Quality management

Quality work of the University of Lapland includes the basic functions of the university, i.e. education, research, artistic activities and the social interaction and effectiveness based on them, as well as services supporting basic functions (LUC services). Quality work arises from joint goal-oriented activities, commitment to achieving goals and continuous improvement of operations.

In accordance with the universitys quality policy, each member of the university community – employees and students – has their own responsibility for quality and quality development. Through quality management, the university maintains and develops the quality of its operations and services.

The quality work of the University of Lapland is a natural part of the basic activities, so that it is based on the idea of continuous development in accordance with Deming's PDCA model. The name of the PDCA model comes from the words plan, do, check and act.

Quality management at the University of Lapland aims to

• support the values and principles at the University
• help in creating joint processes and in spreading good practices in manner that supports well-being among both staff and students
• support research, artistic activity, teaching and service to society
• play central role in planning, leading, evaluating and observing activities
• support and ensure that the University vision and strategic aims are implemented
• extensively produce information about evaluation and monitoring to develop aims, processes and results.
  

Take a look at "Quality at the University of Lapland" brochure in issuu or download it (pdf).

The principles and goals of the university's quality work and quality management are described in the quality management documentation, which is built in digital form on the university's own qualitywiki (coming soon in English). The quality management documentation has been updated in accordance with the new organizational structure, strategy and strategy enablers, and the steering and management system.

The Rector is responsible for the quality work of the university. The Vice-Rector for Education is responsible for operational quality work. The Quality Manager has been responsible for reorganizing the quality management documentation. The Quality Manager is responsible for maintaining and updating the quality management documentation together with the working groups and responsible persons of the various functions and services in accordance with their responsibilities.

The purpose of the quality management documentation is to serve as a support and tool for the development of the daily work of the members of the university community, and to clarify the university's common practices and operating principles as well as joint quality work. The quality management of the faculties' operations is described uniformly in the quality management documentation, which replaces the faculties' own operational manuals.

Other documents related to the university's quality management, such as inquiries and working group meeting notes, are available on the university's Intranet, which is available to university staff and students.

Quality Podcast is a seven-part podcast series that deals with themes related to quality work. The first and sixth episode of the series will be published in Finnish and in English. In addition, all the other episodes of the podcast series will be subtitled in English. You can listen to the podcast here.

Quality Podcast 2021 series

1. Quality management and auditing in the University of Lapland (Subtitles)
2. Quality management of education (Subtitles)
3. Feedback system in education development (Subtitles)
4. Quality management of research, development and innovation activities and artistic activities (Subtitles)
5. Social interaction and effectiveness (Subtitles)
6. Towards the auditing (Subtitles)
7. Continuous learning (Subtitles).

The Universities Act obliges universities to evaluate their education, research and artistic activities and their effectiveness. In addition, the law obliges universities to participate in external evaluations of their activities and quality systems. The evaluation results must be public.

External evaluations

Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) audited our quality system on 2nd and 3rd December 2021. By decision of the Higher Education Evaluation Committee on 16 February 2022, the University of Lapland has been awarded a quality label for a period six years. The audit report was published in Finnish on FINEEC's website. 

FINEEC's new audit model emphasizes the social impact of higher education institutions and the student-centered nature of education.

The national audit group appointed by FINEEC evaluated the quality system of the University of Lapland in 2016. The audit report was published in Finnish on FINEEC's website.

The quality system of the University of Lapland was evaluated for the first time in 2009. The audit report was published in Finnish on FINEEC's website.

In 2021, FINEEC will organize an evaluation of higher education in the field of law. More information on FINEEC's website.

In 2019, FINEEC carried out an evaluation of higher education in the field of social sciences. The evaluation report can be found in Finnish on FINEEC's website.

The university also uses other evaluations and consultations to support development.

The main campus of the University of Lapland has been granted the right to use the WWF Green Office label on 30 March 2017. Authorization to use the label will be renewed every three years in accordance with the principle of continuous improvement. Learn more about the Green Office.

Internal evaluations

The University conducts internal thematic and system evaluations of its core tasks and services to support development at both the strategic and operational levels. Evaluation reports are published on the university's internal network.

Hanna Marttiini

Quality Manager
hanna.marttiini (at) ulapland.fi
Tel. +358 40 484 4277