SERVICE MANAGEMENT OF REGISTRAR OFFICES

IN THE DIVISION OF ANTIPOLO: INPUTS

TO IMPROVEMENT PLAN

A Thesis Proposal

Presented to the

Faculty of the Graduate School

University of Rizal System

Pililla, Rizal

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Master in Public Administration

NORMAN VINCENT ILUSTRE DADEA

October 2021
 ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ii
LIST OF FIGURES iii

1 The Problem and Its Background 1

Introduction 1
Background of the Study 4
Scope and Limitations of the Study 6
Statement of the Problem 6
Hypotheses 8
Theoretical Framework 8
Conceptual Framework 10
Definition of Terms 11

2 Review of Related Literature and Studies 13

Registrar’s Office 13
Services 15
Management 18
Service Management 20
Improvement Plan 21

3 Research Methodology 25
Method of Research Used 25
Setting of the Study 26
Subject of the Study 28
Procedure of the Study 28
Sources of Data 29
Sampling Design and Sample 30
Construction of the Instrument 31
Validation of the Instrument 31
Administration of the Instrument 32
Data Gathering Procedure 33

REFERENCES 34

APPENDICES 37

Appendix A: Consent to Participate 37

Appendix B: Cover Letter Sent to Experts for Validation 38
Appendix C: Curriculum Vitae 39
 iii

LIST OF FIGURES

Number Title Page

1 Paradigm of the Study 10

2 Map of Antipolo City, Rizal 27
 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

This chapter includes the Introduction, Background of the Study, the Scope and

Limitations of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Hypotheses, the Theoretical

and Conceptual Frameworks, and Definition of Terms.

Introduction

As a result of the technological advancement in this generation, the registration

and records functions are becoming more automated and the registrar is becoming a

data manager. Data Management is a responsible way of handling documents and data

in the Information Age.

In a government setting, particularly in a public school, there are innovations

introduced to be at par with what private institutions are using in the recording and

registration of students’ grades and other specific information. With the introduction of

the Learner’s Information System (LIS) of the Department of Education (DepEd),

accessibility and usability of the said system proves to be a reliable database for the

registrar, faculty, and the students. 2

During President Benigno S. Aquino regime, the administration revisited the

basic education curriculum and adopted the inclusion of Senior High School from other

countries like in our neighboring states in Southeast Asia and approved the

implementation of Republic Act No. 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of

2013 (K-12 Curriculum). The said act aims to improve the quality of basic education in

the country and the career growth of teaching profession as well as the provision of
non-teaching positions to help and assist the school in its administration and

implementation of the said curriculum.

DepEd started and implemented its new curriculum on 2016. New plantilla

positions or items were opened like Assistants Principal II and Master Teachers as well

as non-teaching positions like Registrars I, Guidance Counselors II, Nurses II, Project

Development Officers I, Administrative Officers II, and Administrative Assistants II. The

department issued DepEd Order No. 19, s. 2016 or the Guidelines on the

Organizational Structures and Staffing Patterns of Stand-Alone and Integrated Public

Senior High Schools (SHS) which provide the organizational structures and the Position

Description Form (PDF) of every plantilla positions. The Registrar I position was

provided with four (4) Key Result Areas (KRAs) which include the enrolment process,

Learners Information System (LIS) management, receiving and/or releasing of

documents/records, and records management.

Registrar Offices are not limited to students’ and school records, the office serves

as the central information bank of the school and the faculty in dealing with enrolment

system, class schedules, teachers updating and monitoring of grades, and many others. 3

There are seventeen (17) senior high schools’ registrar’s offices in the Division of

Antipolo and these are (1) Antipolo City Senior High School, (2) Antipolo City National

Science and Technology High School, (3) Calawis NHS, (4) Canumay NHS (5) Dalig

NHS, (6) Dela Paz NHS, (7) Kaysakat NHS, (8) Marcelino M. Santos NHS, (9) Maximo

L. Gatlabayan Memorial NHS, (10) Mayamot NHS, (11) Muntindilaw NHS, (12) Old

Boso-boso NHS, (13) Rizza NHS, (14) San Isidro NHS, (15) San Jose NHS, (16) San

Juan NHS, and (17) San Roque NHS.

 The first encounter of students and parents in a school setting is the

administrative office, and in this case, the registrar’s office, and this will leave a lasting

imprint for their entire experience in secondary school education.

Private schools face hardened competition in the overall retention of students

more so because of the pandemic that hits the world and the Philippines beginning of

School Year 2020-2021. In the public school setting, student retention proves also to be

a challenge for schools and the Registrar Office particularly the Registrar role is

imperative and essential to make students and parents keen on enrolling by extending

their responsibility and by being passionate in making students’ stay and enroll in their

schools.

Registrar’s Offices must be committed to achieve a higher level of efficiency and

effectiveness in pursuit of its functions and excellence. Functions of a Registrar’s Office

is not limited to what a normal person know. There must be a standard process more so

for it is a frontline service of schools, particularly in student-related registration,

enrollment related activities, admission and scheduling, credit validation and evaluation,

and records management and other academic-related processes.

More studies about service management---local and foreign studies—this will inform the

reader the significance of studying the service management.

Having a Registrars’ Office is valuable to the school for it is beneficial to the

organization since with its results, it could lead the organization into the spotlight with

the proposed improvements and development that can be implemented. The Registrars

will be a great help and significance, for the evaluation can help him in the improvement

and development of services given to the students and the school. The school,
community, and the general public will benefit from a favourable assistance because,

with this study, the delivery of services in the organization and students can further be

improved. Lastly, the future researchers, who will have similar topics and studies can

base their researches on this study and can form part of their research materials.

