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Examination boards BMS
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UTFacultiesBMSExamination BoardFor teachersAppointment as examiner

Appointment as examiner

Examiners

An examiner is an individual, appointed by the examination board to administer examinations and tests and to determine the results, in accordance with Article 7.12 paragraph c WHW.

Every academic year, the examination boards BMS review, assess and if necessary, adjust the appointments of teachers as examiners. Only a programme director can file a request at the examination board for the appointment as examiner. 
If a program director wants you to be an examiner or examiner thesis within their program, the examination board can either appoint you as 'examiner' (you meet all requirements) or as 'examiner with a waiver' (you do not yet meet all requirements). 
When you are appointed as examiner with a waiver, please be aware that you are expected to earn the missing qualifications until the specified date (three years waiver). If you do not meet the requirements in three years, you cannot be (re)appointed as an examiner.

Please check the AFAS page "My File" - "My Education" to see for which programme(s) you are appointed as examiner for the current academic year.

If you would like to receive a message in your e-mail inbox whenever there are changes in AFAS, then please check your settings in AFAS:
"My File > View personal details > Frequency Signal". You can choose daily, weekly or monthly updates per e-mail.

REGULATIONS AND CRITERIA

UTQ

The Executive Board of the UT decided that all teachers need to fulfil the quality criteria established within all universities of the Netherlands (VSNU). She therefore established the UTQ trajectory (see information https://www.utwente.nl/en/learning-teaching/professional-learning-development/utq/). The HR department informs you shortly after you join the UT. The examination boards of BMS adopted these requirements for teachers if they need to be appointed as examiner for one or more programmes.

LANGUAGE

At the University of Twente, teachers are required to have language level requirement of C1 – CEFR (see also https://www.utwente.nl/en/ces/language-centre/academic-proficiency-test-english/exemptions/). The examination boards of BMS adopted this requirement.

WAIVER

If you have been appointed as examiner with a waiver, you do not fulfil all the criteria/requirements the examination boards of BMS established in the Rules and Regulations (R&R art. 4.02 - see below) on UTQ and/or Language.
Please note that all teachers, researchers and PHD-students who need to be appointed for a programme to administer examinations and tests and to determine the result or to supervise and assess students in thesis trajectories, need to meet the criteria on UTQ and Language, even if you do not have the obligation to do so considering your contract or from instructions of the HR department.

In case you do not yet fulfil the requirements, you are appointed with a waiver. This waiver is granted for three subsequent years.
A special examiner arrangement for all individuals who are not required by faculty to obtain their UTQ can be found below.

FROM THE RULES AND GUIDELINES EXAMINATION BOARDS BMS

SECTION 4: EXAMINERS

4.01 APPOINTMENT OF EXAMINERS

  1. The examination board appoints examiners upon request by the programme director before the start of the academic year. To that end, and before the start of the next academic year, the examination board will supply the programme management with a list of potential examiners with qualifications and a deadline for the programme management to submit its request. A roadmap specifying the actions and deadlines for all stakeholders involved can be found in the R&R 2024-2025 (page 10)
  2. In case of an (urgent) appointment during the academic year, the programme director/programme coordinator(s) requests the examination board to appoint an examiner, using the related form, stating:
    a) the necessity of the appointment;
    b) the examiner’s expertise and qualifications.
  3. The examination board can terminate the appointment of examiners during the academic year. The examination board motivates the decision to the programme management.
  4. For each study unit, the programme management indicates an examiner. If there is more than one examiner in a study unit, the programme director indicates a coordinating examiner, who ensures that all examiners involved assess and grade the tests and exams of the study unit in accordance with agreed-upon standards and determines the final grade for the study unit. 
  5. An appointement as examiber is valid until the end of the current academic year (31st of August).

4.02 Criteria

The examination boards distinguish two types of examiners:
a)       Examiner: examiners who are appointed for an entire programme and thus can act as examiner in all study units (including the thesis) of that programme for which they qualify based on their expertise;
b)       Examiner thesis: examiners who are only/exclusively appointed to assign and validate the grades of bachelor and/or master theses of (a) selected programme(s).

