Examination policy – higher degrees by research

Policy

1. Examiners

1.1. At least two (2) months before the intended date of submission/presentation of the research for examination, the senior supervisor will recommend at least three (3) examiners on the form for Recommended Examiners for Higher Degree by Research Candidate to the College Research Committee or delegated authority for endorsement and then the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board for appointment.

a) examiners shall be of high standing in the field in which the candidate's research program was conducted.

b) if a proposed examiner does not hold an academic qualification at least equivalent in status and character to the degree pursued by the candidate, justification for the recommendation, including a full curriculum vitae, must be provided.

c) examiners must not have had direct involvement with the candidate’s research program and there must be no conflict of interest in any form between an examiner and a candidate or a candidate’s research program, except in the case of a candidate undertaking their PhD under the terms of a double-badged PhD agreement with a French university, where the principal French supervisor may be deemed to be an examiner, additional to the required external examiners.

1.2. Rules for appointment

a) for Masters examinations, the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board will appoint no fewer than two (2) examiners to undertake the initial examination, at least one of whom must be external to RMIT.

b) no more than one internal examiner can be appointed.

c) examiners must not have acted in a supervisory or consultative capacity, either wholly or partly, at any time during a candidate's period of candidature.

d) in those cases where the option to have an internal examiner is exercised, an oral examination or viva will also be conducted. Such oral examinations are to be conducted under the terms of College procedures that have been ratified by the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board.

e) for PhD and Professional Doctorate examinations, the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board will appoint no fewer than two (2) examiners to undertake the initial examination, both of whom must be external.

f) examiners must not have acted in a supervisory or consultative capacity, either wholly or partly, at any time during a candidate's period of candidature, except in the case of a candidate undertaking their PhD under the terms of a double-badged PhD agreement with a French university, where the principal French supervisor may be deemed to be an examiner, additional to the required external examiners.

g) ex-RMIT staff and candidates will not normally be approved as external examiners for three (3) years following their departure from RMIT University.

h) external examiners from the same organisational component of the same university or other organisation will not normally be approved.

i) for PhD by Publication examinations, the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board will appoint three (3) examiners, all of whom must be external and at least one of whom must be a scholar with international standing.

1.3. In all cases if any examiner is unable to complete the examination within a time satisfactory to the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board (normally eight weeks), another examiner will normally be appointed in his/her place.

1.4. Except in the case of an oral examination, a candidate shall not be advised of the names of examiners until after the examination process is complete, and will then only be advised with the consent of the examiner(s). However, the candidates may advise their supervisor(s) of the names of any persons whom they would find unacceptable as examiners; such persons would then not normally be appointed as examiners.

1.5. The examiners shall be principally guided in their examination of a thesis/project by section 12 regarding requirements for the degree and the standard of work. At the end of an examination the examiners are given the option of retaining the draft thesis unless the thesis is covered by a confidentiality agreement.

1.6. In the event of an examiner or any other relevant party to the examination process question whether the work is genuinely that of the candidate the matter will be immediately referred to the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board who will determine the course of action to be taken.

2. Examiner's recommendations

The examiners shall individually and independently assess the thesis/project, prepare brief assessment reports for the guidance of the candidate and make one of the following recommendations to the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board:

2.1. Passed: with no requirement for correction or amendment and the candidate be awarded the degree for which they are enrolled.

2.2. Passed subject to minor amendments: being made to the satisfaction of the School, with notification to the School of Graduate Research, without further examination. The candidate must make minor amendments and/or address the recommendations of the examiner/s as appropriate.2.3. Passed subject to specific amendments: being made to the satisfaction of the School, with notification to the School of Graduate Research, without further examination. The candidate must rewrite/rework specific sections of the thesis/project and/or address the recommendations of the examiner/s as appropriate.

2.4. Deferred for major revision: to be resubmitted for completion of the examination following revision and/or extra work as recommended by the examiner/s.

2.5. Failed: the candidate should not be awarded the degree for which they are enrolled and NOT be permitted to revise and resubmit the thesis/ project for re-examination.

3. Oral examination

3.1. Oral presentation and/or examination is common in cases where work is submitted by Project (refer to Higher degrees by research – project policy). Where an internal examiner is used an oral examination must be conducted.

3.2. The following shall normally apply to examination of work submitted by thesis.

3.3. An examiner may recommend to School of Graduate Research Advisory Board that an oral examination on the subject of the thesis be conducted. The examiner shall specify the purpose of the oral examination and the nature of the questions to be put to the candidate. An oral examination shall take place only at the discretion of the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board and shall:

a) be convened by the Chair of the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board or nominee;

b) be conducted as specified by the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board1;

c) result in the recommendation of one of the gradings specified in Section 2.

4. Classification of Thesis/Project

4.1. The School of Graduate Research Advisory Board shall make one of the following classifications:

C1 - Passed with no requirement for correction or amendment and the candidate be awarded the degree for which they are enrolled;

C2 - Passed, subject to minor amendments;

C3 - Passed subject to specific amendments;

C4 - Deferred for major revision;

C5 - Failed.

4.2. If the examiners disagree significantly, the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board shall refer to its procedure for classification of a thesis/project as approved from time to time. Whilst the majority view of the examiners will normally be accepted, the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board may take other factors into account in reaching a recommended classification

4.3. The School of Graduate Research Advisory Board will:

a) classify the thesis/project; or

b) defer classification to seek further information and advice; or

c) in certain special circumstances, recommend a re-examination.

