The completed form and any accompanying documentation (e.g. nominee’s CV) should be sent to the QSA Team (qsa@soton.ac.uk) for final review on behalf of Academic Standards and Quality Committee (AQSC) and preparation of a Letter of Appointment on behalf of the Vice President (Education)/Chair of AQSC.
Please refer to the External Examiner Procedures in the Quality Handbook. Information on the criteria for appointment and conflicts of interests is extracted and included as endnotes to this form, for information.
Faculty:
PART I - To be completed by the Director of ProgrammesShould a proposed external examiner submit a curriculum vitæ (CV) to complete Part II of this form, the Director of Programmes must ensure that the CV covers all the relevant information and that the relevant sections of the CV are cross-referenced on the form.
1. Programmes and Modules to be examined /
List of Programmes to be examined:
List of Modules to be examined:
2. Proposed Period of Office & Fee
The maximum period of office is four years or four cohorts, normally October to September for undergraduate and January to December for postgraduate programmes. /
From (month/year): / To (month/year):
Fee details: £700
3. External Examining Team
Provide details of all external members of the Board of Examiners for this programme, placing an asterisk against the Examiner to be replaced. (Please add more fields as appropriate). Note the external examiner must not be from the same institution as his or her predecessor or as other external examiners on the Board of Examiners for that award. /
Name:
Current Place of Work:
Area of responsibility in the Team:
Date of appointment:
Name:
Current Place of Work:
Area of responsibility in the Team:
Date of appointment:
Name:
Current Place of Work:
Area of responsibility in the Team:
Date of appointment:
4. Collaborative programmes
If there is a similar programme (leading to a University of Southampton award) that is delivered in collaboration with an external partner, will the nominee also act as external examiner for that programme?
Yes/No/not applicable
If Yes please give details:
5. PSRB requirements
Please delete as applicable to confirm that the eternal examiner meets any criteria set by professional, statutory or regulatory bodies relevant for this programme:
/Yes/No/Not Applicable
/If no please give details: /
6. Reciprocity and other conflicts of interest
Please confirm that you have checked with academic staff in the relevant disciplinary areas that no reciprocal external examination relationship will result from the appointment (i.e. no members of the Faculty currently act as external examiners in the nominee’s own disciplinary area) and that there are no other conflicts of interest[i]. /Signed by the Director of Programmes:
(Electronic signature acceptable)
Date:
7. Exceptional arrangements
7.1 Where the individual nominated does not fully meet the selection criteria please articulate the rationale for the appointment in the box below. Additional information may be attached as appropriate. If required, advice may be obtained from the Quality, Standards and Accreditation Team.
7.2 If the nominee does not possess previous external examining experience, information about the additional support which will be provided by the Faculty must be given below. Provision of such support will be a condition of appointment and the appointment cannot be processed unless this section is completed.
Examples of additional support may include shadowing the current external examiner, mentoring by an experienced external examiner, conversation(s) with the Associate Dean (Education and Student Experience) and Director of Programmes.
7.3 Where a Faculty can provide evidence that the pool of potential external examiners is restricted, the rationale for an appointment which is an exception to the University's position regarding Conflicts of Interest must be articulated below together with an explanation as to how the Faculty will manage the responsibility for standards of the programme/award and the other responsibilities involving the external examiner and/or members of University staff. Applications for such exceptions require approval by the Vice President (Education).
8. Faculty Contacts /
Queries regarding samples of work
Academic queries (curriculum/examination scripts)
Queries regarding administrative arrangements regarding the Board of Examiners meeting
9. University Contacts /
Submission of Reports, queries regarding appointment letters. /
PART II - To be completed by the proposed External Examiner
A CV may be submitted in place of completing this form – however the CV must cover all the relevant information and relevant sections of the CV should be cross-referenced on the form. Questions 10 and 17 must be answered on the form and Question 17 signed by the nominee (electronic signature acceptable).
10. Name and place of appointment
Title: / Surname: / Forename(s):
Home Institution, including department :
11. Correspondence address and e-mail address /
Correspondence address:
E-mail address:
12. Conflict of Interests
Please delete as applicable for each statement below to confirm there are no conflicts of interest which may preclude your appointment as external examiner at the University of Southampton.
