Nomination of External Examiners

Approaching external examiners
Criteria and protocols for external examiners
Information to be provided to external examiners
External examiners for theses presented in Maori language
Information required from external examiners
Timeline for examination

APPROACHING EXTERNAL EXAMINERS

Three months (or 6 months for a thesis written in a language other than English) before the thesis is to be submitted, the chief supervisor should nominate the external examiners, in consultation with other supervisors. At the discretion of the chief supervisor, the candidate may be consulted about the nomination for the examiners.

Supervisors are advised to take care in the selection of external examiners in order to reduce the likelihood of: polarised examiners' reports; delays in the return of examiners' reports; or non production of reports.

During initial enquiries with the proposed external examiners and before officially nominating them, the chief supervisor should obtain their unofficial agreement to be an examiner and to complete their examination of the thesis within eight weeks of receipt. The New Zealand examiner should be informed that he or she will be expected to attend an oral examination, at which he or she will put to the candidate both his/her own questions and those of the overseas examiner.

All examiners must be external to the University and must not be directly connected with the candidate or the candidate's research. For doctoral degrees, at least one examiner will normally be external to New Zealand. Each examiner makes an independent report on the candidate's work.

CRITERIA AND PROTOCOLS FOR EXTERNAL EXAMINERS

External examiners should:

be senior in experience to the candidate; and
normally be associated with an academic institution; or
be eminent and widely respected specialists in their fields
normally hold a doctorate; or
have equivalent qualifications or experience and be actively involved in scholarship and research in a field relevant to the topic of the thesis.
have a reliable reputation as an examiner insofar as this is possible
be active in the field of study covered by the thesis

External examiners should not normally be:

a former colleague or supervisor of the candidate
a junior colleague of any of the supervisors
anticipating employment at The University of Waikato
repeatedly used as an external examiner for the same supervisor's graduate students
an intimate friend or relative of the candidate or of any of the supervisors
associated with any organisation contractually involved with the research covered by the thesis

INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED TO EXTERNAL EXAMINERS

When making an informal enquiry to a potential external examiner, the chief supervisor should provide the following information:

an abstract or outline of the research topic
an indication of the length of the thesis and the expected completion date
details of any connection of the research with paid employment or research contract
an explanation that the reports will normally be made available to the people involved in the examination process including the candidate, once the examination process is complete, unless the examiner agrees to providing all or part of the report to the student prior to the oral examination
an indication of what is expected in the examiner's report
whether or not the thesis is restricted by confidentiality requirements.

Since the standards, regulations and procedures for higher degrees differ from country to country the chief supervisor may provide a copy of the relevant higher degree regulations from the University of Waikato Calendar, or direct the potential examiner to the Calendar and Postgraduate Studies websites. A copy of the regulations is included by the Postgraduate Studies Office when it sends the thesis copy.

EXTERNAL EXAMINERS FOR THESES PRESENTED IN MAORI LANGUAGE

When theses are presented in Maori, the choice of examiners should not be automatically restricted to those competent in the language. The prime qualification for examiners should be their expertise in the field of the research. Examiners who are not competent in Maori will be provided with a translation of the thesis which will have the same status as the original thesis.

INFORMATION REQUIRED FROM EXTERNAL EXAMINERS

The following information is required to accompany the Nomination of External Examiners Form:

brief biographical information which includes statements of academic qualifications and academic position;
brief outline of status and expertise in the field, together with some evidence of recent publications or research work in the field
brief details of PhD supervisory experience
full names, title, addresses, email, telephone and fax numbers of the nominated examiners

Nominations are made by the chief supervisor, endorsed by the chairperson of department and the Dean's nominee for postgraduate studies before being forwarded to the Postgraduate Studies committee for approval.

TIMELINE FOR EXAMINATION

Once approved by the Postgraduate Studies Committee, the external examiners are formally invited by the Postgraduate Studies Office to accept that responsibility and the thesis copies are couriered. The Postgraduate Studies Office seeks to complete the oral examination process within three months of submission of the thesis.

The chief supervisor should discuss with both external examiners the timeline for the examination. Normally it is expected that the external examination will be completed within six to eight weeks of receiving the thesis. Any deviation from the agreed timeline should be advised to the Postgraduate Studies Office and the candidate.

Action	Responsibility
External Examiners nominated (and timeline for examination of up to 6-8 weeks or alternative agreed)	Chief Supervisor; approved by COD and Faculty/School Dean's nominee and Postgraduate Studies Committee
Submission of thesis	Candidate
Thesis sent to examiners	Postgraduate Studies and Scholarships Office
Reminders that external examiners' reports are becoming due or are overdue (usually by email)	Postgraduate Studies and Scholarships Office
Examined thesis returned by examiners	Postgraduate Studies and Scholarships Office
Approval to proceed to oral examination	Postgraduate Studies Committee
Provisional date agreed for oral examination	Chief supervisor in consultation with candidate and external examiners
Oral examination	Postgraduate Studies and Scholarships Office: Chief Supervisor: Candidate
Post oral revisions	Candidate, Chief Supervisor, liaison with Postgraduate Studies and Scholarships Office
Completion	Candidate (provision of 3 hard bound copies), Postgraduate Studies and Scholarships Office
Graduation	Candidate. Candidates can apply 'in anticipation'.