Quality assurance of higher education in Finland

1
Quality assurance of higher education in Finland

• Developing quality assurance of higher education
  curriculum planning in Finland and Russia
• Turku 26.11.2007
• Riitta Pyykkö, FINHEEC

2
The Finnish national context

• higher education system quite stable, although a
  structural development process going on
• 20 universities, all government-run almost 30
  polytechnics/universities of applied sciences
• no fees universities select their own students
  (annual intake quotas)
• a national higher education and innovation policy
• traditionally a society of mutual trust, steered
  by information
• gt Universities responsible for the quality of
  their activities

3
University degree system in Finland 2005-

• Bachelor Master Doctor (3 2 4 180 120
  ? ECTS except medicine)
• education mainly discipline-based, organised into
  major subject and minor subject studies
• also separate Master Degree Programmes mostly
  thematic, multidisciplinary, more than half of
  them taught in English
• student admission based on prior study
  attainments (matriculation exams) and different
  kinds of entrance examinations
• students get the right to take both the 1st and
  the 2nd cycle

4
Legislation on universities

• Universities Act
• Government Decree on University Degrees (2004
  from 20 field-specific decrees on university
  degrees to one common decree)
• a list of fields of education in universities,
  degree titles and universities awarding those
  degrees
• Ministry of Education Decree on Masters Degree
  Programmes (programmes and universities offering
  those programmes)

5
Steering and management of HE

• three years performance agreements between the
  Ministry of Education and each university
• determine quantitative and qualitative targets,
  resources needed to achieve these targets,
  monitoring and evaluation of outcome, and further
  development of operations
• in the same way, the university sets target
  outcomes for the faculties, and the rectors
  office carries on performance negotiations with
  faculties
• the steering system highlights the role of
  evaluation
• a national database (KOTA) maintained by the
  Ministry offers data on universities and fields
  of education from 1981 onwards (available in
  Finnish, Swedish and English)

6
Finnish universities and quality assurance

• universities by law responsible for the quality
  of their work must evaluate their education,
  research and other activities and their
  effectiveness
• universities shall take part in external
  evaluations
• findings of evaluations must be published
• evaluation policy based on development and
  improvement approach
• HEIs now building QA systems that cover all their
  operations
• all HEIs will be evaluated by FINHEEC (audit
  system)

7
The Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council
(FINHEEC)

• an independent expert body
• assists universities, polytechnics and the
  Ministry of Education in matters relating to
  evaluation
• governed by a Government Decree (1995)
• consists of 12 members, appointed by the Ministry
  for a four year period ( a secretariat)
• members represent universities, polytechnics,
  students and employers
• member of ENQA

8
Responsibilities of FINHEEC

• organizes audits of quality work, institutional,
  programme, and thematic evaluations (and
  follow-up evaluations)
• provides advisory and consultant services
• develops evaluation methodology
• disseminates good Finnish and international
  practices to higher education institutions and
  the Ministry of Education

9
Audits of quality assurance systems

• background
• the Bologna process, the Berlin 2003 communiqué,
• Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance
  in the European Higher Education Area (ENQA,
  Bergen 2005)
• Why auditing?
• promotes the independence and diversity of the
  HEIs
• is a flexible evaluation tool
• shows confidence in the HEIs own operation

10
Aims of audits

• to evaluate how the HEIs QA system works as a
  quality management and improvement tool
• to evaluate the QA system with regard to the
  audit criteria
• to highlight strengths and best practices
• to give development recommendations
• to decide whether the HEI passes the audit or
  whether the system requires a re-audit
• Audit Manual for 2005-2007 2008-2011
  (www.finheec.fi)

11
Audit targets

• ten (2008 seven) targets
• e.g. the objectives, structure and documentation
  of the QA system involvement of staff, students
  and external stakeholders links between the QA
  system and HEIs leadership and management
  effectiveness of the QA system to produce
  relevant information and promote operational
  development and change
• each target scaled for four different
  developmental stages (absent, emerging,
  developing, advanced)

12
Audit process

• the HEI collects the audit material from its own
  QA system
• FINHEEC appoints an audit group (usually, of five
  members) representing HEIs, students and
  employers
• the group analyses the documentation and
• conducts a two or three-day site visit
• the audit report (50 pp.) includes the teams
  evaluation on the strengths and development
  targets of the institutional QA system and
  recommendations for the improvement of its
  quality
• the HEI passes the audit, or, there are
  essential lacks, and the HEIs QA system calls
  for a re-audit (in two years)

13
Starting new education

• university has the right to start new education
  in the fields mentioned in the appendix to the
  Government Decree (e.g. History gt Cultural
  History or Finnish History)
• for starting to offer education in other fields,
  the university has to apply to the Ministry for
  changes in the educational responsibility
• new fields are negotiated in the annual
  performance negotiations

14
Starting a separate Masters degree programme

• faculty proposes the university a new programme
  in annual internal performance negotiations
• university senate makes a decision to submit it
  to the Ministry
• Ministry gives every year an amendment to the
  Decree on Masters Degree Programmes
• criteria for starting a new Masters programme,
  especially an international one, now more
  specified than in 2004 (new guidelines for
  international programmes from August 2007)

15
Main criteria for starting a Masters programme

• based on Bachelor level education, gives
  eligibility for Doctoral education
• admission criteria and annual intake quota
  clearly determined
• 120 ECTS (some international programmes 90 ECTS)
• learning outcomes clearly defined
• emphasis on multidisciplinarity and cooperation
  ( added value compared with specialization
  within one discipline)
• cooperation partners recognised/accredited
  institutions
• a clearly defined demand for new education (from
  the point of view of labour market or development
  of science)
• evaluation and QA system (all partners)
• students represented in QA system (also in
  international programmes)
• in international programmes assurance of the
  level of language skills (both students and
  teachers)
• financing and its continuity usually no extra
  funding from the Ministry

16
Useful adresses

• Ministry of Education
• www.minedu.fi/OPM/Koulutus/?langen
• FINHEEC
• www.finheec.fi/english/
• University of Turku
• www.utu.fi/en/
• KOTA database
• http//kotaplus.csc.fi7777/online/Etusivu.do?lng
  en