An evaluation of the current marketing practices by students at the University of Natal Pietermaritzburg (UNP) for self-funded teaching programmes in the school of business.

Abstract

The objective of this dissertation is to evaluate the current marketing practices as viewed by students at the University of Natal - Pietermaritzburg (UNP) for self-funded courses. Data was collected from a sample size of 221, of which 196 student opinions were established. A sample size of 196, represented 38,7 % of the total population, and can be considered as an adequate sample size. This also confirms that the sample size is a true representation of the population. The instrument used for the research was a structured questionnaire, formulated by reviewing the literature in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. The analysis of the data was done using a software package called SPSS vII,S. The interpretation of these results was illustrated with the use of bar graphs and pie charts, with a written narration for each question of the questionnaire. The analysis of the results reflects that students feel very positive about the University's current marketing practices. All departments were rated as at least "good" by the students in terms of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles. Recommendations were formulated as the result of the findings, and challenges facing the University of Natal were presented.