Background of the Study

The Registrar’s Office was supposed to start in 1909 and initially served the dual

role and function of registrar and bookkeeping for schools. Registrar services have

expanded through the years relative to the need of the academic and school

community.

This research aims to evaluate the quality of service and its management given

and offered to the school and the students of the Registrar’s Offices in the Division of

Antipolo and subsequently proposed an improvement plan, an enhanced development

action, and a sustainable action program for the betterment of its services.

The main purpose of having a registrar’s office in a school is to have a keeper of

academic and curriculum records which is vital to school functions and processes.

According to Quann (1979) registrar services have expanded through the years

relative to the need of the school community. As time passes by, its dual function of

being just a registrar and bookkeeping transformed into provision of academic support

services in three major categories: registration activities, organization, administration,

and maintenance of academic records, and graduation services.

 The Registrar’s Office strives to maintain the balance between supporting

existing quality services and solutions while exploring, developing, and utilizing

technological advances and opportunities. 5

The researcher would like to know the current situation of the seventeen (17)

SHS Registrar Offices in the Division of Antipolo, and by doing so find out the gaps in

service provided in the school, the students, and the school community. Private schools

do have the liberty of advance technologies and online databases to perform different

registrar works and activities.

I DON’T SEE ANY GAPS!

Knowing the different perceptions and ideas of the seventeen Registrar’s Office

personnel will be a significant answer to address the gaps Registrar’s Offices have.

(What are these gaps?) This is where you can explain the gap which is the basis of your

study—spell out to. Be your theoretical framework as your reference.

Improvement and development plans for the Registrars Offices will guide the

Division Office administration and management, the School Heads and personnel, and

most importantly, the Registrars on their daily operational routines and activities as well

as their short-term and long-term goals and initiatives in doing and learning what are the

best practices and implementations they are doing, the things they do right and ways to

improve to make some things right, the way that they can steward their resources

economically and wisely, and how to efficiently and effectively serve each other and the

school community.
 Registrars and the school faculty are vital components to the school as well as

the front end to the schools’ service quality. This study will attempt to measure and

assure positive quality service complementing that of the academe. 6

Satisfaction characterizes the quality of products and services that the company

or organization delivers to its customers that serves as the basis for continuous

improvement and development. In this regard, this paper will tackle not just the student

satisfaction but the school and community satisfaction in the service management of

Registrars Offices in the Division of Antipolo City as a medium to propose and

subsequently improve and have a sustainable action plan and enhanced registration

program.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

The research study is limited to the evaluation and assessment of the service

management of the Senior High Schools Registrar’s Offices in the Division of Antipolo

as the basis and inputs for its improvement plan. These offices are Antipolo City Senior

High School, Antipolo City National Science and Technology High School, Calawis

NHS, Canumay NHS, Dalig NHS, Dela Paz NHS, Kaysakat NHS, Marcelino M. Santos

NHS, Maximo L. Gatlabayan Memorial NHS, Mayamot NHS, Muntindilaw NHS, Old

Boso-boso NHS, Rizza NHS, San Isidro NHS, San Jose NHS, San Juan NHS, and San

Roque NHS. The Registrars handling the said offices will be the participants of this

study.
 The study is proposed to be done within the School Year 2021-2022 and this will

be done through an in-depth interview with the SHS Registrars and questionnaire to

faculty and students.

The research study’s main objective is to implement a uniform guidelines and

protocols in the Registrars’ Office delivery of service. (This is ambiguous! Look at your

Statement of the Problem, you said you will evaluate, then you now intend to implement

a set of guidelines? I thought, improvement plan!?)

Statement of the Problem 7

This study aims to evaluate the service management and quality provided by the

Registrar’s Offices in the Division of Antipolo as a basis and inputs for an improvement

plan, (and with that being said, this study will go beyond the LIS and the Registrars’

Office strategies but what are the other offered service of the registrar for the betterment

of the office and the school. Registrar’s Office have different situations under their

respective schools, and the researcher wants to uncover what works for the betterment

of a Registrar’s Office and its entirety) DELETE this! This is wordy irrelevant!

This study ultimately will be conducted to answer questions and focus in certain

areas of concern:

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:

For Registrars and Faculty:

1.1. sex;

1.2. length of service;

1.3. employment status;

 For Students:

1.4. sex;

1.5. age;

1.6. enrolment status?

2. What is the extent of the service management of the Registrar’s Offices as

evaluated by the respondents with respect to:

2.1. enrollment;

2.2. releasing of school records;

2.3. learner’s information system management; and

2.4. records management?

3. Is there a significant difference in the evaluation of the respondents on the

service management of the Registrar’s Office in terms of their profile? Do the

evaluation of the group of respondents differ significantly in terms of

(enumerate the variables)

4. Where is now the intention to offer IMPROVEMENT PLAN / interventions?

From the findings of the study, what Improvement Plan may be proposed

for……

Hypothesis

The following hypotheses will be tested by the researcher: RECAST in null

hypothesis.

1. Sex is a factor in the delivery of service of the Registrar.

2. Tenure of service plays an important role in the performance of the Registrar.

 3. Employment status influences the operation of the Registrars’ Office function.

4. Age is a factor in the delivery of service to the students.

5. Enrolment status of students plays a significant role in the dealing with their

transaction with the Registrar’s Office.

