Key working groups and their tasks

Police University College Advisory board    

In addition to the Police University College, the Advisory board includes representatives from the Ministry of the Interior, the National Police Board and police units, the National Prosecution Authority, higher education institutions, the safety and rescue sector and organisations.     

Advisory board tasks:

• Assists the Police University College in planning and developing its operations, and helps in assessing changes in the operating environment of the university college and their impacts
• Analyses change trends in the internal security environment and helps to anticipate them to the extent that they impact the operations of the Police University College, thus providing input for the monitoring, evaluation and development of the Police University College's strategy.

Board of the Police University College    

The Board comprises the Director of the Police University College (chair), four Police University College personnel representatives, four Police University College degree student representatives, four representatives from internal security authorities or organisations operating in the field, one representative from the Emergency Services Academy Finland, one Bachelor of Rescue Services student representative, and one rescue services personnel representative.    

Tasks of the Board:

• Approves the Police University College's rules of procedure, code of conduct and degree regulations
• Approves the curricula for degree education
• Makes decisions on appeals related to student admission, restoration of the right to study, suspension of studies, cancellation of the right to study, temporary dismissal or written warning
• Appoints the National Police College Examination board
• Approves the selection criteria for degree programmes and specialist studies 
• Approves the curricula for specialist studies.

Emergency Services Academy Finland Advisory Board

The Advisory Board comprises the Director of the Emergency Services Academy Finland, the Director of Education, representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Education and Culture, Savonia University of Applied Sciences, the Police University College and the Emergency Response Centre Agency. Other members represent regional administration, municipal administration, rescue services, research institutions and the safety and rescue sector organisations as well as other parties key in terms of the operations of the Emergency Services Academy Finland. At least one of the members must be familiar with Swedish-language education.

The Advisory Board is tasked with supporting the planning and development of the Emergency Services Academy’s operations and the monitoring of changes in the operating environment and assessment of their impacts.

Steering group

The Steering group comprises the Director of the Police University College (chair), the heads of competence areas, heads of education and a staff representative.

The Steering group's tasks include:

•  to discuss the statutory duties of the Police University College and their implementation
•  to discuss the operating environment, strategic policies and other important, wide-ranging matters
• to discuss matters relating to the agency’s personnel, finances, communication, premises and facilities, risk management and operating conditions 
• to consider planning and performance of operations and finances
• to consider strategic partnerships and cooperation with stakeholders
• to consider the policies for operations subject to a charge
• to ensure implementation of quality management.

Strategic management group of the Emergency Services Academy Finland

Members of the Strategic management group of the Emergency Services Academy Finland include the Director of the Emergency Services Academy Finland, the Director of Education, the Director of Administration and the Director of Research. The Human Resources Officer may be invited to the management group meetings if necessary. The Strategic management group is tasked with preparing and handling strategic level matters concerning the Emergency Services Academy Finland, including

• strategic planning and the management, monitoring, coordination and development of the Academy’s operations;
• monitoring, coordination and development of teaching and education relating to the performance management process.

ICT steering group

The ICT steering group comprises the Director of the Police University College (chair), heads of education and the heads of competence areas. 

The group is tasked with:

• Steering the development of the Police University College information systems and teaching technologies, ICT projects and initiatives.
• Monitoring and steering the participation of the Police University College in the higher education institutions’ Digivision 2030 project.
• Supporting the progress of projects and ensuring the related resourcing.
• Making decisions relating to projects and taking responsibility for the decisions and change management.
• Deciding on the launch of development projects based on the proposals of the ICT user group.
• Confirming the ICT roadmap of the Police University College, prepared by the ICT user group.

ICT user group

The ICT user group comprises the Head of ICT Management (chair), the Head of Information Secutiry, a representative of ICT Management, a representative of POL IT and a representative for each competence area.

The group is tasked with:

• Identifying and prioritising the development needs of information systems and teaching technologies for which the group is responsible, as well as coordinating and supporting the related work and monitoring.
• Reporting to the ICT steering group.
• Preparing the project proposals of ICT development projects and presenting them to the ICT Steering Group. The systems and services taken into use are added to the user group’s area of responsibility. 
• Preparing and maintaining the ICT roadmap of the Police University College.

Quality assurance group    

The members of the Quality assurance group are the Head of Quality Management (chair), the Director of Education, one Educational Developer, a Superintendent from the practical training team, two teachers, a researcher, a representative of the Emergency Services Academy Finland, student representa-tives and a representative of working life.    

The aims of the Quality assurance group’s work include the following:

• Our quality system meets the European higher education institutions’ quality management principles and recommendations.
• Our feedback systems produce pertinent information for the continuous development of operations and this information results in effective measures.
• We follow the current national and international discussion on quality assurance.
• We communicate actively and openly about quality management. Our communication is dialogic and stimulates discussion.