Are you a current employee of the University of Southampton or one of its collaborative partners? / Yes/No
Are you a member of the governing body or other committee of the University of Southampton or one of its collaborative partners? / Yes/No
Do you have a close professional, contractual or personal relationship with any member of staff or student involved with the programme? / Yes/No
Are you required to assess colleagues who are recruited as students to the programme? / Yes/No
Will you be in a position to influence significantly the future of students on the programme? / Yes/No
Do you have or have you had in the last 3 years any substantive collaborative research activities with members of staff at the University of Southampton (such as joint, funded research contracts, co-authored publications)? / Yes/No
If Yes please provide details, including names of staff members:
Are you a former member of staff or student of the University of Southampton? / Yes/No
If yes, please provide dates:
Have you previously acted as an external examiner for the University of Southampton? / Yes/No
If yes please provide details, including dates:
Have you previously acted as an External Adviser in the Validation (approval or periodic review) of the programme(s) for which you have been invited to act as external examiner? / Yes/No
If yes please provide details, including dates:
If you are aware of any other association with the University of Southampton which could give rise to a conflict of interest please give details:
13. Current position
(If retired, details of the most recent post, with dates, and home address). /
Present/last post
Position:
Place of work:
Details if retired:
14. Qualifications
Universities and Colleges attended with qualifications gained and dates: /
15. Professional Qualifications /
16. Previous Employment
Please detail previous employers over the past 5 years. Add more fields if required. /
Employer:
Post:
Dates:
Employer:
Post:
Dates:
17. Previous/current experience as an External Examiner /
I have previous and/or current experience as an external examiner of taught programmes within the UK Higher Education system Please delete as applicable: If yes please give details below. Add more fields if required. / Yes/No
Name of Institution:
Programme title and level (UG/Masters/PhD):
Dates of appointment:
Name of Institution:
Programme title and level (UG/Masters/PhD):
Dates of appointment:
18. Scholarly Experience
Please give below a brief account of main activities in teaching, research and other related scholarly/ professional activity - with particular reference to the past five years, with dates, including internal examining experience, list of major publications, including books, articles in refereed academic or professional journals. Please include in particular reference to experience relating to the enhancement of the student learning experience /
19. Eligibility to work in the United Kingdom
The University is required by the UK Visas and Immigration regulations to verify the right to work in the UK of any person undertaking work at the University of Southampton. For external examiners linked to undergraduate programmes the University will verify this information by requiring sight of original documents before you commence any of your duties. This can be undertaken in a face to face interview or via a skype interview, with the external examiner having posted the relevant right to work documents. /
I confirm that I am a member of the UK/EEA states and have the right to work in the UK with no restrictions / Yes/No
If No, please confirm your right to work status and include details of indefinite leave to remain, right of abode and/or dates of any visas or work permits.
Please answer ‘Yes’ to only one of the options below:
I confirm that I am able to attend a Right to Work Verification meeting and will travel to the University of Southampton present my original documents. Please contact me to arrange a convenient time.[1] / Yes/No
I confirm that I will send my original documents to the University of Southampton (via secure postage prepaid by the UoS) and when received I will participate in a Skype meeting. The documents will then be returned to me by secure postage.[2] / Yes/No
Signature of nominee:
(electronic signature acceptable)
Please return the form to the relevant Director of Programmes and the Faculty’s Curriculum and Quality Assurance Team
The Associate Dean (Education and the Student Experience) should take into account in particular any issues raised in sections 16 and 17 of this form in reaching a decision and should indicate where conditions apply to the appointment. If required, advice may be obtained from the Quality, Standards and Accreditation Team. Where nominees are appointed who do not fully meet the selection criteria the Associate Dean should ensure that the specific rationale for the appointment is reported to AQSC as part of the annual report on external examiner appointments.
The nomination is endorsed by Faculty: please delete as appropriate / Yes/No
Conditions of appointment – for example requirement for additional detailed induction and support – please list below:
Signed:
(Electronic signature accepted)
Position: Date:
[1] The cost of return travel to the University of Southampton for the Right to Work Verification meeting will be reimbursed upon receipt of a claim form that will be distributed at the same time as the letter of appointment. A signed letter of appointment must be received by the University of Southampton before any payments can be made.
[2] If this option is selected, a secure envelope will be posted to you. The relevant original documents are to be sent using this method only. Upon receipt you will be contacted by a member of the QSA team who will arrange a convenient time for a Skype meeting. Skype meetings usually take less than one minute.
[i] To avoid conflicts of interest:
The nomination must not constitute a reciprocal external examining relationship between same discipline academic groupings in different Higher Education Institutions (HEI). Faculties must ensure that the nomination does not constitute a reciprocal relationship within the relevant Exam Board(s). Disciplines should not regard universities like Oxford, Cambridge and London as the HEI but rather particular colleges. Recruiting from different colleges within the same university is not a breach of the reciprocity rule:
i. The nominee must not be from the same institution as his or her predecessor or as other external examiners on the Board of Examiners for that award;
ii. Current members of staff, or members of the governing body or other University committees of the University of Southampton or its Accredited Institutions or its collaborative partners, are not eligible to act as external examiners for University of Southampton awards;
iii. Former academic staff or students of the University and its accredited Institutions may not be invited before a lapse of five years and sufficient time has elapsed for all students taught by or with that person to have passed through the system;
iv. External examiners should not have any previous or current close involvement with the University (whether professional, personal or contractual) that might compromise their objectivity (for example, a nominee should not be a close relative of a student or member of staff of the University; he/she should not assess colleagues who are recruited as students to the programme nor be in a position to influence strongly the possible employment of examinees);
v. External examiners should not be involved significantly in current or recent research collaborations with a member of staff closely involved in the delivery, assessment or management of the programme for which they are appointed.