6. Employees’ job satisfaction is positively related to their commitment to the

organization.

7. Administration and management of a specific work or job entails passion, hard

work, and dedication.

Theoretical Framework

THERE IS NO THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK here!? You may use theories in

service management, or TQM.

If you are a combination of TF, state clearly in the beginning of your sentence. Also,
explain why use a combination of TF?

Illustrate the flow-chart of your TF showing the flow in arrows.

Theoretical framework of office productivity, specifically in this case, the

Registrar’s Office, establishes that it is the behavioral environment that has the greatest

impact on office productivity.

It is said that there are dynamic elements within the office environment,

interaction, and distraction that are perceived as having the greatest positive and

negative influences on self-assessed productivity.

These influences will have a great effect on what will be the proposal for an

improvement and development plan for Registrar’s Offices in the Division of Antipolo.
 9

Office productivity encompasses the interactive relationship between the

Registrar’s Office and the people whom it supposed to serve. Perceived service quality

is an antecedent to satisfaction and a proper understanding of the antecedents and

determinants of customer satisfaction can be seen to have an extraordinarily high value

for money for a service organization in a competitive environment.

What are the variables in the theoretical framework—state these variables clearly

in sentence statement.

This research is built on insights from areas such as service management,

service branding, and value proposition theory against the background of the service-

dominant logic. Design thinking and the interaction with customers serves as the core

position in this work. The theoretical framework for this thesis is strongly affected by the

collaborative nature of service design projects and the complexity of service

development projects.

Service-dominant logic emerged over a decade ago as a potential framework

and paradigmatic lens for rethinking the role of service in exchange and value creation.

These include open innovation, dynamic capabilities, organizational micro-foundations,

and service systems, as well as social capital and consumer culture theories. (Wilden et

al., 2017).

10

Conceptual Framework

Explain all the Independent Variables that you got from your Theoretical Framework and
what other variables did you add? And where did you get the added variables, and why
did you choose these variables? Explaining this will clarify the use of your Conceptual
Framework. Due to the uniqueness of the study on “______”, the researcher added the
following variables as described by an author.
Mediating variables must all be spelled out in your illustration.

Your proposed intervention should an arrow outside the Dependent Variables.

Figure 1. Paradigm of the Study

What is this? If this is your Conceptual framework, do not use “Paradigm”—just “Conceptual
Framework. A paradigm is a proven theory but CF is still to be researched). Your TF can
be a paradigm but jut your CF is a new Concept that combines two sets of TF and/or
whatever you added as a new variable OR a combination of TF that is not yet proven.

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

In-depth Interview of SHS

Registrars:

1. Identify the Schools and

the Respondents.
2. Seek their approval to
join as Respondents or
Interviewees.
3. Prepare a set of Guide
Questions validated by
three Experts.
4. Set a virtual meeting
with the Respondents in
a time most convenient
for them.
1. Enrolment
5. Record the interview
2. Releasing of for proper
School Records documentation of the
3. Learner’s conversation.
Information System Questionnaire for Faculty Improvement Plan
Management and students:
4. Records
1. Seek the approval of
Management the Division Office to
conduct study
2. Prepare a set of
Questions validated by
three Experts.
3. Identify the faculty and
students through simple
random sampling
4. Disseminate the
Questionnaires to the
respondents
5. Set a time to collect the
Questionnaire to the
faculty and students
 11
FEEDBACK
Figure 1 represents the chronology of activities that were followed from the

conceptualization up to the final product of the study. It has been classified into three

major components namely: input, process, and output. Wherein INPUT is the

information, ideas, and resources used in creating a program. Details in the INPUT

section are the services being offered in a Registrars’ Office. It is where the start of any

transaction between the Registrar or Registrar-designate and the client namely student,

parent, faculty, or the general public.

PROCESS is the actions taken upon/using input or stored material. In the

PROCESS section, a detailed information regarding how the study will be conducted

was given from the identification of the respondents to the actual documentation of the

interview or conversation between the interviewer and the interviewee.

OUTPUT is the result of the processing that then exits the system. This is where

the analysis of the whole interview conversation will be done. It will give the researcher

the inputs needed for the achievement of the study and its objectives.

FEEDBACK is the critical piece that goes back from the output to process and/or

input to improve the whole input--->process---->output chain.

Definition of Terms
 The following terms are defined as conceptually and operationally as follows:

Where are the sources then?

Age. Length of time that a person has lived.

Employment Status. Designation of an individual in school whether plantilla

position, designate, or job order. 12

Enrolment. School registration process that inserts, registers, and enters name

in a masterlist for a school year.

Enrolment Status. Students’ status in school whether regular or irregular.

Improvement Plan. Demonstrates and sustaining good stewardship of the

resources, entrusted programs, and supporting the plans and undertakings of the

organization for its development and improvement.

Learner’s Information System. Department of Education unified enrollment

system that tracks and monitors the students’ status (eligibility and previous school).

Length of Service. Tenure of the Registrar and Faculty to the School.

Records Management. An application of a systematic and scientific control of

records.

Registrar. An official responsible for keeping register or official records.

Releasing of School Records. Process of issuing a document to a requesting

party.

Service Management. Service given to reach the organization’s goal.

Sex. Biological and physiological characteristic of an individual.

 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter contains previous literature and studies relevant to the study.