Pay working group

Members of the Pay working group represent both the employer and employees. The number of employer representatives is four. The employees’ representatives include the elected employee representatives and four representatives of personnel. The Pay working group is chaired by the Director of Administration.

The Pay working group of the Police University College is tasked with monitoring the application of the pay system in the educational institution and preparing proposed solutions in cases of disagreement over pay.

Information security group

The Information security group consists of the Head of Information Security, the Head of ICT Management, the Security Chief, the Training Expert and five personnel representatives.

The group is tasked with:

Developing information security and coordinating information security measures

• Coordinating the assessment of information security risks
• Ensuring that measures are taken to achieve and maintain a set level of information security
• Preparing presentations and instructions related to information security
• Preparing information security development projects
• Monitoring the state of information security and responding to observed shortcomings and problems
• Reviewing the digital environment and system listings maintained by ICT annually.

Occupational safety committee

The Occupational safety committee comprises the Director of Administration and the Head of occupational safety as representatives of the employer, and the Occupational Safety Representative , deputy representatives, the Occupational Safety Ombudsman, the students’ Occupational Safety Ombudsman and six personnel representatives.

The Occupational safety committee is tasked with promoting the health and safety of work in the workplace. Its more detailed tasks are listed and described in the OSH Action Plan, which is available on the Police University College website. 

Non-discrimination and equality working group

Members of the Non-discrimination and equality working group include the Seargeant (chair), the health and safety representative, the head of education, the head of quality management, the human resources specialist, four staff members and the Student Union’s harassment contact person.

The working group is tasked with:

• evaluating and purposefully promoting non-discrimination and equality in the Police University College,
• preparing and maintaining the Police University College’s non-discrimination and equality plan, 
• preparing a proposal for the goals to be included in the plan, and monitoring their implemention.

Employee cooperation committee    

The Employee cooperation committee includes the Director of the Police University College (chair), the Director of Administration, shop stewards, the occupational safety representative, and six personnel representatives.

The Act on cooperation in government agencies and public bodies (1233/2013) includes provisions that determine what matters the Employee cooperation committee will discuss. The group aims to promote the performance and the economic effectiveness of the Police University College’s operations and the quality of working life. Its aim is to increase the opportunities for personnel to influence the preparation and decision-making of decisions concerning work and working conditions.

Education steering group

The group comprises the Director of Education (chair), a student counsellor (secretary), Heads of Education, heads of competence areas in education, the Head of Student Services, the Head of Quality Management.

The steering group is tasked with:

• Providing support for setting and attainment of performance targets for the core teaching and learning process by participating in the general steering and development of education activities
• Discuss and outline matters related to education and cooperation between competence areas
• Discussing more extensive summaries on feedback and issues related to the implementation of pedagogical policies.

Education management group of the Emergency Services Academy Finland 

Members of the Education management group include the Director of Education, Heads of education,the Head of Technical Services and representatives of student services and students.

The group is tasked with preparing and handling the key themes of the development of degree education and continuing education, the educational institution’s pedagogic planning and development and the implementation of educational activities, including

• the planning, implementation, evaluation and development of the goals and operations in line with the strategy;
• the development of educational and student service processes;
• the development of stakeholder cooperation.

The Education management group produces information to support decision-making by the strategic management group and other operations and decision-making at the Emergency Services Academy Finland.

Student representative is selected by the student association of the Emergency Services Academy Finland. The student association has the opportunity to make proposals and submit initiatives to the Education management group.

The Director of Education may invite experts to meetings.

Working group on curriculum development (Ops-group)   

The OPS group comprises the Head of Education (chair), heads of competence areas in education, another Head of Education, Educational Developers, a representative of the RDI competence area, a representative of the practical training team, a teacher representative of Swedish-language education, a representative of working life, the Head of Education of the Emergency Services Academy Finland and a student representative.  

The group is tasked with:

• Heading, coordinating and developing the curricula and implementation plans for education at the Police University College. 
• Processing the summaries of student feedback, assessing the observations of competence areas and development proposals for them, and developing the priorities of the curriculum process on the basis of student feedback.

Planning groups for different study courses    

Planning groups comprise the teacher in charge and course teachers.

The groups plan, implement, evaluate and develop a course under the supervision of the teacher in charge.

Working group on education development (OPEKE)

OPEKE comprises the Head of Continuing Education (chair); the Head of Degree Education; Educational Developers; the Study Counsellor; at least two teachers representing educational competence areas; a representative of the RDI competence area, and 4–6 student representatives.

The group is tasked with promoting the development of education and cooperating with other Police University College working groups. The chair will report about the work of OPEKE to the Education steering group.

Cooperation meeting of the Police University College and the student union  

The members of the cooperation meeting include the Head of Student Services (chair), members of the Board of the Student Union, the Class Chairmen of Master of Police Services, the Director of Education, the Director, the Head of Degree Education and the Head of Quality Management (secretary).  The Head of Communications and the Security Chief have also the right to attend the meetings.

