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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the design and operation factors that affect the provision of fire‐safe student housing facilities, and to present the development of a proposed operational framework for fire safety evaluation of student housing facilities.

The paper identifies the causes of fire accidents in student housing facilities and classifies the factors that make it a high fire‐risk type of facility. It identifies several common design deficiencies contributing to student housing fires and reviews measures to prevent fires in student housing facilities. The paper also presents a series of guidelines for use by facility managers for the provision of safe facilities.

The proposed operational framework for fire safety evaluation in student housing facilities consists of five sequential processes, namely: archival and document evaluation; development of an audit worksheet; commencement of the walk‐through inspection; reporting of inspection findings; and development of a plan for remedial actions.

This paper serves to increase the awareness about fires and their devastating effects in residential university facilities. The paper provides practical value to the design professional of student housing projects, student housing administrators, and facility managers responsible for the daily operation of student housing facilities.

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a post‐occupancy evaluation of the major technical and functional elements of performance on a type of student housing facilities at the campus of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

The paper analyses published literature to review knowledge areas pertaining to technical and functional performance requirement elements in student housing facilities. Past maintenance work orders for the building were evaluated and analysed for the purpose of identifying frequent and major areas of complaints and discomfort to the occupants. A user satisfaction survey was developed to obtain the students' indicative feedback on their experience with the 48 identified performance elements.

The findings of the survey were analysed and reported to describe the degree of satisfaction with the identified performance elements. The paper examined the extent to which various success factors in the student housing facility had been realised.

A post‐occupancy evaluation can provide valuable feedback to planners, design professionals, housing administrators and facility managers involved in the planning, design and operation of student housing facilities. Post‐occupancy evaluation can assist in continually improving the quality and performance of the student housing facilities they design, construct, operate and maintain.

This paper aims to ascertain the adequacy of the facilities provided in the students' hostels and to also investigate the level of satisfaction of the students to the available facilities.

A total number of 250 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents. A cluster sampling method was used in the data collection in which attempt was made to get a fair representation on each floor of the hostel blocks. The data collected were then analysed using descriptive statistics such as the mean score and standard deviation.

The result showed that students were generally dissatisfied with the hostel facilities with a mean score of 2.42 on a five-point scale which represents 66.6 percent dissatisfaction level. The result also showed that not all the necessary facilities as noted by other researchers were provided for the student in the hostel.

This result points to the need for a pragmatic and dynamic approach towards providing adequate and relevant facilities in the hostel accommodation to meet the minimum standard as obtained in other higher institution as this will invariably enhance the image of the institution and make it a top institution of choice to prospective students'.

Previous studies have always tended to focus on the management and administrative aspects of students housing, this paper provides the students perspective of the housing facilities thereby giving room for continuous improvement in student housing.

The purpose of this paper is to present the development and implementation of a qualitative, code-compliance framework for property managers of student housing facilities.

The paper identified the fire safety code requirements for student housing facilities and arranged these requirements in the form of a checklist, which was further validated by professional experts. Additionally, the paper presented an IDEF₀ (Integrated Definition for Function Modeling) framework model that illustrates a stepwise process for the deployment of the checklist. A case study was conducted on three similar student housing facilities in a university campus to demonstrate the application of the framework. Furthermore, the findings from the case study were reported along with recommendations to improve the degree of compliance with the requirements of fire safety codes.

The developed framework was validated by professional experts and through a case study. Fire safety provisions were mostly found to be adequate in the case study building. The authors proposed several actions to improve the current status of fire safety in the building.

The paper serves to disseminate awareness about the occurrence of fires, their severe consequences and precautionary measures in student housing facilities. It also provides a standardized checklist for ease of use by property managers who may be unable to understand the technical terminologies found in fire safety codes and standards. Thus, the developed framework is of tangible value to property managers, building specialists and student housing administrators.

Security, safety, environment and health have become an integral part of facility management (FM). Therefore, FM departments within organisations are required to put measures in place to safeguard facility users. This paper thus aims to investigate and compare the safety and security measures that are provided in the student housing of two universities in South Africa.

A mixed method approach was adopted; interview was used to collect qualitative data, whereas a questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect quantitative data. Content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data, whereas both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data.

It became evident that university B had a better provision of safety and security measures in the student housing than university A. The study also found that both universities had some lapses in the safety and security measures provided in the student housing. Measures that were lacking in both universities were weapon detector, closed-circuit television (CCTV), water sprinkler system, burglar bars on the doors, lift for disabled students, disabled toilet facility, traffic light, tags for vehicles, first aid box, accident book and medically trained personnel.

Data were collected from only two universities, making it difficult to generalise the findings of the research. For a broader perspective, a study that expands the number of participating universities is recommended.

The facility management and safety department in the universities can use the recommendations to improve on the safety and security measures required in the student housing. Moreover, the recommendations can contribute to the development of policy frameworks for student housing safety.

There is a paucity of studies on student housing safety/security worldwide, and South Africa in particular. With this study, the authors contribute to the body of knowledge in this area of research.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a prioritisation framework that can guide the provision and management of on-campus student housing facility (SHF) services of southern Ghana Universities.

The paper adopted a phenomenological research strategy. Data was collected by means of focus group discussions (FGDs); a total of ten FGDs were conducted. Observations were also done during the site visit to augment the FGDs. The data were analysed thematically.

The study found that some services are perceived as “extremely important” and “basic” while others are seen as “unimportant” and “indifferent”. Services including; electricity, water, security, internet, cleaning service, maintenance service, generator, ventilation (fan), health service, library service, electric socket, study furniture, refuse collection, pest control and fire extinguisher were perceived by students as “extremely important”. However, not all of these services were perceived as “basic” requirements.

