Quality for students
Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences welcomes students from all over the world within its walls and provides information on our strategy, internal organisation, quality and other internal matters both for those who just consider applying, and for those who have already became a part of our team.
Strategy and action plan
In our strategy we define common goals, plan our operations and choose the means to achieve the results we want. Our mission is to open doors to future careers.
Our operations are based on five values: courage, accountability, collaboration, transparency and respect. We have three strategic goals regarding learning, research and networks. Enabler of these goals is the enthusiasm and well-being of the students and staff of Haaga-Helia.
You can always learn more about Haaga-Helia strategy and action plan (login) or quality policy via the links provided here.
Continuous improvement
In Haaga-Helia, we develop our activities according to the principle of continuous improvement in cooperation with students, staff, industry representatives and other stakeholders. In quality work, we aim to continuously develop Haaga-Helia's operations and make this work visible. We have put in place a range of feedback and information systems to support us in monitoring the quality and developing our operations.
The below video introduces you to Haaga-Helia's way to operate and develop.
Our basic principle in continuous improvement is Plan - Do - Check - Learn&Develop - Communicate. In practice, this means that we constantly measure the success of our operations, that's why we consider feedback from different stakeholders one of the most important tools of our improvement.
Quality and accreditations
We are committed to continuous improvement of our processes and operations. One of the tools allowing us to self-assess ourselves is the audit, which takes place every six years and grants a quality label. The audit allows us to assess the success of our actions in the main areas of Haaga-Helia activity and to outline the ways of development.
More information about the audit and other accreditations is available here (login).
We aim not only on improvement and development within Haaga-Helia, but also on export of our education to the B2C, B2B and B2G markets. Haaga-Helia's Commercial Services, degrees and teaching staff work together in order to create attractive products for the target markets.
Read more about quality key concepts (login) and quality of online courses (login).
Organisation
Haaga-Helia's renewed organisation from the beginning of 2021 is aimed to support academic renewal and offer students more freedom in self-determination of the educational process. Three main ongoing processes inside our institution: learning and guidance, research and development, and societal and international impact. Competence is the core of everything, the intersection point of those three processes.
The educational operational field describes how we are organised around expertise and how degrees, areas of expertise and research areas work together to produce excellence in all our main processes.
Haaga-Helia stands on the shoulders of its students and staff. Each role in the organisation defines certain tasks and entails certain obligations. Quality of work, achievements, practical results and continuous development is the personal responsibility of everyone, but it is reflected in other members of the community and on Haaga-Helia as an educational institution.
You can read more about key responsibilities of Responsibility Areas as well as students and staff role in the UAS community via this link (login).
Internal and external steering
The Ministry of Education and Culture steers and funds the operations of higher education institutions in Finland. The Ministry sets common long-term goals for Haaga-Helia for the period of four years. It also holds negotiations with Haaga-Helia in defining Haaga-Helia's individual objectives. The results of this negotiations are transferred into the strategic level performance agreement.
The official bodies inside Haaga-Helia include e.g. the Shareholders or the Owners, the Board, the Management Group, the Collegiate Body, the Occupational Safety Committee, the Co-Operative Committee (for the employer and the employees) and the Examinations Board. You can find a detailed description of these official bodies and their role (login) in Haaga-Helia.
Haaga-Helia's steering activities aim to ensure quality, efficiency and profitability. Our key internal steering elements are Haaga-Helia's strategy, annual action and funding plan, those of the different units and degree programs, and face-to-face performance appraisals.
You can find more information about guiding principles, regulations and president's decisions and funding model (login).
Societal impact
At the heart of our societal impact is close and active cooperation with business community and partners, high employment rates of graduates and our agility as a private higher education institution. We engage in diverse practical work throughout the operational year to enhance our impact in the surrounding society. We are a part of the city of Helsinki’s “Climate Partners” and made a Societal Impact climate commitment organised by Helsinki Chamber of Commerce. Our goal is to be carbon neutral by the year 2030.
You can learn more about our value creation model (login).
Feedback
In the development of our activities, we rely heavily on different types of feedback from our stakeholders: student feedback, feedback from personnel and feedback from alumni, partners and society.
During their studies, students respond to multiple surveys. On our side, we monitor the results from multiple perspectives: through financial metrics of the Ministry of Education and Culture, our own strategic and qualitative monitoring indicators, through feedback from our stakeholders, and from a societal impact perspective.
Official surveys are not the only source of information for us, we also take into account other written and oral feedback. The insights created together through work develop our operations. Through ongoing dialogue, we can constantly develop, taking into account the wishes, opinions and ideas of our stakeholders. Remember that you always can help us be better.
Results of various surveys (login).
Degree Development Meetings
Haaga-Helia's Cooperative meetings (YTY and Round Table) for degrees create a forum for discussion and the exchange of information between Haaga-Helia students and staff. The purpose of these teams, representing all parties related to studying, is to promote cooperation within Haaga-Helia, furnish opinions about issues related to degrees, teaching and practical arrangements, receive and provide briefings, focus on potential problem areas, and discuss alternative solutions to these problems. Teams also discuss the development of the study environment.
Haaga-Helia is represented at cooperative meetings by the Degree Programme Director and student counsellors. Other persons interested in the subject under discussion are also welcome.