Departments and partner institutions are responsible for nominating suitable External Examiners for appointment for all awards. The relevant Executive Dean or nominee is responsible for the approval of nominations, which are reported to the relevant Faculty Education Committees.
The nominating department, or partner institution, need to ensure they have appropriate evidence that the proposed External Examiner meets all the criteria for selection; where this criteria is not fully met, a written case for an exception must be submitted with the nomination form for consideration by the relevant Executive Dean or nominee (see exceptions below).
External Examiners should have:
To ensure impartiality and that potential conflicts of interest are identified and resolved prior to appointment, departments or partner institutions should not nominate anyone to whom the following applies:
Departments and partner institutions are encouraged to source External Examiners from different institutions in order that a wide range of academic experience and practice can contribute to the enhancement of academic provision at the University of Essex. It is therefore preferable that departments and partner institutions do not nominate academics based in different departments of institutions from which they have already appointed a current External Examiner, however, an arrangement like this could be endorsed if a sufficient supporting rationale is provided along with an overview of the range of institutions that External Examiners are from within the department alongside the initial nomination.
Where a nominee does not fulfil all the specified criteria (for instance in disciplines which are very small or specialist, or where examiners are drawn from business or a profession) the relevant Executive Dean or nominee may consider a request for exceptional appointment. A written case for appointment should be enclosed with the nomination form.
¹Where programmes are delivered and assessed in languages other than English, additionally fluency in the relevant language.
² The advice of the relevant Executive Dean or nominee should be sought where the extent of involvement is in question.