Staff Regulations
The University of the Arts Helsinki follows the provisions of these HR Regulations concerning general qualification requirements for the staff and selection procedures for staff recruitment.
In general
Section 1: Scope of application
The University of the Arts Helsinki follows the provisions of these HR Regulations concerning general qualification requirements for the staff and selection procedures for staff recruitment. The rector may give further instructions on position-specific qualification requirements and on selection procedures that are applied within the university.
Qualification requirements
Section 2: General qualification requirements
A person selected for a position at the university is required to have the kind of education, experience and language skills necessary for successfully carrying out the duties in question, as well as other qualities, knowledge and skills, such as good cooperation and interaction skills, required in the position. These requirements are defined for each position prior to the selection process.
A person selected for a position with teaching duties is required to have completed pedagogical studies and/or to have sufficient pedagogical experience and teaching skills. A person selected for a position with research duties is required to have the ability to carry out independent research and the sufficient skills and experience needed in research.
A person selected for a management position is required to have appropriate education for the position, familiarity with the field of the position, experience in management duties required by the position or suitability for a management position demonstrated in some other manner.
Section 3: Language skills
Before an employment decision is made, the language proficiency stipulated in the Government Decree on Universities (770/2009) and other language skills required for the position must be verified through application documents and, if deemed necessary, through interviews or a teaching demonstration. Foreign citizens, non-native Finnish citizens or Finnish citizens who have not received their general education in Finnish or Swedish may be exempted from the Finnish and Swedish language requirement stipulated in the Government Decree on Universities without a separate application when applying for a teaching or research position. The exemption is granted by the administrative organ or the person in charge of making the employment decision. If deemed necessary, a foreign citizen or a non-native Finnish citizen appointed to a teaching or a research position may be required to acquire a reasonable level of proficiency in Finnish or Swedish within a certain period of time. This requirement must be mentioned in the call for applications.
Section 4: Position-specific qualification requirements
The rector may give further instructions on position-specific qualification requirements and the job titles that are in use within the university.
Position-specific competence/qualification requirements and selection criteria along with their weighting must be presented in the open call for applications to secure the openness and predictability of recruitment processes.
Employment and recruitment of staff
Section 5: Decision-making in employing staff
The main grounds for making decisions of employment must be the competence of the person and their suitability for the position in accordance with the pre-determined selection criteria. The university must treat applicants equally and take into account gender equality.
The necessity of each position is evaluated before the launch of the recruitment process based on the university’s strategy and the unit’s HR plan, overall needs concerning competence and staff as well as available resources.
As regards the employment and dismissal of staff, the university adheres to the provisions and guidelines that have been laid out in the University Regulations or the rector’s decisions.
Section 6: Recruitment of professors
In principle, a professor’s position is publicly announced as open for applications, and the recruitment process follows the instructions issued by the university.
However, the professorship may be filled by invitation for particular reasons when a person with distinguished merits is being invited to take the position or when a person is appointed to the position for a fixed period. Only a candidate who indisputably fulfils the qualification requirements may be appointed to a position by invitation.
Section 7: Entry into force
These HR Regulations will enter into force on 1 August 2019 and supersede the university’s previous version of the Regulations, which were approved on 3 March 2014. Measures necessary for the implementation of the HR Regulations may be taken before the HR Regulations enter into force.