Quality and development of operation

Quality system of Centria University of Applied Sciences

The quality system is based on our Strategy 2021-2024(30), specifically the target states and key projects specified in it. The strategy guides our operations and decision-making, laying the foundation for the management system. The quality system consists of the management system, core and support processes and their management, and the continuous assessment and improvement of the success of operations.

Quality is created in everyday work. Centria’s management and staff are committed to continuous improvement of their operations and operating system. All Centria staff participates in quality development and, in their respective roles, are responsible for quality implementation and performance. A key principle for operational development when operations are planned, implemented, evaluated and further developed on the basis of analysed data is the PDCA cycle of continuous improvement.

Centria’s quality management principles are as follows:

• Quality management is a key part of our operations and the enterprise resource planning. They support reaching the goals defined in the strategy.
• Our key principles for comprehensive quality management are customer-oriented operations, continuous evaluation and development of operations, process thinking and large-scale staff commitment to developing operations.
• We use targeted quality tools and learning from best practices in our everyday development work.
• Our operating system guides and supports the operation and management of core and support processes, as well as the continuous improvement of operations.
• In the development work, we use documented data produced in our operations. We communicate openly about the development of operations both within the university and to key stakeholders.

Centria ensures quality by conducting internal quality management audits and regularly participating in external audits. The external evaluation partner is The Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC). FINEEC’s audit assesses the quality system. It also assesses meeting the national criteria for quality management in higher education institutions, as well as European principles and recommendations.

We are currently preparing for the next FINEEC audit, which will take place in early 2023. The results of the audit will be public. They will be published on FINEEC’s digital platform during spring 2023.

The previous FINEEC audit was carried out in 2016. The audit report can be downloaded in Finnish here.