The group is tasked with:

• Discussing initiatives and feedback given by the student union 
• Monitoring the impact of feedback
• Discussing topical themes related to police training 
• Improve cooperation between students and the management of education.

Steering group for theses and RDI    

The steering group’s members include the Head of Education (chair), teachers-in-charge of theses and RDI courses, an education developer, a representative from the RDI competence area, and representatives from various other competence areas.  

The group is tasked with ensuring the fluency and quality of  theses and RDI studies included in the degree programmes of the Police University College.

Study counselling coordination group    

The members of the Study counselling coordination group include the Study Counsellor (chair), and representatives of student marketing, student admission, student services, practical training and teacher tutoring.

The group is tasked with planning, assessing and developing the study counselling at the Police University College with measures such as drawing up and updating the study counselling plan and collecting and reviewing feedback given on counselling.

Student recruiting group   

The Student recruiting group comprises the Superintendent of Student Recruitment (chair), the Director of Education, the Coordinator of Student admissions, the Head of Communications, the Head of Student Services, the Study Counsellor, the Superintendent of the Practical Training Team, the Chief Inspector of police education in Swedish, the Chief inspector of Motorcycle training and the Coordinator of Student Recruitment (secretary).

The group is tasked with:

• Preparing and implementing a student recruitment plan
• Evaluating the effectiveness of the measures annually.

Working group on simulation

The working group on simulation comprises the Head of Continuing Education (chair); a Specialist, ICT; an Expert, Training; and four teachers. 

The group’s task is to develop simulated teaching in various ways.

Some key working groups of Emergency Services Academy Finland are also described below, because Emergency Services Academy Finland is in charge of providing the Bachelor of Rescue Services degree education.

Examination board    

The Examination board’s members include the Police University College’s Principal Lecturer (chair), two Police University College teachers and two Emergency Services Academy Finland teachers.

The board processes appeals made for the assessment of study attainments or the accreditation of study units. 

Admissions Committee

The admissions committee comprises the Head of Student Services (chair), a Psychologist, the Psychologist of the Student Admissions, the Chief Inspector of police education in Swedish, a Head of Competence Area and the Coordinator of the Student Admissions.

The committee prepares

• the Admission Criteria for the Bachelor of Police Services
• the conditional student admissions for the Bachelor of Police Services
• the statements on claims for corrections concerning aptitude test of the Bachelor of Police Services

Project portfolio management group

The Project portfolio management group comprises a senior researcher (chair), the Director of Research, project developers, the Director of Education, the Superintendent for International Affairs, the Project Director, a lecturer (theses) and a Superintendent (student projects).

The group is tasked with: 

• Managing the project portfolio, that is, the projects as a whole. 
• Defining the criteria for the evaluation of project proposals and ensuring that the projects pro-mote the strategic objectives of internal security, police operations and the University College.
• Developing the quality of project activities together with the core processes and the Quality assurance group.
• Coordinating the updating of the project handbook and promoting project-based culture and competence in the organisation.
• Informing the management of the University College about the status of the project portfolio on a regular basis.

Working group on open science and research

The working group on open science and research comprises two Senior Researchers, one of them the chair; a Senior Lecturer (theses); a Curator (the Police Museum); an Information Specialist; a Secretary, Research; a Senior Planning Officer (RDI communication) and a Coordinator (student services).

The group is tasked with:

• assessing the current status of open science and research and identifying the key development targets, considering the four policies of the Declaration for Open Science and Research 
• separately investigating solutions to enable the uniform saving of project materials and their basic data and, when necessary, opening them for use either with project partners or more broadly 
• developing an open science and research operating model suitable for the Police University College and updating it 
• updating the contents of the Police University College project handbook with regard to the principles and practices of the topic 
• highlighting training needs to develop staff competence on the topic 
• preparing educational material on the basics of open science and an operating model for the Police University College for internal training on the topic
• preparing statements by the Police University College relating to the topic

Publication committee    

The Publication committee includes a senior researcher (chair), the 
Research Secretary (secretary), the Head of Communication, Director of Education for continuing education, and teacher representatives.   

The group is tasked with:

• Receiving and recording publication proposals
• Assessing the eligibility of received manuscripts for publication, requesting assessments of these if necessary, and making decisions on which publications to publish
• Directing manuscripts that are complete in content for further processing
• Developing publishing activities, monitoring the quality of publication products and promoting the recognition of publications.

Research integrity committee

The Research integrity committee comprises a senior researcher (chair), the Principal Lecturer, and teacher representatives.

The ethical principles drawn up by the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity are the basis for the assessment carried out by the Research integrity committee.

The committee is tasked with giving opinions on the ethical acceptability of research projects. An opinion may also be requested from the committee, if the research subject, research funder or partner so require or if the research results are to be published in a scientific journal that requires an ethical review. 

See also

Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK