Assessing customer satisfaction of campus information technology departments in a community college setting using TQM principles

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess customer satisfaction of campus information technology (IT) departments in a community college setting using TQM principles. The study used both quantitative and qualitative research methods. A survey with Likert-scale questions and open-ended questions was utilized to obtain data from 104 full-time faculty and full-time staff employed by a multi-campus community college. Fifty-eight surveys were returned by respondents for a response rate of 56%. Those surveys provided the data for the five research questions of the study. Findings of the study led to several conclusions regarding customers' satisfaction with their campus IT department. The findings revealed that there were no statistically significant differences between faculty and staff in their customer satisfaction in various service dimensions (e.g., responsiveness, access, and reliability) as well as their overall customer satisfaction. The IT services customers cited as most satisfying were the maintenance services. Customers also reported staffing as an issue needing improvement. In particular, they cited their IT department as understaffed. Comments expressed by customers reported their satisfaction with the personal attributes or characteristics of the IT staff. Implications to campus IT decision makers and IT departments included: (1) a review of IT staffing to determine if departments are adequately staffed, (2) the adoption of TQM strategies and policies to improve IT services, (3) an increase in software and hardware training to faculty and staff, and (4) the ongoing evaluation of IT customers to determine their customer satisfaction. Recommendations for future research included studies to determine: (1) customer satisfaction and the degree of TQM principles utilized by IT leaders, (2) customer satisfaction of various service dimensions using only qualitative research, (3) the success of IT departments which have implemented TQM principles, (4) appropriate staffing levels for IT departments, and (5) appropriate assessment techniques to measure customer satisfaction in the various services provided by an IT department.