THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART

EXTERNAL EXAMINER POLICY

Context and General Approach

External Examiners are crucial in assisting GSA in ensuring the quality and standards of its programmes are met. External Examiners provide GSA with informed and appropriate external references for the comparison of academic standards. They offer independent, objective and impartial judgements on a range of matters and provide professional advice and expertise in the form of findings and reports which are given serious consideration.

This is an addendum to the policy approved in June 2011 to ensure that GSA is compliant with UK Quality Code for Higher Education Expectations.

The External Examiner Policy is currently under review.

Precepts and Procedures

  1. Nomination and Approval of External Examiners

1.1External Examiners are appointed for a period of four years. Normally, the term of office should run over academic sessions (30 September – 01 October).

1.2External Examiners for validated programmes are nominated by GSA following approval by Academic Council and are appointed by the University of Glasgow Court following approval by the University Senate.

1.3Twelve months prior to the end of an External Examiner’s tenure Schools should seek a replacement for nomination.

1.4Nominations will be made to the relevant Board of Studies and submitted to Undergraduate and Postgraduate Committee (UPC), normally in Term 1.

1.5Nominations to UPC must be completed by the relevant Programme Leader or their equivalent and include:

  1. External Examiner pro forma
  2. Curriculum Vitae of nominee
  3. Supporting statement from Programme Leader

1.6Boards of Studies shall ensure that:

  1. Programme Leaders identify several suitable candidates for vacant External Examiner Appointments.
  1. The External Examiner gender balance regarding programmes reporting to that Board is considered prior to the Board of Studies making an appointment recommendation to the UPC. The Convenor of the Board of Studies may choose to make this consideration in an appropriate manner, prior to the meeting of the Board of Studies, and report the outcome or undertake the consideration at the Board of Studies. This option is offered in light of any issue of confidentiality.
  1. Minutes from the Board of Studies will confirm that points a) and b) above have been addressed or clarify why this has not been possible or appropriate in a specific circumstance.

1.7Nominations must meet the undernoted criteria. If a candidate does not meet all the criteria listed below, please contact Student Records for further advice.

  1. The Examiner should have appropriate levels of expertise and experience in relation to the programme to be examined and, whether drawn from within or outwith Higher Education, should be capable of performing the range of duties required of the role.
  1. The Examiner should have the capacity to command authority in the subject matter and the respect of colleagues.
  1. The nominee should have knowledge and understanding of UK sector agreed reference points for the maintenance of academic standards and assurance and enhancement of quality.
  1. The Examiner should have sufficient recent examining experience, preferably having already acted as an Examiner or comparable related experience, to indicate competence in assessing students in the specialist area concerned.
  1. A nominated Examiner without direct experience of acting as an External Examiner will normally only be appointed if there is an experienced External Examiner on the Assessment Team.
  1. The nominee should have competence and experience relating to designing and operating a variety of assessment tasks appropriate to the subject and operating assessment procedures. In addition, there should also be an awareness of current developments in the design and delivery of relevant criteria.
  1. The nominee should be able to demonstrate competence and experience relating to the enhancement of the student learning experience.
  1. If appropriate, the nominee should meet applicable criteria set by professional, statutory or regulatory bodies.
  1. The nominee should not have been an External Examiner for any undergraduate or taught postgraduate programme in GSA at any time during the five years prior to the date of appointment.
  1. The nominee should have fluency in English, and where programmes are delivered and assessed in languages other than English, fluency in the relevant languages.
  1. The nominee should not have been a member of staff of GSA within the five years prior to the date of appointment and that all students taught by or with the nominee have completed their programme(s).
  1. At the proposed date of appointment, the nominee should not be the External Examiner for undergraduate or taught postgraduate degrees in more than one other institution.
  1. At the date of appointment no member of staff of the nominating School should be an External Examiner for an undergraduate or taught postgraduate programme in the nominee’s department.
  1. Schools should ensure that no more than one external examiner from the same department of the same institution is nominated.

