Service Quality Measurement of the Student Counseling Center Using SERVQUAL Model

Background: The services that student counseling center present play an important role in students’ psychological health. Therefore,measurement of services quality can contribute to a higher quality of these services.Objectives: This study was conducted in order to measure service quality of student counseling center at the university of Bojnord.Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive research participated 253 students who referred to student counseling center at theuniversity of Bojnord from March to June 2015. A questionnaire adapted to SERVQUAL model was used to collect the data. Wilcoxonsigned-rank test was used to analyze the data.Results: The result of this study showed that there were some differences between students’ perceptions and their expectations ofcounseling services quality (Z = -12.91; P < 0.0001). The result also indicated that there were significant differences between students’perceptions and expectations in all of the five dimensions of SERVQUAL model. The most significant gap was related to the tangiblesand the less significant one was related to sympathy dimension.Conclusions: By studying the gap between perceptions and expectations of students from counseling services, we can provide thebase for developing appropriate programs for the improvement of counseling services.

Keywords:

Student Counseling Center , Service Quality , SERVQUAL Model