Degree programme management
Management has been developed based on strategic targets set in 2015. The roles of heads of degree programmes have been strengthened as the leaders of BSc and MSc degree education. The Vice-Rector for Education and Director of Study and International Affairs support the heads of degree programmes in their management duties, and topical issues are discussed in regular meetings where ideas are shared and procedures are agreed on. This cooperation results e.g. in the coherent development of the programme portfolio and online education practices. It has been crucial also in tackling the challenges caused by the pandemic.
International accreditations
From its first external audit in 2009, LUT has been committed to the continuous improvement of its education by the standards of international accreditations. Currently, seven BSc programmes and 14 MSc programmes are accredited – most of them already reaccredited once. In addition, LBM is applying for an institutional accreditation. Accreditation gives LUT graduates an international recognition for their degrees and the university valuable quality assessment to build cooperation with international partner universities. Accreditations have promoted competence-based curriculum work, the two-cycle BSc and MSc degree structure, the internationalisation of education, and internal quality management procedures.
Cooperative approach in feedback management
LUT student guilds have started collecting and reporting course feedback as of 2015. The system was first piloted in two degree programmes and then implemented in all programmes based on the good experiences. Supported by study service personnel, student guilds send course feedback surveys to respondents and feedback reports to teachers following common guidelines. The guilds are reimbursed for the job, and more importantly, get information on student views and teaching in their degree programme, which they can discuss in different meetings and feedback workshops of the degree programme. In annual feedback workshops, arranged since 2017, student guild representatives and teaching personnel discuss feedback reports concerning their degree programme. As a result, necessary development measures are agreed on. In the next year’s workshop, the loop is closed by checking the outcome of the development measures. The feedback workshops assure systematic analysis, thorough examination and utilisation of feedback.
Training for supervisors of doctoral students
LUT issued recommendations for good supervision practices of DSc students in 2015 and has arranged training for supervisors in DSc education since 2016. The 3 ECTS credit course can be included in LUT’s university pedagogy training as an optional module. It consists of five workshops on supervising in practice, well-being at work, grant writing and funding applications, good scientific practice, and HR and project management. The accessibility of the workshops has been ensured by providing it both on-site and online, and the recorded workshops are available to participants for later use. Participants can take the whole course or individual workshops. The annually provided training has reached 85 participants and has been developed based on feedback. Many universities have benchmarked the training and utilised it in their context.
Online course for career planning
Find Your Career is a virtual self-study platform containing modules for career planning and job hunting. It provides students of all cycles topical career services and serves as a 2 ECTS credit elective course that can be included in a degree. Students choose the study modules that interest them and receive personal comments on some. Currently, the platform contains seven modules, and new ones will be added according to students’ needs. During the first two academic years, more than 700 students have registered to the platform, and about 400 assignments were done in the academic year 2019–20.
Recruitment partnerships
Recruitment partnership is a service aiming to create long-term partnerships with companies having a regular need for new talents from LUT. The service aims to increase employer visibility and interaction with selected LUT student groups. It is always tailored to the company’s needs. A variety of tools are employed, such as coverage to increase recognisability, marketing to support employer branding, cooperation with students to get first-hand experience, and recruitment support to reach the best candidates. The recruitment partnership service was started with four partners in the academic year 2019–20. The experience has been encouraging and the number of partners will be increased gradually, but the total number of partners will be limited.