Structure

The quality assurance is based on the strategies of the university, the faculty, and the department, and it is a part of routine operations. The purpose of quality assurance is to further improve operations constantly and to make this work evident in all department activities and in the work of each employee. Quality assurance is relevant to the whole university community: teachers, researchers, other staff, and students. The quality will be maintained, improved, and evaluated through a quality-assurance system that covers all areas of academia and which each member of the university may utilize in their own work. Please see Chapter A.3 of the [university's quality manual] for the quality assurance system at the university level.

Quality manual

To ensure that the quality assurance is extensive enough, the quality-assurance system has been documented in the quality manual, which includes detailed instructions, methods and decrees. The quality manuals of the university and faculty complement the department quality manual. The structure of the department manual follows that of the faculty and university manuals as appropriate. The manual is public and both staff and students can comment it and suggest updates. Any parts not suitable for public distribution will be available on the intranet of the staff or the department (which is available to students, as well).

Quality-assurance mechanisms

Regularly used quality-assurance mechanisms and methods for discovering areas of improvement and to elicit improvement suggestions include

• the research review carried out by the university every six years (review report for the department 2005, review report for HIIT 2005, website for research evaluation at the department)
• the education review carried out by the university every six years (next review in 2008)
• the Finnish Academy evaluation of computer science 2000-2006.
• the election of national Academy of Finland centres of excellence; the From Data to Knowledge (FDK) centre of excellence has been active at the department for the years 2002-7, and it will continue under the auspices of the new centre of excellence Algorithmic Data Analysis (Algodan) during the years 2008-13.
• graduate school applications (e.g Hecse)
• the selection of national quality units of university education and the university's internal selections of quality units of education
• in addition to the above, HIIT has its own Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) for evaluation of its results and their relevance.
• refereed scientific publications
• evaluation of applications for scientific funding
• individual evaluations (staff reviews)
• feedback systems (such as course feedback, tutoring questionnaires, course studies)
• the department's strategy event
• monthly get-together of the whole department
• direct suggestions from staff and students (e.g. through the service addresses or anonymously to the red feedback mailbox of the department)
• indicators for activities, finances and results in the chapter System of management.

Responsibilities

The head of the department is responsible for the quality of operations at the department. Each member of the department (staff, students) is in charge of the quality of their own duties.

The Quality Officer of the department is in charge of the expedient use of quality-assurance mechanisms. The Quality Officer also reports to the department management about reviews or updates necessary for the quality manual. The Quality Officer is the internal quality liaison in the university network.

The persons named in each chapter of the quality manual are in charge of the contents of the respective chapters.

The steering committee approves the quality manual.

Maintenance of the quality system

The quality manual is complemented and corrected continuously. The Quality Officer and the person in charge of each chapter are responsible for the maintenance. Other members of the department (staff and students) can also make changes and suggestions in the online quality manual. All changes are unofficial until the steering committee has approved the new version of the quality manual. The approved version will be stored as is, as an official version alongside the unofficial, latest version. A pdf version of the unofficial version may also be stored as is if necessary. The steering committee will approve the quality manual at the beginning of each year and as necessary at other times.

The approved version of the quality manual will be stored electronically (http://qm.cs.helsinki.fi) both as hypertext and as pdf. The approved version will be clearly marked as such along with the date of approval and the version number. A hardcopy of the latest approved version of the quality manual will be stored in the office of the Office Manager. The online version that can be edited will be clearly marked as such along with mention of which approved version it is based on.

The staff is informed about the quality manual and quality-assurance at

• staff meetings
• monthly department get-togethers
• the department webzine me@tktl
• the e-mailing list tktl-list
• separate briefings, etc.

Students are informed about the quality manual, quality-assurance and auditing

• through tutoring
• at larger courses
• on the students' e-mail list
• at separate briefings, etc.

The quality system is monitored at the annual strategy meeting of the department and the annual results negotiations with the Dean.

Development

The quality-assurance system is developed on internal and external fedback so that it helps staff improve their own work duties and attain their own goals.

The main projects for quality assurance is the creation and utilisation of this manual during year 2007, as well as the auditing of the university's quality-assurance system in 2007.

