The External Examiners Appointment Panel

Nominations, extensions to tenure, and additional/reallocated duties are considered for approval by the External Examiners Appointments Panel (EEAP). The EEAP comprises of academics drawn from a number of Schools across the University.  Members of the EEAP are aware of the difficulty of attracting sufficiently experienced staff to become external examiners and seek to apply the University's criteria flexibly where sound rationales are provided.  Nonetheless, the EEAP operates robust and auditable procedures and in the course of its deliberations is sometimes presented with incomplete, late and poorly argued nominations. 

These guidance notes have been drafted to assist Schools in preparing and processing external examiner proposals - consideration of the guidance contained below should ensure the smooth progress of forms, and efficient and effective decision making by SASQCs and EEAP.

External examiners are normally appointed for four reporting cycles, although a further one-year extension may be granted for a valid reason.

Guidance for Schools/Validated Centres (SASQCs)

1. The EEAP recommends that SASQCs/Validated Centres set aside sufficient time within their agendas for the consideration of external examiner nominations.  Good quality consideration is likely to be best achieved where nominations are not the last item on the agenda.
2. SASQCs/CADQ should not be uneasy about referring nominations back to course teams/Validated Centres where forms are incomplete or lacking appropriate rationales/supporting statements.  In the long term this will save time, as the EEAP is likely to refer issues back to Schools/Validated Centres at a later stage.
3. Nomination forms should be submitted electronically to the EEAP via CADQ (and in the case of Validated Centres these are sent to CPO) at least six months before the start of an examiner's appointment.  While the EEAP recognises that occasional delays will occur, many forms are currently submitted late.  Schools/Validated Centres are encouraged to identify the need for replacement examiners at an early stage and have a system in place for reminding course leaders during the penultimate year of an external examiner's period of tenure.
4. The nomination forms (EE1 for new and replacement examiners, EE2 for extensions to tenure, EE3 additional/amended duties, EE4 new replacement external examiner nomination for (Validation Services)) are available in electronic form on the CADQ website.  Please ensure that you use these forms for all nominations; the EEAP will not accept out of date versions of forms.
5. All sections of the form must be completed and CV's are not accepted. Without this information it is impossible for SASQCs/EEAP to assess the appropriateness of the workload. 
6. The proposed appointment dates need to be accurate.  In respect of courses operating to the standard academic year, appointments will run from the September of the first year to December of the fourth year.  In respect of other courses, the examiner should be appointed to cover the start date of the course and to cover referral boards in their final year.  These standard timings have been introduced so that an examiner can become involved in the setting of assessment tasks at an early stage and can – at the end of their appointment – be involved in referrals or reviews of assessment decisions.  The final four months of tenure (September to December) provide a handover period for incoming and outgoing examiners.
7. For proposed extensions to tenure, a one year period should be stated, normally January - December (e.g. January 2012 - December 2012).
8. Part B of the nomination form must bear the written or typescript name of the external examiner indicating that the information set out is accurate.
9. The first page of forms EE1,  EE2 and EE3 is a SASQC approval checklist and bears the written or typescript name of the Chair of the SASQC.  The first page of the EE4 is a Validated Centre approval checklist and bears the written or typescript of the Validated Centre. This form lists the criteria for appointment and the 'Yes' or 'No' box should be ticked to the clarify that the criteria has been met.  If any of the criteria are 'No' then a rationale/supporting statement must be included within the proposal form. 
10. With respect to nominations with no external examining experience, the EEAP may be able to approve such nominations provided a persuasive rationale/supporting statement is included.
11. Similarly, where an examiner already holds two other examinerships the EEAP may be able to approve such nominations provided the School/Validated Centre can demonstrate that the overall workload would not be onerous – the case needs to argued within the nomination form.
12. Please do not expect the EEAP to make assumptions upon your behalf – at all times be explicit about the reasons why a nomination should be approved if any of the criteria are not met.
13. Section 7 of the ASQ Handbook contains the University’s external examiner policy and procedures – it is available on the CADQ website.