Draft Report
Jan. 1998
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Draft Report Jan. 1998 |
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Contents of Countdown and Thesis Examination Section
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Countdown and Thesis ExaminationSubcommittee:
Cranney, Greenfield Background
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When the experimental work for the thesis has finished and the thesis preparation is nearly complete, the examination process begins (Figure B6.1).
Figure B6.1 Countdown and examination process
Stage 1: Countdown to Submission and Examination
This involves the notification (by the candidate two months prior to the anticipated submission date) of:
- intention to submit,
- nomination and selection of examiners by the university,
- the certification by the supervisor that the thesis is in a suitable form for examination and the submission of three copies (for an MSc) or four copies (for a PhD) of the thesis to the Student Centre.
The thesis is sent immediately to the examiners (three for a PhD, two for an MSc).
Stage 2: Examiner's Reports
This begins when the School/Department is sent the Examiners Reports (only when all have been returned). Each examiner will make a recommendation (1, 2, 3, 4 or 5) such that:
- the degree be awarded;
- the degree be awarded subject to minor corrections to the thesis to the satisfaction of the School;
- degree be awarded subject to further work to the satisfaction of the Higher Degree Committee;
- additional work and re-examination be undertaken;
- award of the degree is not recommended.
Usually (but not always) the highest number (furthest down the list) attracted determines the action to be taken. In most instances this involves the student (if necessary) attending to corrections and alterations deemed necessary by the examiners, the School and the Faculty Higher Degree Committee.
When an examiner's recommendation '4' is recognised by the HDC, an amended thesis will be resubmitted and once again sent to the examiner(s) who so recommended (in some cases, the appointment of an additional examiner might be recommended). The process reverts to Stage 2 in this case. In cases where one or more examiners makes recommendation '5', the HDC may give consideration to the resubmission of the thesis for a lesser degree. These incidences are rare and are dealt with on a case by case basis. The Postgraduate Studies Committee considers the case if there is any disagreeement between examiners.
Stage 3: Thesis Corrections, Changes and Additional Work
This involves corrections and changes to the thesis or, in some cases, additional research and resubmission. The changes must be documented and the School must be able to verify that action in accordance with the examiners' recommendations has been taken. Points of disagreement sometimes occur and these must be argued cogently by the candidate and such arguments are to be fully assessed by the School (usually the supervisor and SPGC).
If at least one recommendation is '2' (minor corrections) the changes made by the candidate are checked in the School and, if satisfied, the School sends the (corrected) library copy of the thesis to the Postgraduate Section with a statement of satisfaction in the changes. If recommendation '3' (i.e., further work), was made by one or more examiners, the thesis, log of changes made and supporting statements from the School are brought before the HDC for approval.
Stage 4: Recommendation to Council, and Graduation
Based on submissions arising in Stage 3, the HDC will decide whether or not to recommend to the University Council that the candidate be admitted to the degree. In the negative case, some additional work will be required of the candidate. In the affirmative case, the positive recommendation is made to the University Council.
Stage 1: Countdown to Submission and ExaminationStudent Responsibilities
Notification of Date of Submission
The student should endeavour to make the most accurate possible estimate of the submission date and must notify the Postgraduate Section in writing at least 8 weeks prior to that date of the intention to submit.
Objection to Potential Examiners
The student should communicate to the supervisor (in writing and with justification) any objection to one or more potential examiners of the thesis. The student may either be shown a list of potential examiners by the supervisor prior to the nomination of examiners by the supervisor or be allowed to provide, in writing and with justification, a list of names of persons that the student does not wish to act as examiners.
Contact With Supervisor
The student should maintain close contact with the supervisor while finalising the thesis. The supervisor must see the final version in order to check that it is suitable for examination.
Thesis Document for Examination
The student must provide, to the Student Centre, four copies of a PhD thesis or three copies of a Masters (research) thesis, bound in a suitable way, having completed and attached the Abstract Form and signed Certificate of Originality according to the instructions on final preparation of a thesis, and included the signed Certificate of Originality. This occurs after showing it to the supervisor (the supervisor must certify that the thesis is in a suitable form for examination).
Monitoring Procedure
The student has the right to check with the Postgraduate Section during Stage 1, that the supervisor and School have completed the process of nominating the Examiners and that the Faculty Higher Degree Committee has nominated the Examiners. It is University policy that the identity of the examiners appointed is to be withheld from the candidate at this stage.
Revision of Thesis Submission Date
Should the thesis not be in a form suitable for submission one calendar month after the notified submission date, or if it is apparent that it will not be ready by that time, the student must revise the estimated submission date in writing to the Student Centre.
