Uniarts Helsinki receives the quality label – the university’s asset is its close link to the working life
According to the audit group, Uniarts Helsinki’s asset is the close interaction between students, teachers and alumni. This gives way for profound understanding of students’ needs and changes going on in the arts sector.
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Uniarts Helsinki passed the quality system audit of the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) on 30 August 2024 and received its quality label, which will be valid for six years.
The close link to the working life is an asset
The group of experts who conducted the audit stated that Uniarts Helsinki’s strengths include, among other things, close interaction between students, teachers and alumni, the university community’s courage to tackle societal challenges as well as ecological sustainability, which the university has defined as a cross-cutting strategic focal point in education, research and artistic activities.
“Students appreciate especially the close interaction with teachers and alumni, because people find that it brings up different kinds of perspectives into studies and builds connections to the arts sector at large,” says chair of the audit group, Hanna-Leena Pesonen.
According to the audit group, the culture at Uniarts Helsinki is discussion-oriented, critically minded and self-reflective, which makes it possible to have the courage to discuss even difficult topics and to tackle areas for development. The audit group also complimented on how the university’s quality system is closely linked to its leadership and operations management system.
The audit result shows that the university’s activities and quality system meet both the national criteria and the criteria set for quality assurance of European higher education institutions.
“We have managed to successfully develop our activities and work on things that need a change based on the feedback we have received. I’m proud of our community, where we have a communal culture of quality assurance and the ability to deal with even challenging issues in a bold way, in line with the university’s values. A big thank you to all community members who were involved in the audit preparations and interviews,” says Rector of Uniarts Helsinki Kaarlo Hildén.
Audit results will help in the development of the university’s activities
The report also brings up areas for improvement. The areas that the audit group listed for Uniarts Helsinki include promotion of students’ mobility and the sense of community between the academies, development of interactive feedback culture in teaching and clearer goals for societal impact. Based on the audit group’s recommendation, the university should compile clear goals and monitoring measures for the impact of artistic research.
Hildén emphasises that the development recommendations of the audit report will be taken into consideration in the development of the university’s operations in future years.
“The development recommendations mentioned a lot of things that we, too, have recognised. The audit report provides us with good support and encouragement for developing our university.”
The audit was conducted by a four-person group:
- Dean, Professor Hanna-Leena Pesonen, University of Jyväskylä (chair)
- Special Advisor Antti Huntus, Arts Promotion Center Finland (Taike)
- student Julia Rapo, University of Lapland
- Vice Dean Rasmus Vuori, Aalto University.
When an institution passes FINEEC’s audit, it means that the university’s quality system meets the national criteria set for the quality management of higher education institutions and complies with the European principles and recommendations. The audit was based on the self-assessment report prepared by the university, the quality documentation of the university and the audit visit that was arranged in April 2024.