We got the quality label – our continuous development is working

According to the audit team, the key strengths of Turku University of Applied Sciences are:

• the participation of the staff in the strategy work and commitment to the development of operations
• the ideology of continuous development is present in the planning and implementation of operations and
• the quality management processes of degree education work well.

“The staff feels that the work is inclusive and highlights expertise. The ideology of continuous development is manifested in both thinking and action. The process of operating and financial planning, which covers all levels of the organisation, functions well. In addition, the quality management processes of degree education enable the institution to monitor and develop the education and contribute to meeting the targets set for it”, states Jouko Paaso, chairman of the audit team and President and CEO of Oulu University of Applied Sciences.

The audit of the quality system focused in detail on three degree programmes, of which two were selected by TUAS and one by the audit team. In particular, the quality management processes of the Master’s degree programme in Management and Leadership in Health Care support the implementation of the degree programme outstandingly. The design process of the operations in the degree programmes in Business Administration is clear and systematic.

Room for development

The audit team recommends introducing more efficient methods for the overall evaluation and development of the quality management system of Turku University of Applied Sciences.

In addition, the audit team recommends creating more systematic routines for collecting feedback from stakeholders and employing more systematic methods for handling the information related to social and regional impact.

Rector and President Vesa Taatila commented the news as follows:

“The track record of Turku University of Applied Sciences in a strong quality culture is long. Our Excellence in Action strategic plan is based on the ability to produce international-level top competence with high-quality and reliable methods of operation. Our success is based on the will of our excellent staff and enthusiastic students to constantly develop their own activities. We'd like to thank the audit team for an in-depth analysis on our situation, and will immediately start introducing the ideas for development in practice.”

Turku University of Applied Sciences was last audited in 2010. According to the audit team, the development actions taken after the last audit have influenced the quality system thus that it is now better linked to the planning of operations and is more easily manageable. The audits of the quality system of Finnish higher education institutions were started in 2005, and all universities and universities of applied sciences participate in them.

The audit report is available on FINEEC's website (in Finnish, incl. a summary in English).