The University of Eastern Finland and the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) will audit the university in 2022. In the FINEEC audit, the University of Eastern Finland’s education and research, and their impact, will be evaluated.
In accordance with the Universities Act, higher education institutions (HEIs) must regularly participate in external evaluations of their activities and quality systems. Audits are carried out every six years and their results are public.
On this website, you can find information about the process, timetables and objectives of the University of Eastern Finland’s 2022 audit.
Quality system audit
The Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) is an independent agency within the Finnish National Agency for Education, and responsible for the national evaluations of education and training. FINEEC audits assess the scope, functionality and effectiveness of higher education institutions’ quality systems. The audit is based on an evaluation procedure. The evaluation criteria described in the FINEEC Audit Manual 2019–2024, which are based on the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area, serve as the foundation for preparing for the audit.
The objective of the audit is to ensure that the university has a quality system that supports the continuous enhancement of its activities. The audit is also a way to ensure that the university works according to its objectives and in a manner that is reliable by international comparison. The audit doesn’t take a stand on the objectives and outcomes of the activities as such; instead, it assesses the processes by which the university manages and enhances the quality of its activities.
The first audit of the University of Eastern Finland was carried out in 2010. The audit is valid for six years.
Audit process and evaluation
The University of Eastern Finland's audit will take place on 9–10 November 2022. The audit is international: half of the audit team’s members will be international experts of quality, and English will be used as the audit language.
Chair of the audit team
- Professor Eva Åkesson (Lund University, Sweden)
Members of the audit team
- Student Marc Perkins (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
- Professor Jürgen Seifried (University of Mannheim, Germany)
- Chief Advisort Anni Siltanen (Chemical Industry Federation, Finland)
- The HEI selects a partner and target for benchlearning and signs an agreement with the benchlearning partner.
- FINEEC signs an agreement on the audit with the HEI and the Higher Education Evaluation Committee appoints the audit team.
- The HEI uploads the audit material on to FINEEC’s digital platform.
- FINEEC trains the audit team for its task. The audit team visits the HEI and writes the audit report using the digital platform.
- The audit team presents its assessment on the audit result to the Higher Education Evaluation Committee, and the Committee decides on the result of the audit.
- The audit report is published on FINEEC’s digital platform.
- The HEI arranges a seminar on the audit results with FINEEC.
- The HEI and the audit team give feedback to FINEEC.
- The Higher Education Evaluation Committee awards the Quality Labels for Excellence.
- Information dissemination and communication on the FINEEC audit and quality work to the academic community and stakeholders in January–November 2022.
- Compilation, editing, translation and processing of the self-assessment report by various committees in January–June 2022.
- Internal audits in January–March 2022.
- Benchmarking webinar in April 2022.
- Information dissemination campaigns for staff and students in April–October 2022.
- Finalisation of the self-assessment report in June–July 2022.
- Uploading of the final version of the self-assessment report to the FINEEC’s digital platform no later than 17 August 2022.
- Practical arrangements for the audit in June–October 2022.
- Visit by the audit team on 9–10 November 2022. Further information about the visit programme (PDF file).
- Audit experiences and summary in November 2022.
- Results of the audit and the final report will be published in March 2023.
- Info session of the audit will be held in March-April 2023.
I HEI creates competence
- Planning of education
- Implementation of education
- Evaluation and enhancement of education
- Examples of the HEI’s successful enhancement activities
II HEI promotes impact and renewal
- Management of societal engagement and impact
- Research, development, and innovation activities with impact
- Promoting renewal through the organisational culture
- Examples of the HEI’s successful enhancement activities
III HEI enhances quality and well-being
- Using the quality system in strategic management
- Supporting the competence development and well-being of the staff
- Functionality and development of the quality system
- Examples of the HEI’s successful enhancement activities
IV HEI as a learning organisation
- An evaluation area selected by the HEI
Assessment scale
- Excellent. The HEI shows evidence of long-term and effective enhancement work. The HEI’s enhancement activities also create substantial added value for the HEI, stakeholders, or both. The HEI presents compelling examples of successful enhancement activities.
- Good. The activities are in line with the statement describing the evaluation area, and there is evidence of the required, systematic enhancement of activities.
- Insufficient. The HEI shows an absence of or major shortcomings in systematic, functioning, and participatory procedures, and there is no clear evidence of the impact of quality management in the enhancement of activities. In order for the HEI to pass the audit, none of the evaluation areas may be assessed as insufficient.