4.4. In the case of a thesis/project classified by the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board as “Passed with no requirement for correction or amendment and the candidate be awarded the degree for which they are enrolled”:

a) the final archival copy of the thesis/project must be submitted in electronic form (unless specifically exempted) to the School of Graduate Research within eight (8) weeks of the notification of the classification;

b) additional time to submit the final archival thesis/project can be obtained in exceptional circumstances. Such a request would need to be made in writing directly to the School of Graduate Research with support from the senior supervisor and HoS or appropriate academic authority for approval by the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board;

c) failure to submit the final archival thesis/project by the date specified shall normally lead to termination of candidature.

4.5. In the case of a thesis/project classified by School of Graduate Research Advisory Board as “Passed, subject to minor amendments”:

a) the final archival copy of the amended thesis/project must be submitted in electronic form (unless specifically exempted) to the School of Graduate Research within eight (8) weeks of the notification of the classification;

b) the amended thesis/project must be submitted to the School of Graduate Research accompanied by a statement from the senior supervisor or appropriate academic authority in the School certifying that the amendments have been addressed in accord with the examiners' requirements;

c) the amended thesis/project must be submitted to the School of Graduate Research accompanied by a further statement providing a record of the amendments actually made, or reasons for not complying in all respects with the examiners' requests. This statement to be retained on the candidate's file;

d) additional time to submit the amended thesis/project can be obtained in exceptional circumstances. Such a request would need to be made in writing directly to the School of Graduate Research with support from the senior supervisor and Head of School or appropriate academic authority for approval by the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board;

e) failure to submit the amended thesis/project by the date specified shall normally lead to termination of candidature.

4.6. In the case of a thesis/project classified by the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board as “Passed subject to specific amendments”:

a) the final archival copy of the amended thesis/project must be submitted in electronic form (unless specifically exempted) to the School of Graduate Research within three (3) months of the notification of the classification;

b) the amended thesis/project must be submitted to the School of Graduate Research accompanied by a statement from the senior supervisor or appropriate academic authority in the School certifying that the amendments have been made in accordance with the examiners' requirements;

c) the amended thesis/project must be submitted to the School of Graduate Research accompanied by a further statement providing a record of the amendments actually made, or reasons for not complying in all respects with the examiners' requests. This statement to be retained on the candidate's file;

d) additional time to submit the amended thesis/project can be obtained in exceptional circumstances. Such a request would need to be made in writing directly to the School of Graduate Research with support from the senior supervisor and Head of School or appropriate academic authority for approval by the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board;

e) failure to submit the amended thesis/project by the date specified shall normally lead to termination of candidature.

4.7. In the case of a thesis/project classified by the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board as “Deferred for major revision”

a) the revised thesis/project must be submitted to the School of Graduate Research within twelve (12) months of the notification of the classification. In exceptional circumstances this period may be extended by the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board. A progress report must be completed at six (6) months and submitted to the School of Graduate Research. Costs incurred in the production of the revised thesis for examination are the responsibility of the candidate;

b) the revised thesis/project must be submitted to the School of Graduate Research accompanied by a statement from the senior supervisor or appropriate academic authority in the School certifying that the thesis/project has been revised in accordance with the examiners' requirements;

c) the revised thesis/project must be submitted to the School of Graduate Research accompanied by a further statement describing the revision and/or extra work actually done. The candidate shall address concerns raised by all examiners and will give reasons for not complying with the examiners’ requests where appropriate. This statement to be retained on the candidate’s file;

d) the thesis/project may normally be submitted once only in revised form;

e) a revised thesis/project will normally be returned to the examiners who recommended revision for completion of the examination;

f) the examiners of a revised thesis/project shall recommend to the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board a grading of either "Pass" or "Fail" only. The examiners may advise of required changes of a minor editorial nature;

g) failure to submit the revised thesis/project by the date specified shall normally lead to the thesis/ project being reclassified as “Failed”.

International candidates

International candidates who receive a Deferred for Major Revision classification may complete revisions and be re-examined in a way that does not require them to return to Australia.

4.8. In the case of a thesis/project classified by the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board as "Failed; the candidate will not be awarded the degree for which they were enrolled and will NOT be permitted to revise and resubmit the thesis/project for re-examination:

a) the thesis/project cannot be resubmitted for the same degree;

b) one copy of the examined thesis/project becomes the property of RMIT and shall be filed with the candidate's official records;

c) the candidature will be deemed to be terminated.

4.9. After the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board has classified a thesis/project, examiners' reports will be made available to the College for information and to the Head of School or appropriate academic authority and the senior supervisor for distribution to the candidate.

4.10.The final archival electronic (unless otherwise exempted) copy of the thesis/ project shall become the property of RMIT, subject to any approved agreement(s) as to the confidentiality of the work entered into by RMIT, the candidate and any external body (see Higher degrees by research – intellectual property policy).

5. Examiners in language other than English

5.1. In exceptional circumstances a School may seek approval from the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board for an examiner’s report to be presented in a language other than English. In these circumstances the School must provide a justification for its request and submit it to the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board for approval.

5.2. In approving such a request, the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board will consider whether the examination report is likely to be of greater depth and quality if it is submitted in a language other than English.

5.3. If approved, the School of Graduate Research will arrange for the report to be translated into English before being considered by the School of Graduate Research Advisory Board.

5.4. All costs associated with this process will be defrayed by the School where the candidate is enrolled.

5.5. Examiners’ reports may be considered for translation into English from the following languages only:

a) French
b) Italian
c) Spanish
d) German
e) Japanese
f) Mandarin
g) Bahasa Indonesia
h) Bahasa Malaysia
i) Thai

^{1 The School of Graduate Research Advisory Board may recommend that the oral examination takes place using video-conferencing facilities.}

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