Supervisor/School/University Responsibilities
Reminder to Student
As thesis preparation progresses, the supervisor should remind the student of the necessity to give to the Postgraduate Section formal notice of intention to submit the thesis at least eight weeks prior to submission. Upon receiving this notification the Postgraduate Section should send a copy of the Instructions to Examiners to the student and a Nomination of Examiners form to the SPGC.
Opportunity to Object to Potential Examiners
The supervisor must give the student the opportunity to object to any potential examiner, and upon a request from the candidate, may optionally show to the candidate, a list of at least six potential examiners including all the to-be-nominated examiners.
Nomination of Examiners
After the student has formally notified the university of the intention to submit, the School must within four weeks nominate three (PhD) or two (MSc) competent but independent examiners with a brief justification.Exainers should be independent to the extent that they are not close collaborators with respect to each other. One of the examiners may be internal but none may be the supervisor, co-supervisor or a close collaborator on any aspect of the research embodied in the thesis. Nominated examiners must not be subject to any conflict of interest with regard to the outcome of the examination. For example, an examiner who is employing the candidate could have a conflict of interest.
It is recommended that the three nominated examiners are all external and that one 'reserve' internal examiner be approached to act promptly in the event that an external examiner withdraws or does not respond in a reasonable time-frame.
The School and Supervisor are encouraged not to nominate examiners to whom the candidate has objected. However, if the supervisor chooses not to observe the objection of the candidate, a written explanation for supporting this decision must be provided to the Higher Degree Committee along with the name and justification of an alternative examiner. The final decision on selection of examiners rests with the Higher Degree Committee.
Agreement of Examiners
The supervisor should obtain the agreement of all nominated examiners to examine the thesis within 8 weeks of it being delivered to the examiner. The anticipated date of receipt would be two to four weeks after the submission date given in the notification by the student. It would be most helpful at this stage if the supervisor established the latest date by which the examiner should receive the thesis such that it may be examined within the allotted time.
Approval of Examiners
The Faculty Higher Degree Committee decides whether or not to approve the nomination of specific examiners. If the School has not already established that an examiner has agreed to act then that approved examiner is approached by the Postgraduate Section to seek formal agreement to examine the thesis. A rejected examiner is to be replaced by the reserve (internal) examiner.
Guidance in Final Stage of Thesis Preparation
The supervisor should make sufficient time available to guide the student in the final stages of thesis preparation. This includes checking of the format and content to ensure that the thesis is in a suitable form for examination. The supervisor is responsible for checking the thesis for scientific content. The supervisor is not responsible for proofreading but may choose to assist the student with language or else refer the student to assistance in this area.
Late Examiners' Reports - 1 week -1 month late
The Postgraduate Section will inform the School and Faculty HDC when an examiner's report is one month overdue. It will also remind the examiner of his/her obligation to provide a report 9 weeks after the thesis was dispatched.
Late Examiners' Reports - 2 months late
The Postgraduate Section will inform the School and Faculty HDC when an examiner's report is two months overdue. It will also remind the examiner of his/her obligation to provide a report. The SPGC/HOS should at this point communicate directly with the examiner to seek clarification of the stage of examination. If a commitment to provide a report of the examination within one further month can not be obtained from the late examiner then the alternative (usually internal) examiner should be asked to examine the thesis within one month.
Stage 2: Examiners' Reports
Supervisor/School/University Responsibilities
Notification of School
When all examiners reports are returned to the university (not before), the administration will notify the School of the results by provision of examiners' reports.
Recommendation of School
The SPGC will assess the examiners' reports and determine the School's recommendation to the Higher Degree Committee. In most cases this will be the recommendation corresponding to the highest numbered (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) recommendation of the examiners. In the event that this is '1' but the examiner has listed minor errors, the School would normally regard this as a '2'. In the event that there is considerable disparity amongst the examiners' recommendations an outlying '4' may, under exceptional circumstances, be regraded to '3', or '3' regraded to '2'. A case would need to be made that the outlying examiner has misunderstood the criteria for the recommendation. This requires careful assessment of the criticisms of the examiner.
If a School's recommendation of '2' (without regrading from '3') is applicable, it is at liberty, prior to making a recommendation to the Higher Degree Committee, to arrange immediately with the supervisor for the student to make the minor corrections in one or more copies of the thesis (the exact number being as required by the University Librarian and the School's library). Upon satisfaction that the minor corrections and changes have been carried out (see below), the School's recommendation to the Higher Degree Committee indicates that the corrections have been made to the satisfaction of the School.
All recommendations of '3' or higher, or where a regrading from '3' to '2' has occurred, must be approved by the Higher Degree Committee. However the School may initiate the process of thesis corrections (see below) by providing copies of examiners' reports to the supervisor and candidate prior to the approval. The identity of the examiners must remain confidential at this stage.
