and the associated evaluation of the belief. According to Fishbein and Ajzen (1975), attitude is defined as an individual’s positive and negative feelings (evaluative affect) about performing the target behavior.
Attitude toward behavior refers to the degree to which a person has a favorable or unfavorable evaluation or appraisal of the behaviors in question. Taylor and Todd (1995) suggested that the different dimensions of attitudinal belief toward an innovation could be measured using the five perceived attributes (relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trial ability and observables) of the innovation. These attributes were originally proposed in the diffusion of innovations theory (Rogers, 1983).
According to Azjen (1985), an attitude toward a behavior is a positive or negative evaluation (evaluative affect) of performing that the target behavior. Attitudes are informed by normative beliefs and motivation. As mentioned earlier, attitude refers to one’s evaluation about the consequences of performing the behavior. Associated with each of these characteristics is an effective or emotional response. These responses combine linearly to form the attitude or evaluate response towards the act. (Beckwith and Lehmann, 1973).

Customer relation
Hensley, L. R. & Joanne Swek (2007) point out that server attentiveness involves two complimentary skill sets; the first deals with interpersonal skills like noticing non-verbal cues, while the second encompasses technical skills such as the ability to correctly remember the exact details of a customer request. Moreover “if a service provider were use a simple courtesy expression that could lead to stronger relational growth between service provider and customers” ( Koermer, D. C. 2005).

1.4 Research Objectives
A campus living environment has significant impact on a student’s ‘progress during his or her study time, Therefore, a university should always consider the importance of providing quality students’ accommodation with consideration on the aspects of design, social and also public amenities available to the students. This is to ensure that students will live suitable and comfortable surroundings thus will enhance their satisfaction towards the university accommodation services.
1.4.1 To determine the students’ satisfaction towards the university accommodation and public amenities provided.

1.5 Research Question
1.5.1 Determine the relationship between students’ satisfaction towards the university accommodation and public amenities?
1.6 Significant of the study
The significance of this study is to measure the level of service quality and the level of service quality and the level of satisfaction among the student. SRC can use this study to propose the suggestion to Student Affairs Department at University Utara Malaysia to improve or upgrade the university accommodation and public amenities. Furthermore, this study helps SRC to know better the students satisfaction or dissatisfaction towards university facilities

Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Student Satisfaction
Kotler and Clarke (1987) define satisfaction as a state felt by a person who has experience performance or an outcome that fulfill his or her expectation .Satisfaction is a function of relative level of expectations and perceives performance. The expectation may go as far as before the students even enter the higher education, suggesting that it is important to the researchers to determine first what the students expect before entering the university ( Palacio,Meness and Perez,2002). In contrary, Carey, Cambiano and De Vore (2002), believe that satisfaction actually covers issues of students perception and experiences during the college years. While most student satisfaction study focus on the perspective of customer, researchers is facing a problem of creating a standard definition for student satisfaction thus providing a need of customer satisfaction theory to be selected and modified so that it can explain the meaning of student satisfaction( Horn,2002).Even though it is risky to view students as customer, but given the current atmosphere of higher education marketplace, there is new moral prerogative that student have become “customer” and therefore can, as fee payers, reasonably demand that their views be heard and acted upon( William,2002).
2.2 Service Quality
A definition of quality revolves around the idea that quality has to be judged on the assessment of the user or consumer of the service. The construct of quality as conceptualized in the services literature is based on the perceived quality. Perceived quality is defined as the consumer’s judgment about an entity’s overall experience or superiority ( Zeithaml,1987; Zammuto et al,1996). Similarly, Parasuraman, Zaithaml and Berry (1990) also concluded that consumer perceptions of service quality result from comparing expectation prior to receiving the service, and their actual experience of the service.Perceived quality is also seen as a form of attitude, related to, but not the same as satisfaction, and resulting from a comparison of expectations with perceptions of performance( Rowley,1996). Therefore, perceived service quality could be the product of evaluations of a number of service encounters and in this case, of a student, these could range from encounters with office staff, to encounters with tutors , lecturer, the head of departments, etc.,( Hill,1995). As a result, if an organization regularly provides service at a level that exceeds customer expectations, the service will be evaluated as high quality. In contrast, if an organization fails to meet customer expectations, the service will judge as poor quality (Zammuto et al., 1996).
2.3 Service Quality and Students’ Satisfaction
Service quality is commonly noted as critical prerequisite for establishing and sustaining satisfying relationship with valued customers. In this way, the association between service quality and customer satisfaction has emerged as a topic of significant and strategic concern ( Cronin and Taylor,1992). In general, perceived service quality is an antecedent to satisfaction ( Spreng and Mckoy,1996). Thus, a proper understanding of the antecedents and determinants of customer satisfaction can be seen as to have an extraordinarily high monetary value for service organization in a competitive environment(Lassar,Manolis and Winsor,2000).

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

1.6 RESEARCH DESIGN
Data were collected using survey method by providing questionnaires to university students staying in the university accommodation and selected as respondents using simple random sampling. SRC assists the respondent to fill in the questionnaire due to some jargons explanation required for certain aspects of the elements provided. The sample of study was 40 students staying out campus and 40 students staying in campus.
1.6.1 Questionnaire items

Question
A-Students Accommodation

1.
Size of room

2.
Numbers of bathrooms

3.
Cleanliness of bathroom

4.
Cleanliness along the room corridor

5.
Furniture condition in the room

6.
Quality of the paint

7.
Security at the residential hall

8.
Wireless service

9.
Facilities of washing clothes

10.
Cleanliness of rubbish

11
Number of toilets

12.
Cleanliness of toilets

B. Public Amenities

1.
Availability of shuttle bus

2.
Sport Center

3.
Food court

4.
Distance of library

5.
Recreation place

6.
Bus service to outside campus

7.
Meeting facilities

8.
Medical Centre

9.
Computer Lab

10.
Shop Lot