Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to determine how effective the utilisation of social
media was in disseminating student recruitment information by the University of
Education, Winneba (UEW). The study used three research questions and two
hypothesis which focused on the students’ level of awareness of the social media
(SM) platforms, the types of information students searched for on these platforms
and their perception of their effectiveness in enhancing the student recruitment
efforts of the UEW.
A cross-sectional descriptive sample survey was carried out using
questionnaire. Data were analysed using frequencies, percentages, means and
standard deviation, t-test and chi-squared tests. Stratified random sampling and
the table of random numbers was used to select a sample of 364 from a population
of 7124 fresh undergraduate students of the UEW. Results revealed that students
were generally aware of the various channels used to disseminate student
recruitment information at the UEW. However, the awareness of the use of SM
platforms for such purposes was low. Facebook was the main SM used by
students to search for the academic characteristics of UEW. T-test and chisquared
analysis revealed that all students irrespective of gender and age search
for different types of information concerning a university on social media.
The study recommends that, UEW should endeavour to use variety of
sources; both traditional and modern, to reach prospective students. Again, UEW
should actively use SM engagement strategies and ensure that the content on its
SM platforms are accurate and relevant to the needs of prospective students.