A recommendation of '4' will involve substantial changes and possibly additional research work by the candidate. A revised thesis is then resubmitted and (usually) re-examined by the examiner(s) who returned a recommendation of '4'. A new examiner may also be appointed. Return of re-examination report(s) signals the re-initialisation of Stage 2.
Recommendations of '5' are rare and dealt with on a case-by-case basis by the HDC and the Postgraduate Studies Committee. The resubmission of the thesis to be re-examined for a lesser degree may be considered in some cases.
Higher Degree Committee Approval/Review of School's Recommendation
The candidate is notified by the Postgraduate Section of the HDC's decision on the result of thesis examination and of the need for further work if necessary. Copies of examiners reports are usually sent to the student at this time although the student already may have copies provided by the School (see above).
Stage 3: Thesis Corrections, Changes and Additional Work
Supervisor/School/University Responsibilities
School/Supervisor's Role in Corrections, Changes and Additional Work
The supervisor must be available to supervise/discuss with the student any major work/changes to be undertaken by the student. The additional work must be undertaken by the student. Minor typographical changes may be undertaken by the supervisor, School or other agency, upon the request of the student. The supervisor and School are under no obligation to attend to such matters, though they may wish to expedite the process. The student may, with the assistance of the School, obtain clerical assistance in the correction of typographical, spelling and formatting errors but this is at the expense of the student. The student is expected to provide a detailed log of changes in response to the issues raised by the examiners. If minor changes to the satisfaction of the School ('2') are to be made, the log is placed on the Student File and is used to assist the School to make its recommendation. If major changes to the satisfaction of the Higher Degree Committee ('3') are to be made, the log of the student (see below) should be tabled at the earliest possible meeting together with a recommendation from the School. The latter usually involves a statement from the supervisor and the SPGC that assesses the completeness and suitability of the changes.
Student's Responsibilities
Thesis Corrections, Changes and Additional Work
The student is encouraged to embark on this work with diligence. When resubmission is not required the student should provide a detailed log of changes and corrections cross-referenced to the examiners' reports. Any points of disagreement with issues raised by an examiner must be argued cogently by the student. Arguments must satisfy the supervisor, School and HDC. The PGS is currently preparing a new set of reportsto advise Schools of overdue corrections/further work. This will be similar to reports generated for overdue examiners. It is recommended that Schools/Faculties set deadlines for corrections/further work to obtain more timely completion of thesis revisions.
Enrolment Status of Students Correcting or Resubmitting a Thesis
Students need to re-enrol if they are required to resubmit the thesis (4). Other corrections such as additional discussion, typographical corrections and problems concerning the presentation of the research (2,3) do not warrant re-enrolment.
Stage 4: Recommendation to Council, and Graduation
School/University Responsibilities
Recommendation to The University Council
The Higher Degree Committee, in favourable cases, will recommend to the University Council that the candidate be admitted to the degree. The Postgraduate Section notifies the student of the recommendation and provides graduation details.
Thesis Library Copy
At least one library copy of the corrected thesis must be forwarded by the School to the administration with a statement that it complies with the recommended changes as deliberated by the School and/or the Higher Degree Committee at least one month before the graduation ceremony. Failure to do this may delay graduation.
- Downloadable Intention to Submit form on www. Additionally, an electronic submittable Intention to Submit form on the www site.
- Downloadable Abstracts Form and Declaration (as alternative to typewriter version).
- A general technical thesis writing guide. (The Student Guild, Materials Science, Food and Physics have such resources and these should be evaluated and contribute to a comprehensive guide.)
- A practical guide to preparing a thesis for temporary or permanent binding prior to submission.
- P That it be adopted as University policy that three independent external examiners be appointed for a PhD thesis or two for an MSc thesis. In either case an additional internal examiner be nominated as a reserve examiner to act in the event that one of the appointed examiners defaults or is otherwise dismissed from the process.
- That the model be documented on the WWW and where appropriate the forms be downloadable.
- The proposed UNSW model of Thesis Examination should be adopted and implemented at the University (Academic Board), Faculty (HDC) and School (Graduate Studies Committee) levels. Modifications, elaborations and status as a regulation or guideline should be agreed upon.
B6.1 Submission of Postgraduate Research Theses - Information for Supervisors and Students and Information for Examiner Nomination - based on those used by Optometry and Psychology (Download MS Word version 6 file) B6.2 Nomination of Examiners (policy developed by Chemistry) (Download MS Word version 6 file) B6.3 Objection to Examiners (policy developed by Chemistry) (Download MS Word version 6 file) B6.4 Thesis Changes and Corrections Form - used by Chemistry (View image)
Page created January 1998 - last modified 15 June 1998
©UNSW 1998, all rights reservedContent Contacts: M.Guilhaus, J.Cranney
Technical Contact: L.Guilhaus
