**4. Conclusion**

The findings showed that the key reasons for student protests in order of priority are lack of communication (presence) of administrators, "top administrators are invisible", the need for more opportunities to discuss their concerns with administrators, administrators who do not address the substantive problems motivating protests, and administrators who do not inter‐ act with students on a routine basis in order to build better relations and trust.

The recommended model suggests that institutions should heed the student voice through dialogue with students, consultation and observation, representation and engagement fora, dedicated student advocates, relationship building, open‐door policies, feedback from students, capacity building, policy alignment and review, hotline/mailbox/suggestion systems, and complaints management. The study suggests the areas that HEIs should focus on in order to minimize violent student protests and uses the student voice to improve quality.

## **Author details**

Evelyn Chiyevo Garwe

Address all correspondence to: garweec@gmail.com

Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education, Zimbabwe
