SOME GREETINGS FROM FINLAND: KANDIPALAUTE. HOW AND WHY DID WE DO IT? 6.11.2014 SUVI ERIKSSON
UNIVERSITIES IN FINLAND 14 (research) universities, which are very different in size, location and style, everything from a under 3000 students University of Arts to the University of Helsinki, over 30 000 students. Approximately 150 000 students altogether. In addition to this we also have 16 Universities of Applied Sciences (Polytechnics). Most of the students in (research) Universities aim to a Masters degree. No tuition fees to any students at the moment. Every undergraduate student belong by definition to a student union.
STUDENTS IN A UNIVERSITY IN FINLAND Students are part of the university community, the same way as professors and other staff members.! This should give the students both possibilities as well as obligations to take part in the university development.
STUDENTS ROLES IN QA IN THE UNIVERSITIES I Feedback! Organize! INFORMATION PROVIDER ASSISTANT Students view! EXPERT PARTNER Active discussion & decisionmaking!
STUDENTS ROLES IN QA IN THE UNIVERSITIES II INFORMATION PROVIDER ASSISTANT EXPERT PARTNER WHAT IS THE ROLE OF KANDIPALAUTE IN ALL THIS?
KANDIPALAUTE. A LONG DEBATE, SINCE 2007 OR SO The National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL) initiated the discussion of having a national feedback system for all the university students in year 2007 and after seven years or so, we do have one, in co-operation with CHE! But, it wasn t easy and it took three different committees. And a new name the system. YOPALA
WHAT IS ACTUALLY QUALITY IN UNIVERSITY EDUCATION? Efficiency? Plenty of resources? Good position in rankings? Passing an audit or accredited programs? Large number of Master degrees? Internationalisation? Employability of the students? Learning outcomes achieved? Good teachers? Well-organized support services? Customer satisfaction (who is the customer?)? Students overall experience? It is ALWAYS someone s angle! It is impossible to find A single tool to measure every angle. That is why we need different sources.
MONEY. YET ANOTHER ANGLE?
IT REALLY HAS TO DO WITH MONEY! From 2015 onwards, the Ministry of Education and Culture will distribute annually 3 % (approx. 50 million) of university core funding based on the results of the national student feedback system, Kandipalaute. However, only 13 questions of the whole questionnaire are used for this. Also, the response rate plays a big part.
THE 13 QUESTIONS RELATED WITH MONEY..
MONEY = CARROTS AND STICKS
LESSONS LEARNED Motivation & priority Money Contact Over all: Have to feel proud of us for actually moving forward with something that really is not at all self-evident. In addition (or maybe because?) to the direct financial impact that the survey has, the universities need to use the results of the feedback to develop their teaching and support services further. o Remember, only 13 questions money-related. Contacting students to get them to answer the feedback is actually already one HUGE step forward. And we now certainly get enough data to draw conclusions with. Adjusting the questionnaire for the Finnish students went sometimes a bit over board, different perspective is also there to broaden your mind! Still, the big picture with all kind of feedback and other data we collect is missing. This has to do with the response rates also!
STILL TO COME: GIVING REAL VALUE FOR THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE From a student point of view it is evident that students take part in discussing the feedback, and the effect of feedback is communicated and visible for the students. KANDIPALAUTE can play a huge part in the transition.
THANK YOU! Suvi Eriksson Former student activist, now a trade union activist. Still, and probably always, Higher Education activist. suviotus@gmail.com +358 50 3523432