Books, articles, and journals that are in sync with subjects such as registrar’s office;

services; management, service management, and improvement plan.

DILGENTLY ADD ALL VARIABLES!

State the variables followed. By your exhaustive (at least 3-4) literature that supports

each of the variables of your studies)—Do this to all your variables---MOST IMPORTANT

PART IN CHAPTER 2.

This Gap should ALSO BE stated earlier in your Background of Study). I DID NOT SEE

HOW THE LITERTAURE OR STUDIES SHOW THE GAP ANALYSIS. Remember that the

CF variables is the reason for your research. Without the IV, there is NO research.

Registrar’s Office
 In a school setting, no administrative office has undergone a more rapid evolution

and development in the last few years and decades than the registrar’s office. From the

usual small, poorly equipped, and ill-functioning office it has developed into one of the

school’s great services. The records that were once kept in heavy, musty-bound books,

and stored away unused, without protection from fire, are now organized in a modern

way, preserved in fireproof storage, and not left idle, and constantly employed as a

basis for instruction and administration.

According to Las Johansen (2017) the traditional method of data storage has

shown its impact in managing documents from security, retrieval, and monitoring.

Archival/storage of students’ records are one of the most important in any school

setting.

Records and their interpretation together with its analysis has become a guide in

directing educational procedure. Well-kept records show trends and can indicate the

policies that may or should be pursued in the future.

14
Innovative methods are used by the schools to improve their services that affect

the institution’s enrolment-management function, primarily in registration and

information management. Registrars’ offices can also promote academic excellence by

incorporating honors into transcripts, participate in student recruitment by providing

timely schedule information, and streamline alumni transcript services.

Parks and Holmes (2015) articulated that registrars and admissions officers know

student data better than any others in school or in campus. They create hundreds of

reports annually; meet with students to discuss a broad range of academic and policy-
related issues; and advise, recruit, and admit students. They often are considered the

hub of school knowledge.

This is not to deny that their roles encompass more duties and responsibilities

than ever before, and they are expected to achieve at the highest levels—often with

dwindling resources.

There should be a summarized communication guidelines and best practices for

registrar professionals (Kitch, 2015). Communication is an important matter to focus on

in dealing with the Registrars’ Office for most of the time verbal interaction are the way

of communication between the Registrars and the students.

Jacob and Solomon (2021) imparted that some problems facing the Office of the

Registrar include inadequate funding of the office of the Registrar, inadequate staff,

inadequate infrastructural facilities, inadequate working materials, inadequate capacity

development of staff in the Registrar’s Office.

Hope (2021) verbalized that at heart, enrollment management is about recruiting

and retaining successful students to graduate. The Registrar's Office plays a big role in

that endeavor, regardless of where it sits in the institution's reporting structure. 15

Post-secondary institutions are continually striving to improve the experience

their students have on campus. They have an Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP)

that addresses the lack of a strategic approach to the implementation of an integrated

services model for the Registrar’s Office. (Charron, 2021)

The adoption of an integrated services delivery model within the Registrar’s

Office is one aspect of the institution’s overall plan to enhance the student experience.
 Chen and Chen (2014) emphasized that in the contest of competitive

differentiation and customer retention, both service quality and customer satisfaction

have increasingly been identified as the major factors in the success of a Registrars’

Office.

Services

Services are deeds, acts, or performances that are created through one or more

process. It is a result of a concerted effort by various components of the service

organization.

Talking about service means talking about quality. Quality defines a set of

properties and characteristics of a product or service that helps satisfying customer

requirements. According to ISO 9000: 2000, quality is "all the features of an entity that

gives it the ability to satisfy expressed or implied needs". Quality management,

accordingly, coordinates activities to direct and control an organization with regard to

quality. The client wants to have confidence in the company's ability to provide the

required quality and to maintain this quality (Neacşu, 2015).

16

Haksever and Render (2013) pointed out that service is intangible and

perishable. It is created and consumed simultaneously. Provision and consumption of

most services are inseparable; they can be consumed only when they are produced.

Registrar’s office is considered the key player of the school and the institution

mainly because it is capable of providing support to keep the school running capably
and as it should. The Registrar’s office also brings the improvement of services and

tried out new initiatives in an institution to fully emerge in the digital age (Sutton, 2018).

The Office of the Registrar in schools is an academic service unit that directly

reports to the Head or the Principal. It provides services and information to students,

faculty, and other constituencies. The office strives to maintain the balance between

supporting existing quality services and solutions while exploring, developing, and

utilizing technological advances and opportunities.

The non-teaching staff or personnel administrative team working in the

elementary or secondary school involves a great variety of activities and dealing with

people. One of the administrative team’s primary goals is the promotion of life, liberty,

and happiness of persons. The Registrar or keeper of records main job is recently

developed but vital to the school’s function. The chief task of the office was to carry out

requests like school transactions and most importantly, the student records. 17

Registrar’s Office works are the following and that each has its vital importance in

their carrying out of its services. The office corresponded with prospective students,

conducted high school visitations, sent and received application forms, oversaw

scholarship and financial aid rewards, greeted freshmen and transfer students,

conducted orientations, advised students on their programs and courses, counselled

them on vacations and careers, schedule their classes, forecast enrolments, analyzed

teaching loads, and even sometimes suggests curriculum revisions to the faculty.

(Smith, 2012).

