Quality assurance
Accreditation
MSc EF programme is one of the first EMJMD programmes in the world that has been accredited according to the European approach for quality assurance of the joint programmes. The accreditation was conducted by the Agency for Quality Assurance Agency (AQAS) and is valid until 30 September 2025. The renewal of the accreditation has started in the summer 2025. The accreditation procedure and the decision are based on the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). The MSc EF programme complies with the AQAS criteria for programme accreditation and is in compliance with the requirements defined by ESG.
Report and decision (PDF)
Joint programmes that used the European Approach
Consortium Board
In MSc European Forestry, the Consortium Board is in charge of student selection processes and has responsibility for joint programme activities and for the Curriculum and quality assurance in general. Each Consortium university has a representative in the Consortium Board (CB), and depending on the agenda points addressed in the CB meeting, ad-hoc representatives may be invited to the meeting by any of the above representatives, upon agreement of the CB and without voting rights (e.g. alumnus and/or student representative from current first and second year students elected by his/her fellow students, local coordinators of the Associated Partners etc.). The members of the CB are to meet at least once a year: in spring semester and/or in autumn semester. Additional meetings may also be held by video-conference. CB members will also interact through an internet platform, telephone, e-mail and video-conference depending on the urgency of the matter.
Quality Review Board
The QRB is the body responsible for quality assurance (especially academic). The invited QRB members will include representatives of external teaching staff (not directly involved in the MSc EF programme) from each Full Partner HEI and from selected Associated Partner HEIs. The Chairperson will be elected among the participants for each meeting. The local coordinator of WU will act as secretary of the QRB. In addition, the QRB includes two alumni and two students (one from the second year and one from the first-year student editions). Depending on the agenda of the QRB meetings, representatives of local quality assurance committees and/or additional representatives of the Associated Industrial/Public/NGO Partners are invited to attend. An external quality report completed by the QRB will be further discussed at the annual CB meetings. This report analyses student/graduate feedback and monitors the quality indicators adopted at the first QRB meeting.
Employer Board
The Employer Board is used to maintain stakeholder relations with industry, public administration, research organisations and NGOs, and to gather recommendations for programme development. The chair of the EB is elected from among the participants for each meeting and the full partner representative (UNITBV) organises the secretariat. In addition, the EB includes representatives from Associated Industrial/Public/NGO Partners, as well as two alumni students. Depending on the items on the agenda of the EB meetings, representatives of other Associated or Full Partners are invited to attend. A report prepared by the EB is further discussed at the annual QRB meetings. The report analyses the monitoring quality indicators adopted at the first meeting, identifies current needs in the labour market, and makes recommendations for curriculum development. The EB will gather during the annual Graduation Ceremony and Working Life event and online (at least once per year), to discuss the working life relevance of the programme and to suggest improvements and means of collaboration.
Internal evaluation processes
Related to the quality assurance the Consortium Board has agreed to evaluate received students’ feedback annually. A major part of the annual Consortium Board meeting is reserved for this feedback analysis and the discussion of its consequences. Questionnaires are also sent to graduated students to get suggestions on how to make the study programme better fitted to the professional requirements.
External evaluation processes
External quality assurance activities are implemented and managed by external audits. The programme is committed to the European Approach accreditation scheme (accredited by AQAS for 2019–2025) as described above. This accreditation will be updated and renewed and will include the new Full Partner HEI (WU). The accreditation will result in a report to the CB and QRB for internal follow-up and/or external reporting. In addition, the EB is used to evaluate the working life relevance of the programme. A report prepared by the EB will be discussed at the annual QRB and CB meetings. The report analyses the monitored quality indicators adopted at the first meeting, identifies current needs in the labour market and makes recommendations for curriculum development. Each Full Partner HEI and its study programmes are also subject to external quality assurance procedures in accordance with their national evaluation schemes, which are carried out periodically in each partner university as part of general university audits. For example, the audit of the University of Eastern Finland’s quality system took place on 9–10 March 2022 as an international audit. The FINEEC Higher Education Evaluation Committee confirmed that the university passed audit on 3 March 2023. The FINEEC quality label is valid for six years, until 3 March 2029. The quality label indicates that the management system of the University of Eastern Finland fulfills the national criteria set for the quality management of higher education institutions and corresponds to the European quality assurance principles and recommendations for higher education institutions. Similar audits have been conducted also in other Consortium universities.
Database for External Quality Assurance results
