CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1.            Background to the Study

Information has always been an essential requirement of man, business and organization it is not always easy to find an authentic solution to the storage and retrieval of this information. Each day, thousands of documents flow into an organisation.  The know-how of an organization to store and retrieve information lies on having a good filing system.  In the ambit of this backdrop, Stock (1987) posed the following question that: What happens when vital information is destroyed? How can it ever be retrieved when need arises?  In response to these questions, Stock states that, without a record recovery plan, an organization starts from square one. To avoid starting all over again; a contingency planning is the sure way. The true power of the computer lies in its capacity to create or receive, store, organize and retrieve large quantities of data.  Programs designed to accomplish these tasks are known as database programs.  Cunninghan, Adrain (2017) associate the need to maintain large amounts of data with corporations and government offices.  However, small businesses and even individuals can improve their efficiency by using database software.  Both large and small companies use databases to maintain personal files, inventory files, customer information, employees’ information and accounting records.

In The UBa, each day student records are created or received, stored and used when need be. According to Akuffo & Adams (2016), Records are created in daily business activities and are vital in meeting administrative needs as well as supporting decision processes of individuals, institutions, organisations and governments.  Records provide evidence, information, symbolic affordance, memory, accountability, legitimization of power and a sense of personal or social identity and continuity.  Examples of records kept by religious institutions include correspondence, minutes, memoranda, reports, sermons, title deeds, baptismal registers, publications, photographs, oral histories and financial documents.  Archival records and religious archives are valuable; religious record contain informational value, evidential value and symbolic value making their management imperative.  Akussah and Asamoah (2015) opine that a sound record-keeping infrastructure is essential to conduct business and make public administration more efficient and effective.  Unstructured record keeping systems result in the loss of critical records.  Effective management of records in organisations must ensure that recordkeeping is carried out throughout the life of an organisation’s records.

Electronic database generated from the manual database and has evolved as time is changing. According to Brown (2017) academic record keeping generally consisted of three distinct periods: (1) an early period (1840-1910) that was characterised by large variation in student record keeping and a lack of defined relationships and hierarchy among educational institutions and levels. Uniformity in student record keeping particularly with the adoption of the Carnegie Unit became a way of solidifying practices of record keeping but also of institutional status and belonging, (2) a period of rapid expansion of higher education (1910-1970) in which postsecondary institutions had to address the record keeping challenges posed by incorporating new kinds of students, new kinds of institutions, and new patterns of course taking and degree seeking; (3) the modern period (1970 – present) that was characterized both by the continued evolution of the postsecondary sector in terms of new institutions, programs, and types of learners and by new external demands placed on university record keeping by student privacy and public accountability concerns.  Cutting across each of these three periods are questions concerning which institutions may legitimately inscribe on the student record, what information, experiences, and achievements should be recorded; the reciprocal obligations among institutions that maintain students records and the proper role of educational institutions, and governmental entities in addressing these issues.

To think about students’ record management is to think about a complex and overlapping jurisdictional space that students move through as they receive their education from a variety of different educational institutions, at a variety of attainment levels, in a variety of places.  This space is governed by negotiations between and within these educational sectors, these sectors and the students they serve – and the students record a permanent record of those treaties.  Thus, to view the student record historically, is in many respects, to view the compromises that helped give shape to the educational system, its institutions, its functions, its academic currencies and its charges.

This study proceeds with a brief history of record management in The University of Bamenda. The University of Bamenda (UBa) is inextricably linked to that of the Cameroon College of Arts, Science and Technology (CCAST) and Ecole Normale Superieure Annex (ENSAB) Bambili.  The University of Bamenda germinated out of a local initiative hatched in 1962 following reforms in the Educational Policy of West Cameroon. The university was created by decree number 2010/371 of 14^th December 2010.  The primary goals attributed of The University include: teaching, research, and outreach.  Up to 2015, students’ record management was stored using the manual database. As from 2015, the Institution saw the need of electronic database in managing students’ records. The following records are managed using the electronic database: Apply for admission, Check Admission list, online registration procedures, News, UBa student (a plat form to register courses and check results) and Student Guide.

1.2.            Statement of the Problem

Prior to the introduction of electronic database, almost all of the information an organization needed to store was organized using manual filing system. Typical methods included cabinets and index records. As the world is changing, the evolution of technology and modernization are inevitable and we can observe that the things around us are altered that may affect the effectiveness of academic institutions, the management of students’ records in the University of Bamenda is not an exception to this role.  This is as a result of the absence of a legislative instrument (records management policy) to regulate the management of records in these institutions.  More so, due to lack of proper training on technology and modernization,  staff who are involved in records keeping and management find it difficult and time consuming to perform proper classification and filing of manual students records, time wastage in retrieving documents and loss of vital documents. This causes a halt in operations, mistrust and incurs to both the institutions and its students hence the situation must be addressed.

Experience has shown that, owing to inefficiency in the practice of record management in the University of Bamenda,  finds it very difficult to retrieve records promptly in case of control. The problems of record management identified include; absence of well-defined records management practice or policy, lack of storage space and equipment (when these records are not properly stored, it results to misplacement and loss of some essential documents).  Moreover, most universities have problems in records management because they do not find it necessary to train personnel in the areas of records management thus leading to problems with retrieval and disposal of records. Computerization has led to rapid and dynamic changes in the way the University of Bamenda operates. Directors of Schools and Faculties today encounter a much wider range of records, paper-based and electronic than they dealt with ten years ago.  Even the strategies adopted for integrating and managing paper and electronic records will be subject to change over time. As from 2015, the use of electronic database in managing students’ records has greatly improved record-keeping in The University of Bamenda though the institution still faced with most of the challenges.

Given the fact that all these have been put in place and problems continue to exist, it therefore means that the root causes of the problems are still to be identified and solved.  It is on the bases of the above that this study “The role of Electronic Database on students’ record management in the University of Bamenda” is out to identify the root cause or causes of the problem with the intention to provide final solution to the problem.  To achieve this goal, some questions will be asked. 

1.2.1.                   Research Questions

The main research question is what is the role of electronic database on students’ record management in the University of Bamenda? Specifically, this study seeks to provide answers to the following research questions;

1. What is the effect of the introduction of electronic database of students’ control assessment and exams marks and in The University of Bamenda?
2. What is the role of electronic database of students’ school fees in The University of Bamenda?
3. What are the contributions of effective electronic database of students’ identification in The University of Bamenda?

1.3.            Objectives of the Study

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the role of electronic database on students’ record management in in the University of Bamenda. This study specifically seeks to:

1. Investigate into the effect of the introduction of electronic database of students’ control assessment and exams marks and in The University of Bamenda?
2. Assess the role of electronic database of students’ school fees in The University of Bamenda?
3. Identify contributions of effective electronic students’ identification in The University of Bamenda?