According to Madar (2016) quality of products and services are the key to

organizational success. For this quality to be appreciated by customers, the

organization must implement a number of quality strategies. These include the

organization staff’ development strategy. In the Registrars’ Office, the staff has an

important role in achieving product and services quality, but also in improving the quality

of all organization’s activities.

Snider et al. (2011) research focused on specific systematic assessment

methods for analyzing quality issues faced by the university registrar and library system.

We utilize the bottom-up approach in analyzing and solving the library’s individual

quality issues. The strategies and tools suggested can be easily extended to other

public service systems.

Chen et al. (2018) determines that there should be an Important-Performance

Analysis (IPA) which is a popular approach used by firms to focus resources on crucial

attributes, reduce expenditure on non-critical ones, and develop improvement and

innovation strategies accordingly. However, IPA develops quality improvement plans

based on inaccurate assumptions about the independence between importance and

performance and lacks clear measurement standards, which may lead to inappropriate

recommendations.
18
According to Cheng et al. (2012) the traditional IPA model has been considered

to be a decision-making tool for service quality management. However, the IPA model

does not meet the assumptions of the service quality gap, and also cannot explore the

connection between service quality attributes, which can easily lead to decision-making

errors of service quality management.

 In addition, the total effect of reliability is the highest among all the service quality

dimensions. Reliability and responsiveness, in addition to impacting each other, will

impact assurance and empathy.

Management

The Registrar should be a person professionally trained for the work, and it is

only logical because the Registrar’s Office has reached such a stage of distinct service.

His duties have been rapidly changing. The Registrar, under new circumstances, is

coming to be recognized in schools as a professional specialist.

Staff employed by the ideal Registrar’s Office in schools should have at least a

bachelor’s degree and strong interpersonal, communications, and technical skills. The

registrar should interact well with the students, faculty, and parents. He should be

skilled in data mining meaning he can provide and analyze data, and translates to a

person who possesses excellent query and reporting skills. The registrar should be able

to develop and run reports and more importantly, can manage reporting systems that

would allow departments to query data themselves. A person or staff with solid

technologists’ background and are good communicators that is comfortable with

technology because technology pervades the work of the registrar’s office. (Pace,

2011).

Most importantly, a registrar staff should engage in school-wide planning and

strategic thinking and should be proficient in document imaging and workflow

technologies.
 19

With regards to the organization of the office, the ideal Registrar’s Office can

narrowly define responsibilities, would cross-train staff not only within the Registrar’s

Office but with the offices of financial aid, admissions, student affairs, and others.

Bender (2013) said that being a professional, that includes being a registrar,

implies a commitment to the profession as a whole, to its growth and development as

such, to lifelong learning and ethical behavior of its members, and to helping shape the

next generation.

The stronger product market competition, in this case the registration work, and

higher worker skills are associated with better management practices. (Bloom et al.,

2012).

Kim et al. (2012) pronounced that organizational capability to manage processes

may play a vital role in identifying routines, establishing a learning base, and supporting

innovative activities. It is best to examine the offices among different quality

management (QM) practices and investigate which QM practices directly or indirectly

relate to five types of innovation: radical product, radical process, incremental product,

incremental process, and administrative innovation.

Innovation in an organization often relies on initiatives by employees who take

action to develop their ideas and obtain buy-in by organizational decision-makers. To

achieve this, employees sometimes apply unorthodox approaches, ignoring formal

structures to further elaborate their ideas' potential and promote their implementation.

They work without formal legitimacy and gather their own resources until sufficient

clarity allows for informed decisions. Finally, they bypass formal communication

channels to convince top management of the merits of their ideas. Despite the
significance of such bootlegging behavior, research has barely addressed the

antecedents of this deviance. (Globocnik and Salomo, 2014)

Service Management

The database and the registration system are the most required facility of the

registrar’s office. It should be something that helps support school transactions of the

office, there should be an easy retrieval of data and information of the students, and can

be used to easily access all important details and information during enrolment,

transferring, and shifting of students and their respective courses.

Osborne et al. (2012) argues that current public management theory or any

service management theory is not fit for purpose—if it ever has been. It argues that it

contains two fatal flaws—it focuses on intraorganizational processes at a time when the

reality of public services delivery is interorganizational, and it draws upon management

theory derived from the experience of the manufacturing sector and which ignores the

reality of public services as “services.”

It subsequently argues for a “public service dominant” approach. This not only

more accurately reflects the reality of contemporary public management but also draws

upon a body of substantive service-dominant theory that is more relevant to public

management than the previous manufacturing focus.

According to Kans and Ingwald (2016) in providing service and its management

the focus should be on the values created and not in the offers in form of products or

services. Moreover, the office needs to position itself as an actor not only in the value

chain, but in a wider context referred to as the business ecosystem. Making such a shift
of focus is hard though, and there is a need to understand both the current state of the

business or work as well as the potential future directions.

Matzner et al. (2018) translates that digital transformation of service

management is the basis of reflections about what the digitalization of services means

and how an ongoing disruptive change of the service is indicated by managerial

awareness, financial expectations, and core technological developments. There should

be a provision of a framework for analyzing the impact of digital transformation on

service management. Within the framework, three important technologies that affect

service management must be zeroed out, from both a macro-perspective (i.e., the

transformation of service industries and business models) and a micro-perspective (i.e.,

fulfilling service tasks and jobs).

Aloqaily et al. (2019) added that densely crowded environments or offices

provide an opportunity to deliver, in a timely manner, through node collaboration,

enriched user-specific services using the replicated data and device-specific

capabilities.

