The Theatre Academy passed the audit

The aim of the audit conducted by the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council was to:

■ Ascertain what qualitative aims the Theatre Academy has set for its operation,
■ Evaluate what processes and procedures the Theatre Academy uses to maintain and enhance the quality of education and other activities, and
■ Evaluate if the quality assurance works in the way intended, if the quality assurance system produces appropriate information in terms of the development of the operations and if it leads to effective, quality-enhancing development.

The audit was based on material provided by the Theatre Academy in advance and a visit to the Theatre Academy on 23– 25 November 2009. The audit team notes that the quality assurance system of the Theatre Academy, LaatuTeaK, is a compact and clear entity, where the documents are easily accessible and where a balance has been found between the demands imposed by the size of the Theatre Academy and the definition of structures in the system. LaatuTeaK has been closely linked to the management and steering system. The Theatre Academy has significantly overhauled its administrative and support systems, which effectively backs up the production and utilisation of quality assurance information and the interlinkage of the system with the steering of operations.

The Theatre Academy has modelled and documented the processes in its core mission and the relevant division of duties in an informative and fairly comprehensive way, creating a solid basic structure for process-based quality work. As a learning environment, the Theatre Academy supports and reinforces students’ growth to artists in many ways. Education contains performances across the board, which are subjected to public assessment in the teaching theatre. The students receive a great deal of individual feedback on learning and on artistic activity. In undergraduate education, the student feedback is used extensively and interactively by means of several different methods. The Academy revises its instruction on a continuing basis and uses the artistic know-how of the personnel in an exemplary way. In developing teaching the Academy has created innovative solutions, which have been put to wider use through documentation. The Academy has systematically promoted staff welfare.

The audit team proposes the following development measures, among others, to the Academy:

■ That the Theatre Academy adopt societal interaction as one of its central development targets and specify the aims, processes, doers and responsibilities in it and the documentation needed. In this connection, it should specifically  consider the coverage of the quality assurance system, the expectations of external stakeholders and active  cooperation with stakeholders in its strategic development.
■ That the Theatre Academy consider overall development of the quality assurance systems as part of the  development of the management processes in order to link the Education and Development Services (Kouke), the Stage Technology, Design and Consultation Unit (Teakon) and the open university in their specific fields and  development more closely to operational quality assurance in teaching, research, artistic activity and societal  interaction.
■ In regard of the institutional feedback practices, it has not been confirmed what their linkage is to those  responsible  for the different operations in different parts of the organisation. The Theatre Academy should specify the process for using the feedback at different organisational levels and make sure that the measures indicated in the feedback are  initiated in the units concerned.
■ That in postgraduate education, the Academy consider putting in place joint documentation, especially in regard of concerning good steering, and building up the supervisor pool as part of the development of international cooperation. ■ That the Academy boost the implementation of the inclusion principle in quality assurance. In this context it should determine the different participants (students, personnel, external stakeholders), the forms of participation and the  aims of participation in the different quality assurance processes.
■ Linking the quality assurance system closely to the aims set for LaatuTeaK would improve the monitoring and  continuing development of the system. Monitoring and continuing development entail concretising the aims and  creating and adopting forms of personnel and student participation.

At its meeting on 24 March 2010, the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council decided that the Theatre Academy
fulfils the criteria set for the overall quality assurance system and for the quality assurance of the core missions. The audit is valid for six years.

Return to headlines