Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to identify and meet the counselling needs of
distance students, focusing on College of Distance Education (CoDE), University
of Cape Coast (UCC) diploma students, in order to help shape students’
academic success. The moderating roles of organisational culture and
effective counselling service delivery were also considered. The descriptive
survey design was used. The sample size of the study was 1110. Purposive
sampling technique was used to select three regional capitals (Greater-Accra,
Ashanti and Northern Regions) while stratified random sampling technique
was used to select the respondents. Questionnaire with a reliability coefficient
of 0.895 was the instrument used. Out of the 1110 questionnaires administered,
the researcher was able to collect 1075 completed and accurate questionnaires,
representing 96.8 percent response rate. The independent samples
t-test and hierarchical linear multiple regression analysis were used to analyse
the data. The findings of the study revealed that diploma students of CoDE
had four broad priority counselling needs. Furthermore, the counselling needs
of distance students were not adequately met by the College. The study concludes
that whenever the organisational culture of the college supports the activities
of the counselling unit, and also when the service delivery of the unit
is perceived to be effective, the unit is able to meet students’ identified priority
needs which will in turn lead to students’ academic success. However, to
enhance academic success, students’ personal characteristics such as gender,
age and level of study should be considered when identifying and meeting the
counselling needs of students. It is recommended to the College to nurture
the kind of atmosphere that will support counselling activities in order to
help boost students’ academic success.