The challenges that arise in densely crowded environments in terms of

data/service management and delivery. Then we show how data replication and service

composition are considered promising solutions for data and service management in

densely crowded environments.

Improvement Plan

The development of a school improvement plan (SIP) has become an integral

part of many school reform efforts. However, there are almost no studies that
empirically examine the effectiveness of SIPs. The few studies examining the planning

activities of organizations have generally focused on the private sector and have not

provided clear or consistent evidence that such planning is effective. The study finds

that, even when controlling for a variety of factors, there is a strong and consistent

association between the quality of school planning and overall student performance in

math and reading.

School improvement is a multifaceted process that never really ends. The

process of school improvement is a collaborative effort dependent on a culture and

climate that support growth and learning for teachers and others in the organization. It is

not likely that there will be growth and development unless there is alignment of the

needs of both the people and the organization itself. Programs and initiatives that

forward school improvement for schools labeled as “failing” are based on the criteria

such as standardized test results.

In the case of the Registrars’ Office, the improvement plan should focus on the

delivery of services to the students, parents, faculty, and the general public, the ability of

the manpower, their strengths and weaknesses, the number of staff a Registrars’ Office

must have, and the system and processes of the office.

According to Meyers and VanGronigen (2020) limited research on root cause

analysis exists in educational leadership. Accurately diagnosing and detailing root

causes—the why—of organizational failure, as is relatively common in other fields,

could improve principals', teachers, and other school officials’ ability to devise

situationally- and contextually-responsive solutions in their improvement plans.

 Analyzing school improvement plans to provide insight into how school officials

use root cause analysis to identify their and their school's failures as a way to respond

strategically with goals and action steps. 23

An increased understanding of root cause analysis conceptualization and

development seems necessary if improvement planning is to be a strategic response to

a school's most serious organizational challenges. The predominant approach to school

improvement planning has focused almost exclusively on how to succeed or become

better with little investment in identifying root causes of organizational decline or failure.

This initial study of root cause quality in school improvement planning is a key first step

in critically thinking about how improvement is to be achieved when failure is

unconceived.

Strunk et al. (2015) emphasized that a common strategy used in school

improvement efforts is a mandated process of formal planning, yet little is known about

the quality of plans or the relationship between plan quality and implementation. Data in

descriptive analyses must be explored relationships between plan quality and various

inputs and outcomes.

High performing schools require administrators to align the continuous

improvement efforts with the professional development activities while evaluating

teaching and learning for fidelity. The administrative plans of school improvement,

professional development, and teacher evaluation systems systemically aligned begin

with an administrator who can see the important interaction of these three plans.

(Vanden Heuvel, 2017).

 The increased pressure for improved achievement from stakeholders, coupled

with competing demands on time for the school administrator, leads towards a need for

efficient tools for improvement. School administrators are creating administrative plans

that are in isolation or disconnected from each other which leads to a lack of cohesion. 24

There must be a tool that identifies areas of focus for professional development

efforts that directly align with the school improvement activities, especially to the

Registrars’ Office. The tool can provide evaluation information for principals and other

school officials to use when providing coaching, feedback, and support during the

teacher evaluation process.

Alua (2016) translated that the benefits to schools were seen to be provision of

teaching and learning materials, focus on improved student learning, professional

development for staff, infrastructure maintenance, good parent and community support

and financial reporting. Effective leadership was seen to be the key to the success of

any improvement plan.

Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
 This chapter is concerned with the methods and procedures that will be used in

the study, “Service Management of Registrar Offices in the Division of Antipolo: Inputs

to Improvement Plan”. It includes Method of Research Used, Setting, Subject, and

Procedure of the Study, Sources of Data, Sampling Design and Sample, Construction,

Validation, and Administration of the Instrument, and Data Gathering Procedure.

Method of Research Used

Mixed method research design will be used in this study to achieve the objectives

of the research. According to Wisdom and Creswell (2013) mixed method research is a

systematic integration of quantitative and qualitative data within a single investigation or

sustained program of inquiry.

Quantitative research is especially efficient at getting to the “structural” features

of social life while qualitative studies are usually stronger in terms “processual” aspects.

(Bryman 2017) 26

Qualitative research is a process of naturalistic inquiry that seeks an in-depth

understanding of social phenomena within their natural setting. The fundamental

concepts of qualitative research are the study of human life and experience, thus,

concentrating on words and observations to express reality and attempts to describe

people in their natural situation. According to Lambert and Lambert (2012), qualitative

descriptive research is a comprehensive summarization, in everyday terms, of specific

events experienced by individuals or groups of individuals.

The researcher adopted a descriptive survey in the premise that problems can be

solved and practices are improved through observation, analysis, and description.
 Qualitative researchers take an interest in understanding the meaning people

have constructed that is how people make sense of their world and the experiences

they have in the world (Merriam, 2011).

On the other hand, quantitative research refers to a set of strategies, techniques,

and assumptions used to study psychological, social, and economic processes through

the exploration of numeric patterns. (Coghlan and Brydon-Miller, 2014)

Setting of the Study

Republic Act No. 8508 known as the Act Converting the Municipality of Antipolo

into a Component City to be known as the City of Antipolo was approved on February

1998. Anent to this, the Department of Education (DepEd) requested to be authorized to

establish the Division of Antipolo City, in as much as the newly created division meets

the DepEd and Department of Budget and Management criteria and other requirements

on 2012.