1.8In addition to fulfilling the above criteria, nominees should not:

  • Be a member of the Board of Governors or sit on any committee of GSA or one of its collaborative partners, or be a current employee of GSA or one of its collaborative partners.
  • Have a close professional, contractual or personal relationship with a member of staff or student involved with the programme of study.
  • Be required to assess colleagues who are recruited as students to the programme of study.
  • Be, or know that they will be, in a position to influence significantly the future of students on the programme of study.
  • Be significantly involved in recent or current substantive collaborative research activities with a member of staff closely involved in the delivery, management or assessment of the programmes or courses in question.
  • Be part of a reciprocal arrangement involving cognate programmes at another institution.
  • The succession of an external examiner by a colleague from the examiner’s home department and institution is prohibited.

1.9Once approval has been received from the University of Glasgow’s Senate a formal letter of appointment is issued by the University of Glasgow to the External Examiner with a copy sent to Student Records. Student Records will forward a copy to Schools and Programme Leaders, or equivalent. Student Records, with appropriate input from Schools, will provide the following information to the External Examiner:

  1. Programme and Course Specifications
  2. External Examiners Policy
  3. Examination Board Policy
  4. Assessment Policy
  5. Head of School APM Summary Report and Quality Enhancement Plan
  6. Copies of the responses to the outgoing Examiner’s reports.
  7. Higher Education Academy, Handbook for External Examining 2012
  8. External Examiner’s Report Pro Forma
  9. External Examiner’s Expenses Claim Form

1.10It is Student Record’s responsibility to ensure that a central GSA Induction is offered to all External Examiners at the June Diet.

1.11It is the responsibility of Schools to ensure that all new External Examiners attend a School induction session which will normally be held on the first day of the visit.

1.12It is the responsibility of Schools to ensure that External Examiners established in their post attend a short update session which will normally be held on the first day of the visit.

1.13Details, including the name, position, and home institution of External Examiners will be published in Programme Specifications. Students will be briefed during their inductions that it is unacceptable for them to contact their External Examiner directly. In this event, External Examiners should not engage and should refer the student to GSA.

2.Responsibilities

2.1The External Examiner must be informed of major changes to the programme and should be consulted in advance about proposed changes, particularly where they affect programme titles, learning outcomes, assessment criteria or the assessment process.

2.2External Examiners have the right to attend meetings of the GSA Final Examination Board (Final Year Students) and to have access to student work that is being assessed.

2.3The External Examiner has the right to correspond directly with the Director of GSA or the Principal of the University of Glasgow on matters of major concern that pose a serious risk to the quality and standards of an award.

2.4The External Examiner has the responsibility to report annually on the quality and standards of the programme(s) and award(s), and the conduct of assessment processes in the context of:

  1. National subject benchmarking
  2. Appropriate regulatory professional bodies
  3. The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
  4. Other issues relating to assessment, as detailed on the reporting form

2.5External Examiners have the right to be kept informed each year about the consideration of their report by GSA, and any action taken as a result of it.

2.6External Examiners are required to provide an annual report each session for the programmes that have operated.

2.7External Examiners who fail to attend GSA Final Examination Board (Final Year Students) (where attendance is required) without making alternative arrangements, submit inadequate reports, or are persistently late with their reports will have their appointment reviewed.

3. External Examiner Reporting

3.1External Examiners should ensure that individual staff and students are not identified in their Reports.

3.2It is the responsibility of School’s to ensure that Student Representatives are given the opportunity to be fully involved in the process of the consideration and response to the External Examiner’s reports.

3.3With the sole exception of any confidential report made directly, and separately to the Director/Principal of the University of Glasgow, External Examiner Reports and departmental responses will be published on the Student Records section of the VLE following Annual Programme Monitoring.

MC/EM

16 May 2011

LDa December 2012

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