Evaluation of the governance and funding practices used by the Ministry of Education and Culture for steering Finnish Higher Education Institutions

The Ministry of Education and Culture (in Finnish: Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö) in Finland requested tenders for an " Evaluation of the governance and funding practices used by the Ministry of Education and Culture for steering Finnish Higher Education Institutions". The objective of the evaluation is to produce a comprehensive view of the governance and funding practices used by the Ministry of Education and Culture for steering Finnish Higher Education Institutions based on international and national expertise and to find means for improving the steering. The evaluation aims to assess how the Ministry of Education and Culture should develop the steering and funding of the higher education institutions in the changing operating environment, to ensure that it can optimally contribute to enhancing the quality and impact of the Higher Education Institutions.

The evaluation should provide an understanding of the impact, effectiveness and added value of governance and funding practices of the Ministry of Education and Culture from different perspectives, based on international expertise. The key aspects are the functioning and results of higher education institutions as stated in legislation, their contribution to achieving the national higher education and scientific policy objectives and thus wider societal impact. Particular attention should be paid to * implementing policy objectives to management of higher education institutions, * engaging the higher education community with key objectives, * service capacity and quality management of higher education institutions, * innovation capacity and flexibility of higher education institutions to respond to changes in the operating environment, * cooperation and co-creation, and * leverage of public funding to domestic and international external funding. Key questions in the implementation of the evaluation: 1. Are funding and governance practices of the Ministry of Education and Culture best suited to the changing operating environment and support the responsiveness of the higher education system? How do the basic principles of governance and funding practices adopted in Finland compare with the principles adopted by 4 – 5 reference countries and planned changes in these principles? 2. To what extent and how do the Ministry’s funding and governance practices influence higher education institutions strategies, educational and research priorities, leadership, internal resource allocation, partnerships and cooperation arrangements, or human resources policy? 3. What trends and needs for change in governance and funding practices are emerging from the perspective of performance, autonomy, social responsibility, effectiveness, efficiency, societal impacts and quality of higher education institutions based on evaluation? What would be the impact of these changes on the governance and funding mix and safeguarding the long-term operating environment for higher education institutions?