Candidate's Guide - Examination

Appointment Of Examiners
Examination And Consideration Of Examiner's Reports

Appointment Of Examiners

The Academic Senate of the University will maintain its monitoring role on research higher degree programs through its recommendation of the award of research degrees to the University Council.

The Pro Vice-Chancellor (or nominee) will approve suitable persons for appointment as examiners. The advice of the Head of School and the supervisor will be sought. Three examiners (plus a reserve examiner) are required for a Doctoral Degree and two examiners (plus a reserve examiner) for a Masters Degree.

The candidate may advise the supervisor and the Head of School of names of persons who might be appropriate or who should not be approached. The Head of School will take this advice into account when suggesting examiners and will notify the Pro Vice-Chancellor (or nominee) of the candidate's objections to any potential examiner. Hiowever, the final choice of examiners must remain confidential.

It is a requirement that the supervisor and/or the Head of School makes contact with the proposed examiners to determine their availability prior to their recommendation to the Pro Vice-Chancellor (or nominee).

The names of examiners will not be released to the candidate until the examination process is complete, including notification of the outcome to the candidate, and only then with the permission of the examiner(s). In the case where the candidate is required to revise and resubmit the thesis for further examination, the names of all examiners will be withheld until the final examination process is complete.

Examination And Consideration Of Examiner's Reports

The Office of Graduate Studies will forward copies of the thesis to the appointed examiners as soon as possible (within 10 working days) after submission of the thesis provided examiners have been appointed and approved. Examiners will be requested to submit a report within two months on the suitability of the thesis as fulfilling the requirements of the degree for which the candidate is enrolled.

The Office of Graduate Studies will contact any examiner not meeting this deadline, to determine if there is any problem which is delaying the examination, and requesting a final report within one further month. If no report is forthcoming after that time, the candidate will be informed of the delay and the reserve examiner contacted.

Examiners will be requested to report on the content and form of the thesis in detail. They will be specifically requested to make a recommendation under one of the following categories:

a) award: the thesis be classified as passed - the examiner may specify this category for a thesis which only contains errors of presentation. The Committee will require that the candidate correct such errors as outlined in the Examiner’s Report to the satisfaction of the Faculty as specified by the Committee, or

b) require: the thesis be classified as passed conditionally, subject to amendments, as outlined in the Examiner’s Report, being made to the satisfaction of the Faculty as specified by the Committee – the examiner may specify this category for a thesis which requires correction of deficiencies other than errors of presentation, but which are not of sufficient importance to warrant submission for re-examination by the original examiner; or

c) revise and resubmit: the thesis be submitted in a revised form for re-examination by the original examiners – the examiner may specify this category for a thesis which requires major, substantive amendment and submission for re-examination by the original examiner. In the Examiner’s Report, the examiner shall provide detailed guidance to the candidate to assist revision and the thesis must be resubmitted together with a statement by the candidate outlining the revisions that have been made; or

d) fail: the thesis be classified as failed, without right to resubmit the thesis, on the basis that a significant amount of additional research work and/or major, substantive revision will not raise the thesis to an acceptable standard .

Candidates should refer to the Rules Governing Research Higher Degrees for all rules relating to thesis submission and examination.

In the event of a re-examination where there is a change to the examining panel, the new examiners will only be informed that the thesis is being submitted for re-examination. Neither the names of the previous examiners nor the content of their reports will be released to the new examiners unless some form of adjudication procedure becomes necessary. During the revision the candidate is required to be fully enrolled.

The Research Training Sub-Committee will consider the reports of the appointed examiners and will make a determination which may include any of the options suggested by the examiners outlined above. In some circumstances, the Committee may also recommend an adjudication procedure, perhaps involving the appointment of an additional examiner, as arbiter, in order to resolve conflict in the recommendations of individual examiners. In any event, the Committee must eventually resolve to recommend to the Academic Senate that the candidate either be awarded the degree or not.

The Academic Senate will recommend to the Council the award of the degree to candidates judged to have successfully completed the research higher degree program.

In general, a candidate will be advised of the Research Training Sub-Committee's recommendation on the result of the examination of the thesis immediately following the Committee's decision.

The Office of Graduate Studies will confirm the result of the examination to the supervisor, Head of School and Assistant Dean, Research Training. Examiners will also be advised of the final outcome of the process of which they were part, as soon as possible after determination of the result by the University Council.

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