On June 2016, due to the introduction of the K to 12 Curriculum on the Basic

Education, the Registrar’s Office and Registrar plantilla was created.

The study will be conducted in the DepEd-City Schools Division Office of

Antipolo. The Division has a total of seventeen (17) Registrar Offices in Senior High

School Level with corresponding 17 Registrars and Registrar-designates.

27

Figure 2. Map of Antipolo City, Rizal

Map of Antipolo City

 28

Subject of the Study

In this study, seventeen (17) Registrars and Registrar-designates of Senior High

Schools (SHS) in the City Schools Division Office of Antipolo will be selected and twenty
(20) SHS faculty members of the mentioned schools to participate and three hundred

eighty-five (385) SHS students as respondents.

The Registrars and Registrar-designates are chosen as participants for the

researcher to fully get the needed data and information regarding the status, condition,

and situation of every Registrar’s Office under the said Division and the Faculty and

SHS students as respondents to assess the quality of service that the Registrar’s Office

delivers.

The study will focus on the Senior High School Level since the Registrar plantilla

items were only introduced to the nine (9) Senior High Schools in the Division. The

researcher includes the other Senior High School Registrar-designates as additional

participants to gather more accurate data.

Procedure of the Study

The researcher will conduct an in-depth virtual interview with the participants.

Through this method, the interviewer will directly communicate with the interviewees or

participants in accordance with the prepared guide questions. It will allow a friendly

conversation that will help uncover the facts needed for the completion of the study. 29

Interviews are mainly done in qualitative research and occur when the researcher

asks one or more participants general, open-ended questions, and record their

answers. Often videotapes are utilized to allow for more consistent transcription

(Creswell, 2012). But in this situation, having a pandemic worldwide, a recording of the

virtual interview with the participants will be recorded.

 The interview will be conducted virtually and to the time they are most

convenient, this upon the approval of the interview guide questions. The schedules will

be based on the participants’ availability to ensure that the researcher will get the best

answers and that the generation method will be followed accordingly.

In the case of SHS faculty members and SHS students, the researcher will

employ a questionnaire as survey instrument for it provides a relatively cheap, quick,

and efficient way of obtaining large amount of information from a large sample of

people. The researcher will use both open and closed-ended questions to obtain data.

Sources of Data

The researcher selected the Registrar Offices under the Division Office of

Antipolo to obtain and to sustain the scope and limitations of the study. This study will

be made possible by the cooperation of the people who were personally willing to impart

their knowledge and experiences, through a non-random purposive sampling method of

informant selection through an in-depth interview.

Purposive sampling, also called judgment sampling, is the deliberate choice of a

participant due to the qualities the participant possesses (Etikan et al., 2015). It is a

strategy that one can handpick the units to be included in the sample.

Interview guides consist of either questions, topics, or a combination that run

from unstructured to highly structured. Depending on the researcher preferences, the

interview guide will use one of the said methods (Smulowitz, 2017). 30

Simple random sampling will be administered to the SHS faculty members and

SHS students in disseminating the questionnaires as the survey instrument. According

to Hayes (2021) simple random sampling is a subset of a statistical population in which

each member of the subset has an equal probability of being chosen and that it is

meant to be an unbiased representation of a group.

Sampling Design and Sample

This study will use purposive sampling in selecting the participants. The

researcher personally selected the target participants in this study. The researcher will

gather essential information on these participants and will develop understanding

through in-depth interviews. Also, simple random sampling will be used to select SHS

faculty and students, Slovin’s formula was used to determine the number of

respondents in this study. Twenty (20) SHS faculty members and three hundred eighty-

five (385) SHS students will be selected among the students in the Division.

According to Campbell et al. (2020) purposive sampling has a long

developmental history and there are as many views that it is simple and straightforward

as there are about its complexity. The reason for purposive sampling is the better

matching of the sample to the aims and objectives of the research, thus improving the

rigor of the study and trustworthiness of the data and results. Four aspects to this

concept have previously been described: credibility, transferability, dependability, and

confirmability. 31

Simple random sampling is a method used to cull a smaller sample size from a

larger population and use it to research and make generalizations about the larger

group. Researchers generate a simple random sample by obtaining an exhaustive list of

larger population and then selecting, at random, a certain number of individuals to

comprise the sample. The population has an equal chance of being selected. (Depersio,

2021).

Construction of the Instrument NO INSTRUMENT!?

The researcher will use guide questions as an instrument to encourage a

conversational between two people, the interviewer and the interviewee. The interview

guide had a list of questions formulated to gather necessary data. This will be used to

the SHS Registrars of the Division.

The said guide will support the researcher on what questions to be asked, the

sequence of questioning, the delivery of questions, and conceiving the appropriate

follow-ups. This will guide the researchers’ conduct in executing the interview. It will be

the method favored by the researcher to be able to gather the descriptions, information,

and personal experiences of certain features.

On the other hand, a questionnaire will be used as a survey instrument to the

SHS faculty and students that will give the researcher a quick and efficient way of

obtaining large amount of information from a large sample of people.

Validation of the Instrument

The researcher will secure the recommendation and validation of three College

Registrars to the to-be employed guide questions and questionnaires to assure that the

said research will tackle the core of what an evaluation and analysis of a Registrars’

Office should be.

 32

The said three College Registrars will be able to give their expert advice, opinion,

and validation to the said guide questions that will make the research study more

credible and can make the participants scrutinize the real situation and condition of their

respective offices.

