Abstract:
Customer service has recently become an important subject with significant consequences for academic institutions. However, there is a lack of research in this area and relevant, scientifically justifiable studies should assist in determining what is required for the provision of good quality service to students. The purpose of this study was to determine the difference between the expectations of service and the perceptions of actual service provided by the Human Resources Department at the University of Pretoria. The respondent group included students from a variety of disciplines who chose Industrial and Organisational Psychology as subject. Based on the survey method a questionnaire was used to gather the relevant information. The literature study identified five important dimensions of customer service namely tangibles, reliability, responsibility, security and empathy. The expectations and perceptions of the students (n=255) of actual service in terms of the above dimensions were determined and weighed against each other. The results of this study showed that although there is room for improvement, the level of customer service provided by the department was proven to be satisfactory. The following conclusions were made regarding the perceptions of the research group in terms of current and expected levels of service. Aspects that appeared to be most satisfactory, were appearance of employees, reliability of lecturers, safety of interaction, time spent with students and keeping of accurate records. There is room for improvement in the following areas: spending time with individuals, current working and consulting hours, efficiency of available facilities and attention given to students' needs. Field of study, age, language, residence, academic and historical year did not have any effect worth mentioning on the perceptions of current levels of service. Biographical variables did have an impact on the expectations of levels of service.
