Dear All

This is my first message to Mailbase ... so I thought I'd cobble together a
wowser.

Two of my colleagues in the examinations section here at UWCN are
interested in seeing how other institutions deal with some of the old
perennial problems associated with student assessment (and some new ones
thrown up by the Code of Practice).  They would like to visit one or two
institutions next session which have cracked the things we are still trying
to improve.  I thought it would be helpful anyway to get a sense of what
institutions are generally making of the issues and then to identify a few
institutions the two colleagues might try to visit.  So, if there is
goodness left in your heart now that the exams and awards season is drawing
to a close, I wondered if you would respond to as many of the following
questions as you would like.  Rather than clutter the list with responses,
perhaps you would respond directly to me, [log in to unmask]  , by
something like 15 August and I will happily collate a summary report of
responses and put it back to the list by way of information.

Thanks in advance.  So, the questions are:

1.   Are examination timetables done by academic departments or centrally?




2.   How far in advance are students notified of the examination timetable
and course work submission dates?




3.   What are the timescales for academics to submit examination question
papers?




4.   Are all scripts archived or only the sample which have been moderated
by the External?




5.   May students have access to see their scripts upon request?




6.   What training/induction do examiners receive and how often is the
exercise repeated during period of tenure, if at all?




7.   What feedback do external examiners get on their reports and in what
timescale?




8.   How are results processed, who prepares and enters assessment data? Is
there a common format for the preparation and production of the mark
matrices and who does these?




9.   How are results issued to students (e.g. letter or transcripts?  What
are the time scales for notification of results?   What information do
transcripts contain?




10.  Who sends out the transcripts?




11.  Who sets the dates of the examination boards?




12.  Who informs the External Examiner of the date of the board and how far
in advance is notification given?




13.  Who services the examination boards and who chairs them?




14.  Who undertakes administration of examination boards' consideration of
extenuating circumstances (e.g. central or departmental administrators)?




15.  How is debt dealt with now that the Data Protection Act makes
withholding results untenable?




16.  May Chair's Action be taken?  If so, how frequently and in what types
of situation?




17.  Does your examinations section run the awards ceremony (if not, where
is that responsibility located in your registry)?




18.  Does your examinations section have any involvement with franchise
centres (if you operate franchises)?




19.  Would you receive colleagues from UWCN to discuss these issues further
some time in session 2000/2001 (and if so who might we contact and what is
their phone number and email address)?





Thanks very much for any information you can offer and for your kindness I
offer you best wishes for a happy holiday before the September onslaught.

Paul



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