Kaarlo Hildén, Satu Miettinen and Paula Tuovinen to the final stage of Uniarts Helsinki’s rector recruitment
The public interview of the top candidates can be viewed via a live stream on 8 June at 14-16.
The Uniarts Helsinki Board announced the call for applications for the position of rector for the five-year term 1 December 2020-30 November 2025 in March. The application deadline was 1 April 2020, and 16 applicants applied for the position. Executive search was also used as a method of reaching out to potential candidates.
Five candidates who best met the selection criteria were invited to the second stage of the recruitment process, and the recruitment committee, consisting of the University Board, discussed the candidates in a meeting on 19 May. Three applicants were then selected to the final stage of the process: an interview with the Board on 25 May and a public interview with the university community. According to the target schedule, the new rector will be selected in June.
The key selection criteria for the rector include having an understanding of the arts, an ability to steer the university in accordance with the strategy and having strong management experience.
“During Jari Perkiömäki’s term, Uniarts Helsinki has become significantly more cohesive and developed into a competent university with strong impact. I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Jari for his uncompromising, constructive and productive work! The new strategy shifts the university’s gaze towards the surrounding society more than ever before. We wish to strengthen the role of art and artistic thinking and forge new kinds of connections outside of the arts sector. This requires a new set of skills from the future rector,” says chair of the Uniarts Helsinki Board Heikki Lehtonen.
“I’m proud of the way Uniarts Helsinki has developed during my term as the rector. We are an important and unique university. Thanks to the new strategy, we will adopt an even more visible role in society. The rector position is a unique vantage point to the entire arts sector, as well as to the education and research in the field. I wish all three candidates who have advanced to the final stage of the recruitment process good luck!” summarises Rector Jari Perkiömäki, whose term will end in November.
The candidates selected to the final stage of the recruitment are Dean of Uniarts Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy Kaarlo Hildén, Dean of the Faculty of Art and Design at the University of Lapland Satu Miettinen and Director of the Arts Promotion Centre Finland Paula Tuovinen.
Kaarlo Hildén has been the dean of Uniarts Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy since 2017 and the dean of the Faculty of Classical Music since 2010. Hildén has extensive management and development experience in higher education of music. Before Uniarts Helsinki, he worked as the programme director of Hanasaari Swedish–Finnish Cultural Centre, as the music education director at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, and as lecturer at Helsinki Polytechnic Stadia. Hildén has solid experience in the boards of several international organisations as well as in audit and investigation teams. He was closely involved in the work that led to the creation of Uniarts Helsinki’s new strategy. Kaarlo Hildén holds a Master of Music degree (music theory).
Satu Miettinen has worked as the dean of the Faculty of Art and Design at the University of Lapland since 2018 and as professor of service design since 2011. She has also been a member of the university’s board and collegium. She leads a research group with the focus on service design and with funding of over 7 million euros. Miettinen worked as the head of the Product Design Department at the Savonia University of Applied Sciences, and she held several positions at the University of Art and Design Helsinki. She has worked as visiting professor at Stanford University, for example, and carried out research in the field of socially engaged art in Africa. Miettinen is also an artist herself, and her interests include socially engaged art and photography. Satu Miettinen holds a Doctor of Arts degree (applied art and design).
Paula Tuovinen has worked as the director of the Arts Promotion Centre Finland since 2018. She was the interim rector and vice rector of Uniarts Helsinki in 2013-2018 and the rector of the Theatre Academy in 2005-2012. Tuovinen has extensive international experience, for example in audit duties in performing arts, and she has worked as the vice chair of Universities Finland UNIFI for several years. She had a central role in the establishing phase of Uniarts Helsinki. In her current position, Tuovinen has made herself known as an active proponent for the arts and as a social debater, who highlights the importance of support for the artist’s career path from the beginning of studies until the phase of professional development. Paula Tuovinen is a dance artist and she holds a Master of Arts degree (cultural anthropology) as well as an Executive MBA degree.
The public interview with the top candidates will be held on 8 June 2020 at 14-16. Due to the coronavirus epidemic, only a limited number of participants have been invited to the event: Besides the rector candidates, these include the Uniarts Helsinki Board as well as the full members of the university collegium representing the university community. Other community members can watch a live stream of the interview on this YouTube page.
Further information
Eveliina Olsson
Communications and External Relations Director
Tel. +358505986492
eveliina.olsson@uniarts.fi
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16 applicants for the position of rector of Uniarts Helsinki