The framework can be used as a guide by facility and hostel managers to effectively prioritise and manage the services required in a university SHF. Moreover, when designing, constructing and adapting student housing facilities, the framework can be used as a guide to ensure that all critical services are provided in the student housing facilities.

Although several studies have been conducted on student housing, studies that specifically focuses on the services required in a SHF and the prioritisation of such services is lacking. This study combines students’ requirements, importance levels of requirements, and classification of requirements to develop a prioritisation system for student housing services.

The paper aims to investigate the level of student satisfaction with campus student housing facilities (SHF) at Malaysian research universities (RUs) and the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty behaviour.

The student residential satisfaction (SRS) framework has been proposed to investigate residential satisfaction from the students' viewpoint. Questionnaires were distributed to respondents in three RUs. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics.

In general, students are satisfied with the provided SHF with the SRS index of 2.96 or 74 per cent satisfaction level and there is a significant relationship between overall satisfaction and loyalty behaviour. The results also confirmed that the proposed model is an adequate instrument to measure SRS.

The existence of quality SHF is likely to act as an effective medium to attract local and international students to enrol in Malaysian universities. Further actions should be geared towards achieving a higher score of SRS index.

This paper introduces a practical model of SRS to be applied to universities in other countries with similar climate and culture.

Given the importance of hostels to students’ welfare and academic performance and recognition of the roles youths can play for affordable university housing, this study aims to investigate hostel management problems in the Buea Municipality, an educational hub in the South West Region of Cameroon. It explores potentials for youth advocacy for affordable university housing within the process of efficient hostel management.

The data were collected through a descriptive survey design from May to July 2015 via reconnaissance surveys, field observation, photographs, administration of questionnaires to hostel tenants (students) and interviews with hostel managers and law enforcement officials. The data have been presented and analysed using descriptive statistical techniques involving frequency tables, charts and percentages. Cartographic techniques have also been used to locate the study area.

It was found that hostel management problems in Buea stem from flaws arising from both hostel managers (landlords and/or caretakers) and hostel tenants (students) in contravention to affordable student housing and good governance principles of rent control, accountability, transparency, equality, participation and fairness. The notable hostel management problems found are indiscriminate rent increase, lack of transparency in billing and non-functional sub metres and non-refund of caution deposits by hostel managers, as well as violation of hostel rules, damage of hostel facilities and “selling of rooms” by hostel tenants.

This paper contends that youths have to be mainstreamed in the hostel management process with better platforms of advocating for affordable university students’ housing through rent control and other good governance practices in their hostel setting. It is hoped that the proposed efficient hostel management system and mainstreaming youth-led advocacy activities in affordable university students’ housing will go a long way to enhance students’ welfare and academic performance, help in rent control, fight against bribery and corruption and other governance problems.

There are several types of accommodation available to students of higher education institutions, and it is the responsibility of the institutions to focus on factors that can attract and retain students to their residences. This study aims to investigate satisfaction of higher institutions students with on-campus accommodation with an emphasis on the ethnicity of the students.

Using convenience sampling method, questionnaires were administered to students of selected residences in the study area. Mean item score was used to rank identified factors, whereas mean gap and Kruskal–Wallis K-test were adopted to examine the difference in opinion of students from various ethnic groups.

Overall, major features that make students dissatisfied with university-owned accommodations are enforcement of rule that compels all students to move out with their belongings during each recess, the effectiveness of the lift system, the size of wardrobe and closet, laundry service in the residence, numbers of electrical sockets and window quality. Considering dwelling unit features, neighbourhood, environmental, building quality and services provided by residence management, this study reveals that there is a significant difference in the satisfaction of students of diverse ethnic groups with their accommodation.

The study was limited to on-campus residences owned by higher education institutions in South Africa. However, the findings of the study can be adopted for off-campus residences, and such owned by private individuals, agencies and other bodies provided are approved by the institutions.

The findings of this study will help management of higher education institutions to improve quality of services in their residences for the satisfaction of their students. Developers, contractors and other stakeholders involved in construction of these residences will also find the findings useful in designing and construction of the facilities.

Although studies on student residential satisfaction abound, yet there are limited studies conducted on students’ satisfaction in respect of hostel accommodation facilities undertaken through public-private partnerships (PPPs) in Nigeria. The purpose of this study is to assess the level of students’ satisfaction with the provision of university hostel accommodation facility using build-operate-transfer (BOT) model at University of Lagos (Unilag), Nigeria.

The study adopted literature review and questionnaire survey within the case study of a BOT hostel accommodation facility at Unilag in Nigeria. The students who reside at the case study were the respondents. Hence, 153 self-administered questionnaires were purposively distributed face-to-face to the entire student population that live in the BOT hostel. Thus, a total of 96 completed questionnaires representing 63 per cent were collected and found suitable for the analysis. The data collected were analysed using the mean score and chi-square (χ²) test.

The study revealed a total mean satisfaction level of 3.46 (on a 5-point Likert scale), which indicates that students are “somehow satisfied” with the university hostel accommodation facility undertaken through BOT. The study further established that age and level of students have no significant influence on the overall students’ satisfaction with their hostel accommodation facility undertaken through BOT.

The study would provide valuable feedback to private investors, university authorities and facility managers of higher education institutions to improve their services in the near future.

The identified variables that have tested to be significant in assessing students’ level of satisfaction in BOT hostel accommodation facilities could be used to assess users’ satisfaction in similar facilities delivered through PPPs in other countries.