According to Zelt et al. (2018) organizational processes vary and practitioners

must have an understanding of the variety of processes based on dimensions and that

they can differentiate processes better than the existing frameworks used in practice.

This is the main reason why the guide questions must be an expert-approved

questions before the actual in-depth virtual interview and employment of questionnaires.

Administration of the Instrument

The researcher will use an interview guide to deliver a systematic interview to the

key informants. The set of questions in the interview will be based on the objectives of

this research study. A questionnaire for the SHS faculty and students will be an open

and closed-ended questions to collect data.

The data will be gathered from the selected participants through a separate

appointment setting through a virtual in-depth interview. The participants will be asked

to answer the question and share their thoughts and experiences about it. Through the

use of virtual recording, the researcher will be able to record information from the

interviews, while for the SHS faculty and students, questionnaire will be provided thru

google forms and link will be forwarded by the advisers to their Group Chat (GC).
 33

Data Gathering Procedure

After the completion of each interview, the researcher will transcribe all the audio

recordings of the recorded in-depth virtual interview, and will print the transcript, which

will be used for narrative and thorough analysis. All the transcripts will be securely kept

confidential.

Audio transcription is an obvious solution to the researcher who wants a breadth

of range of statements stemming from the use of many more interviewees than is often

possible. (Clausen, 2012).

The result of the survey from the SHS faculty and student-respondents will be

downloaded from the google forms for transcription and analysis of the given answers.

The given answers will likewise be treated with confidentiality and will only be used for

research purposes.

The researcher will filter results by cross-tabulating subgroups, interrogate the

data, analyze the answers given, and draw conclusions.

 34

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 37

Appendix A

Consent to Participate

INFORMED CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ENTITLED

“SERVICE MANAGEMENT OF REGISTRAR OFFICES IN THE DIVISION OF ANTIPOLO:
INPUTS TO IMPROVEMENT PLAN”

You are being requested to take part in this study by answering guide questions that will
be asked through an interview by the researcher. Your participation will take approximately 15-
30 minutes. Please be aware that you are not required to participate in this research and may
discontinue at any time you prefer. You may decline to answer any questions, which you feel
uncomfortable.
Your confidentiality will be protected by the researcher through the use of a pseudonym
that you choose for yourself or one that the researcher assigns to you.

AGREEMENT TO PARTICIPATE

I agree to participate in this research study. The researcher provided explanation of the
purpose and background of the study, including the associated benefits and risks that may
result due to the participation. The researcher also explained the procedure as well as the
expected duration of my participation.
My signature below verifies that I have granted permission for the researcher to use
these responses. I have been informed that the information I reveal in the interview will remain
confidential. I have been informed that the researcher will refer me by my pseudonym during the
process and the final manuscript.
I have been completely briefed on the procedures associated and agree to participate in
the study. I am aware that I may withdraw from the study at any time without penalty.

__________________________ ___________
 Signature of the participant Date

38

Appendix B

Cover Letter Sent to Experts for Validation

__________________________

__________________________

__________________________

Sir/Madam,

The undersigned is a Master in Public Administration student from the University of Rizal
System-Pililla Campus.

The topic of my research study is “Service Management of Registrar Offices in the

Division of Antipolo: Inputs to Improvement Plan”.

Please find enclosed herewith a set of tools developed for this research with the
objectives included in the study.

I am requesting for you to check the tools for the appropriateness of the following:

a) Chapter 1 (content validity)

b) Guide Questions
c) Format
d) Response system
e) Language
f) Suitability for the sample

Kindly give your valuable suggestions and expert guidance to make this study complete
and contributory.

With kind regards,

Norman Vincent I. Dadea

 39

Appendix C

CURRICULUM VITAE

NORMAN VINCENT I. DADEA

La Trinidad Extension, San Gabriel, Teresa, Rizal

Working Experiences:

Department of Education –
City Schools Division Office of Antipolo
Maximo L. Gatlabayan Memorial National High School
Registrar I
September 1, 2016 - Present

Silver Finance Inc.

Cubao, Quezon City
Admin Assistant
May 2, 2013 – August 30, 2016

Sunwest Group Holding Company, Inc.

Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Personal / Executive Assistant
October 3, 2011 – January 26, 2012

Ministry of Defense & Aviation (MSD-OMD)

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Technical Secretary (Submittal Section)
April 18, 2009 – March 26, 2011

Saudi Aramco / Al-Busaili & Sons, Co.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Administrative Clerk (Office Services Section)
November 16, 2006 – November 17, 2008

Globe Telecom / Expercs, Inc.

Mandaluyong City
Administrative Assistant
January 12, 2005 – August 12, 2006

40
Datascope Communication (Phils.), Inc.
Makati City
Data Encoder Associate
February 12, 2004 – December 14, 2004

Quality Results, Inc.

Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Data Analyst
August 18, 2003 – January 2004

Educational Background:

Graduate Studies : University of Rizal System

Master in Public Administration
2019 - Present

Tertiary : Polytechnic University of the Philippines

Bachelor in Office Administration
1999 - 2003

Secondary : Rizal Polytechnic College

1995 - 1999

Elementary : Halayhayin Elementary School

1989 - 1995

Personal Information:

Age : 39 years old

Birthday : October 04, 1982
Sex : Male
Nationality : Filipino
Civil Status : Married
Spouse’s Name : Pops Marie S. Dadea
Religion : Roman Catholic
Height : 5’6”
Weight : 130 lbs.