Author: Ken Kathukumi (Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology), Prof. Moses Wesang’ula Poipoi, PhD (Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology) and Rose Atieno Opiyo, PhD (Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology)
Abstract: This study sought to come up with findings about the effect of COVID-19-related stress on academic staff performance in Western Kenyan public universities through the cross-sectional descriptive design. From the population of 350 academic staff in two selected Universities, 245 were selected through various procedures. Data collection was done by use of a self-administered questionnaire. Data was treated through descriptive statistics, t-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. Using three guiding research questions, the results of the study led to the following conclusions: academic performance reduced during the COVID-19 period with academic staff sometimes undertaking activities related to academic performance. There is a significant difference in the academic performance before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Finally, COVID-19 affected the performance of the academic staff negatively. Based on the conclusions, the study recommends that responsible authorities should establish an emergency policy to curb emerging issues during pandemics to avoid potential effects on academic performance in the future. Universities are called upon to establish user-friendly ICT policies and facilities that would sustain the performance of academic staff during similar pandemics in the future. Finally, there is a need to establish mental health teams who would provide mental health services and counseling sessions to affected academicians so that their academic performance might be maintained during pandemics.