Abstract
This study investigates the determinants of academic staff training in state-owned universities in North-Eastern Nigeria, with specific evidence to Adamawa State University, Mubi, aiming to understand the institutional and motivational factors that influence participation in professional development and its impact on teaching effectiveness, research productivity, and career advancement. A descriptive survey research design complemented with an explanatory approach was adopted, targeting 288 academic staff, from which a representative sample of 165 was selected using the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) formula with proportional stratified sampling across faculties. Data were collected via structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis to examine the relationships between organizational support, training needs assessment, work environment, incentive and career development, and academic staff training. Findings indicate that academic staff generally have a positive disposition toward training, with organizational support and incentive and career development emerging as the most significant determinants, while training needs assessment shows an inverse relationship with participation, and work environment, although positively related, does not significantly predict engagement. The study recommends that university management enhance funding, link training to career progression, implement mentorship, and evaluate training outcomes; the National Universities Commission should enforce standardized training policies, ensure effective implementation of needs assessments, and set minimum professional development requirements, while TETFund should expand funding for staff training, support postgraduate and professional programmes, and align interventions with relevant training outcomes to strengthen academic staff development and improve institutional performance.