The following criteria apply to all examiners:

  1. The examiner is a member of the academic staff (in Dutch: Wetenschappelijk Personeel or WP) of the University of Twente (UT) or has a so-called NOP appointment with the UT.
  2. External parties/experts registered as ‘guest lecturer’ within the UT can be appointed as an examiner. External parties/experts NOT registered as ‘guest lecturer’ cannot be appointed as examiner, but instead can act as advisor, e.g. to a thesis committee.
  3. The examiner must have a UTQ certificate from the UT or another university, or equivalent[1]. 
  4. Some examiners have received dispensation[2] from the obligation to obtain a UTQ based on UT-wide policy (i.e. staff/professors with a contract of 8 hours per week or less).
  5. The examiner must meet the conditions for English language proficiency as set in the UT language policy (i.e. C1/C2). Examiners in entirely Dutch-taught programmes are exempted from the English language proficiency requirement. In deviation from (section 1.3.5 of) the general UT language policy, examiners in Dutch-taught programmes who are non-native Dutch speakers must demonstrate to possess a C1/C2 level of Dutch.
  6. Examiners without a UTQ certificate (or equivalent) and/or who do not meet the language proficiency requirements can be appointed with a waiver. This waiver is valid for a maximum duration of three consecutive academic years[3], and is conditional on the examiner being in the process of acquiring the UTQ certificate as confirmed by HR (AFAS). Examiners who, after the three-year waiver period, have not acquired the UTQ certificate and/or do not meet the language requirements, will no longer be appointed as examiner.
  7.  The examination boards BMS advises teaching staff (including PhD students) with a short contract or limited teaching tasks who can NOT obtain a full UTQ, to obtain UTQ Part Certificates[4]. The UTQ-Part Certificate competence 3 ‘Testing & Assessment’ (BKE) is recognized at other universities in the Netherlands.).

 In addition, the following criteria apply in order for an individual to be appointed as examiner under a. (i.e. examiners appointed for an entire programme):

  1. The examiner for study units in MSc programmes has a PhD degree in a field relevant to the programme.
  2. The examiner for study units in BSc programmes holds at least a MSc or MA degree in a field relevant to the programme and preferably holds a PhD degree or is conducting PhD research.
  3. All thesis committees consist of at least two examiners, at least one of whom has a PhD degree.
  4. Examiners whose employment with the UT ends (e.g. due to retirement or job change) while sitting on (a) thesis committee(s), may, with the prior written approval of the corresponding examination board, continue to sit on the(se) committee(s) as examiner until the student(s) concerned has(have) graduated.
  5. Examiners with a waiver who do not fulfil the requested criteria within the three year waiver period but who are still sitting on (a) thesis committee(s), may, with the prior written approval of the corresponding examination board, continue to sit on the(se) committee(s) as examiner until the student(s) concerned has(have) graduated.

In addition, the following criteria apply in order for an individual to be appointed as examiner under b. (examiners who are only appointed to assign and validate the grades of bachelor and/or master theses):

  1. The examiner holds at least a MSc or MA degree in a field relevant to the thesis and preferably holds a PhD degree or is conducting PhD research.
  2. All thesis committees consist of at least two examiners, at least one of whom has a PhD degree.
  3. Examiners whose employment with the UT ends (e.g. due to retirement or job change) while sitting on (a) thesis committee(s), may, with the prior written approval of the corresponding examination board, continue to sit on the(se) committee(s) as examiner until the student(s) concerned has/ve graduated.
  4. Examiners with a waiver who do not fulfil the requested criteria within the three year waiver period but who are still sitting on (a) thesis committee(s), may, with the prior written approval of the corresponding examination board, continue to sit on the(se) committee(s) as examiner until the student(s) concerned has/have graduated.

Special examiner arrangements for all persons not obligated by the faculty to obtain their UTQ (e.g. PhD students, researchers etc.)

The requirements for all persons who are not obligated by the faculty to obtain their UTQ, but who would like to be appointed as examiner or examiner thesis, are that the following partial certificates which must be obtained within 3 years:

If competence 2 is completed, an additional 2 year waiver may be requested as ‘examiner thesis’ to complete all other competencies to meet the requirements for a full UTQ.

If both competencies (2 and 3) have been completed within the 3 waiver years, an additional 2 year waiver may be requested as ‘examiner’ to complete all other competencies to meet the requirements for a full UTQ.

The EB recommends the PMT of a programme to only appoint PhD’s as examiners from the second PhD year onwards, and have the PhD's teach with more experienced lecturers during their first PhD year.

The examination board has the authority to make individual exceptions to the criteria as mentioned under Article 4.02.

[1] Equivalent certificates include: 1. a Dutch or foreign teaching qualification for secondary school teaching, supplemented with a reflection on the UTQ competences focused on the application of teaching theory in the university context. The Dean/director determines whether the reflections justify UTQ exemption; 2.  A foreign teaching qualification for higher education, comparable with the UTQ of the 4TU. 3. The VELON certificate for teacher trainers.

[2] Educational Professional Development | UTQ | Centre of Expertise in Learning & Teaching (utwente.nl)

[3] According to 4TU-UTQ regulation, paragraph 2.1 https://www.utwente.nl/en/ces/celt/utq/4tu-utq-regulation-def-uk-08-03-17.pdf

[4] Also see page 12 of the R&R 2024-2025 ‘Special examiner arrangements for all persons not obligated by the faculty to obtain their UTQ’

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