Quality Control at the Department of Computer Science
- The quality manual of the Department of Computer Science
Goals of the quality project
A part of normal routine, quality control is based on the strategic goals of the university, faculty and department. The quality project aims at continuous development of daily routines whilst improving the visibility of this work in all operations and in the work of every employee. All of academia is concerned with the quality project; teachers, researchers, other staff, and students. The quality is maintained, improved and evaluated through a quality control system covering all areas of operation and utilized by every member of the university world.
To ensure the scope of quality control, the quality control system has been documented in the department quality manual with detailed directives, methods and regulations. The purpose of the quality manual is to ensure the expedience and conformance of routines as well as the quality of the results of department routines. The quality manual also describes the whole quality control system of the department.
The direct goals of the department quality manual are as follows:
- The guidelines for the department are available in one place (http://qm.cs.helsinki.fi).
- Ensuring that the guidelines are complete and all necessary routines have been documented.
- Minimizing extra work involved in quality control so that quality control can be proven to be an integrated part of normal operations.
The department quality manual is complemented by the manuals of the faculty and the university. The manual is public, and staff and students may comment on it and suggest updates for it.
Responsibilities
The Head of the department is in charge of the quality of the department. Each member of the department (staff, students) is in charge of the quality of their own work.
The department quality officer is responsible for the quality control mechanisms being used correctly. The quality officer is also in charge of notifying the department management about any reforms or updates necessary to the manual. The quality officer will act as quality liaison in the internal network of the university.
Each chapter of the manual names the person responsible for that chapter.
The department steering committee will approve the quality manual.
The 2007 audit and its schedule
The Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council will audit the quality control systems of every Finnish university by the end of year 2011.
The quality control system of the University of Helsinki will be audited in autumn 2007 (auditing visit in November). The purpose of the Evaluation Council audit is to ensure that each university has a quality control system that supports the continuous improvement of its routines. Auditing also guarantees that the universities follow set goals in a reliable way, both nationally and internationally.
Schedule
- 15 June 2007: the department delivered its auditing material (quality manual) to the central university administration and the faculty. Some small corrections can be made until the end of August.
- August 2007: the faculty collects the department manuals.
- 15 September 2007: the university delivers the auditing material to the auditing council.
- 21 September and 3 October 2007: the university and the Evaluation Council will hold an information meeting about the audit.
- September-October: the department will put out its own report about the quality project, the audit, and the quality manual.
- 26-30 November 2007: the auditing council will visit the university and select units.
The quality project is permanent and will continue after the audit. The quality manual of the department will be updated periodically and the steering committee will approve the changes annually.
Additional information
- The quality manual of the Department of Computer Science
- The quality manual of the Faculty of Science (the link will be added when the manual is finished)
- The quality manual of the University of Helsinki
- The quality web site of the University of Helsinki