The next goal is to develop the indicators for quality assurance ( Support for decision-making and [[#Quality-assurance mechanisms | Quality-assurance mechanisms) and to utilize them.

The department will especially work on the routines for quality assurance at its strategy meetings.

Samples and evidence that the quality-assurance system works

The samples and evidence for quality assurance include

• Samples of evaluation and feedback methods or indicators with which the department monitors the quality of degree education and other routines
• Samples of the results of earlier reviews (such as reviews of education, researech and administration) and their use for the development of department routines
• Evidence of the development of the quality-assurance system and information on its results to the department and to its external interest groups
• Evidence of the relevance of the quality-assurance system on the devlopment of teaching and other routines.

Samples and evidence at the department:

• The systematic work to improve teaching: there is a committee for the development of teaching at the department, feedback is systematically gathered on teaching, external reviews are utilized, and management of teaching is clearly structured. The results in teaching have received acclaim, both internally at the university in the form of quality awards and externally when the department was selected as one of the quality units in university education for the period 2007-2009.
• Development of research with the help of external reviews: international panels review the research at the department and HIIT on a regular basis: the university arranges an evaluation of research every six years (in 2005 last), the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of HIIT evaluates research every 2-3 years. The review critique and suggestions for improvements are utilized in planning routines and developing research, and the areas marked for improvement are written into the department strategy and the HIIT strategy. Changes and effects are monitored and reported systematically; the utilization and effects of the results of the 1999 review of research were detailed in a report to the 2005 panel, for example. Evidence of the quality of research at the department and HIIT are the best possible grade, 7/7, gained in the international evaluation of research arranged by the University of Helsinki in 2005 and the status of Centre of Excellence given by the Finnish Academy to the FDK unit and its successor, the Algodan unit.
• The competition for research funding The success of the department and HIIT in securing external research funding constitutes more proof of the quality of the research carried out here.
• The instruction and administration of Master's theses (Pro gradu) is a systematically regulated and monitored process. The thesis administration webpages contain a set of rules including general guidelines for instructors of theses and descriptions of the approval process. Data on MSc theses and their progress and examination are stored in a thesis administration database at the department. The steering committee approves MSc theses and grades. The congruity and quality of the examination and grading of MSc theses is ensured by detailed instructions on grounds for grading, instructions for how to write the assessment report, and by a strictly limited group of examinators. Examinators from outside this group may only be appointed on the basis of a written application to the steering committee. The group of examinators and possible exceptions to the rule are listed in the thesis administration instructions.
• Quality assurance of teaching. The course Data structures is an example of quality assurance of teaching. The low number of students who passed this course led to an investigation looking into such matters as what pre-knowledge students had when entering the course and testing their pre-knowledge in a surprise quiz at the beginning of the course. The investigation showed that there was a strong connection between pre-knowledge and passing the course, especially the pre-knowledge required of students participating in this course. The matter was discussed at a staff meeting with invited student representatives. The steering committee discussed the matter and asked the committe for improving teaching to suggest steps to be taken. On the basis of the discussions and the committee's suggestions, the Head decided that the required pre-knowledge will be monitored more closely during academic year 2007-2008. The effects of this new routine will be followed up as soon as the courses have been completed again. Other courses have followed and are following similar routines.
• Matrices for learning goals A matrix for learning goals has been developed for each course to illustrate the contents of each course and what students should know once they have completed it.
• Impact of strategy-planning events. The strategy-planning events held annually are having a large impact on the department. During the events, the staff discusses current issues and develops solutions for problem areas. Reports are written on all suggested measures, along with suggested schedules and executors.
• Support for post-graduates. A system of support groups is used in the Hecse and ComBi graduate schools to aid post-graduates in their studies. Each post-graduate is assigned their own support group consisting of one or two researchers. The support group will meet with the post-graduate twice a year to comment on their research and research plan. In ComBi, each post-graduate has two instructors, at least one of whom is a member of the steering committee of ComBi. Starting on 1 August 2008, all other new post-graduates at the department will be assigned two mentors who will proceed in the same way as the support groups in Hecse.

Development needs

• More indicators of the quality of research and teaching will be developed, please see Basic education, Post-graduate education, and Results and effects of research.

• A monitoring system for post-graduates is being established.

• There is no process for monitoring development needs systematically yet.