Challenges and solutions in collaborative initiatives between faculty members and student affairs personnel: a case study of tanzania

A pleasant working relationship between faculty members and student affairs personnel has been widely observed to be vital in the successful development of students in the university both intellectually and socially. However, it is argued that this is not always the case in the universities despite that both faculty and student affairs personnel know how crucial a collaborative work relationship is in the development of students. This research, therefore, examined the collaborative initiatives between faculty and student affairs personnel by focusing on the challenges and solutions that exist in their working relationship in Tanzania’s higher education. The study employed a qualitative method.The University of Dar-es-Salaam was used in the context to depict, qualitatively, the day-to-day experiences and challenges of faculty members concerning the functions of the student affairs personnel. Interviews were conducted with 8 faculties and 8 student affairs personnel. The interviews were transcribed precisely and coded manually along the thematic dimensions. The findings indicated that the two groups do not necessarily work together because they perceived each group has its roles to play.
The collaboration efforts are further strained by a lack of resources and equipment to develop the student activities. Insufficient training of student affairs is also a challenge to collaborative efforts as there is no formal training of most office occupants. The faculty members feel they are doing the work of Student Affairs Personnel due to inadequate awareness of the roles of Student Affairs Personnel. On the solutions, there should be deliberate efforts to train the Student Affairs Personnel of their roles in the university. The university needs to develop a clear structure with well-defined roles to eliminate conflicts and encourage collaboration between the two groups. These findings may help in redefining the roles of both student and faculty members to enhance their collaboration, offer recommendations, solutions to address those issues and challenges.