Abstract:
The main objective of this study designed to evaluate the practices, challenges and relationship
of civil service ethics and service delivery in administrative staff of Jimma University main
campus. A descriptive survey method that involved both quantitative and qualitative approaches
was employed. Data were collected from 342 employees of administrative staff through simple
random sampling technique and from 3 top officials who were selected through purposive
sampling technique. Questionnaire and interview were the predominant data collection tools
whereby the former was used to collect data from employees of administrative staff and the latter
for the three top officials. Tables, frequency counts, percentages, mean scores and standard
deviations, correlation and regression were used to analyze the quantitative data whereas the
qualitative data were analyzed through narrations. The analysis, hence, made it possible major
findings that extraordinary lack of public servants accountability, lack of employees’ integrity,
lack of honesty, lack of impartiality, lack of competences, lack of serving the public interest, lack
of respecting the law, and lack of transparency were observed at study area. It was also found
that poor mechanisms to reward employees who demonstrate exemplary behavior as major
reasons that caused the prevailing ethical problems at study area. Therefore, it is possible to
conclude that employees are an engine of a government that enables Jimma university main
campus to translate public policies into practices. Therefore, to realize the better professional
ethics and service delivery, it’s necessary to give more attention to solve those problems at the
study area. It is recommended that it is advisable to give adequate continuous on job and off job
trainings to employees and even for top officials to promote their performance based on
professional ethics. It is better to be free of top official and employees from inappropriate
interferences and job assignments and appointments should be only based on merits. It is also
better to establish appropriate reward program to promote performance of employees. Finally, it
needs comprehensive research investigations regarding public servants professional ethics in
public universities on the topic area.
