Description of student well-being work

Published 10.1.2024 | Updated 4.10.2024

Student well-being work at Uniarts Helsinki

Promoting and supporting student well-being is an extensive and multi-level entity at Uniarts Helsinki. Students’ well-being is promoted and supported directly and indirectly in teaching and guidance work, various internal and external services of the university, multiprofessional working groups implementing student well-being and pedagogical development work as well as through operating principles and guidelines drawn up at the university.

The aim of well-being work is to support students’ ability to study so that learning, studying and growing into artists are possible. The purpose of welfare work is that students graduate and that they have sufficient skills to take care of their well-being also after their studies when entering working life.

Uniarts Helsinki’s well-being work is based on the study ability model (Kunttu 2006), in which study ability is seen to be created and developed in the dynamic interaction between the student and the learning environment, taking into account the student’s resources and study skills, but also factors related to the study environment and teaching and guidance activities.

Uniarts Helsinki’s well-being work as a whole is guided by various laws, decrees and principles of professional ethics. A key starting point for welfare work is the realisation of students’ legal protection and equal treatment. Uniarts Helsinki’s internal well-being work as a whole is also closely guided by Uniarts Helsinki’s strategy and values, as well as its research-based approach and student-centred approach.

Forms of support for student well-being

Well-being support for students is available at the university and academy level, but also by actors outside the university. University-level support is available to all students. On the other hand, specific differences between art forms can be taken into account more closely in the provision of academy-specific support, in which case the academy-specific support offering may vary.

The student’s well-being is supported taking into account the holistic nature of studying, so services are available to support physical, mental and social well-being. In addition, support is available at different levels (preventive and corrective support) and in different forms (individual and group support and self-study materials).

The core of supporting students’ well-being consists of the curriculum and pedagogical solutions implemented in teaching and guidance situations. Key basic level services that support and take into account students’ well-being also include study counselling and personal study planning (PSP discussions). In addition, Uniarts Helsinki offers students a variety of courses that strengthen well-being, both degree and elective courses, as well as ergonomic guidance, for example.

Students’ well-being and sense of community are also actively supported by activities of e.g. Uniarts Helsinki’s Student Union, student associations, tutors and various well-being events organised by Uniarts Helsinki. Comprehensive sports services are available to Unisport students of Unisport.

If basic level support is not enough, students at Uniarts Helsinki have the opportunity to receive special support related to their learning, studies and student well-being. Internal services providing special support include, for example, individual study arrangements, special guidance services for study psychologists and university chaplains, as well as health care services outside the university (such as FSHS and public health care).

Promotion and development of student welfare work

The key guidelines guiding Uniarts Helsinki’s operations and thus well-being work as a whole are called ethical principles. Guidelines and plans that promote and support well-being have also been drawn up for situations related to inappropriate behaviour and substance use, equality and non-discrimination issues, early intervention and crisis management.

In addition to wellbeing services, wellbeing work as a whole is supported, developed and integrated into the university’s operations in various working groups, such as the student wellbeing group and the equality and non-discrimination group. Key working groups that examine well-being from a pedagogical perspective also include: Education Development Group and Steering Group for Undergraduate Education.

Students’ well-being work is continuously developed, taking into account the changes and requirements of society and working life in cooperation with the university’s internal and external actors. Uniarts Helsinki also produces its own research on well-being in the fields of art. Monitoring of wellbeing and welfare work is carried out regularly through various surveys, feedback and surveys.

At the moment, the curriculum work has sought to take better account of the strain of studies and the integration of the processing of well-being themes into teaching. Other development targets identified in wellbeing work include integrating student well-being more strongly into the entire university community and everyday life, teacher tutoring, a more equal provision of well-being services for students of all academies, and systematic and stronger feedback- and research-based pedagogical and well-being development work.