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Return to: Supervision and Examinations
Formal examining committees are required for thesis-based master’s final examination, doctoral candidacy examinations, and doctoral final examinations. Members of these examining committees perform two functions: 1) they bring knowledge and expertise to the assessment of the thesis, and 2) they ensure that the University’s expectations are met regarding the conduct of the examination, adherence to all relevant policies, and the suitability of the thesis for the degree.
The Chair
Every examining committee must have a chair who is not the supervisor and is a faculty member with experience supervising graduate students. The chair should have sufficient experience of graduate examinations to be able to allow the examination to be conducted in a fair manner. The chair is responsible for moderating the discussion and directing questions. It is the chair’s responsibility to ensure that departmental and FGSR regulations relating to the final examination are followed. If the chair is not an examiner, then the chair does not vote.
The committee chair is not an examiner for doctoral examinations. See Size and Composition of Examining Committees for the requirements for each examination.
The chair should not have real or apparent conflict of interest with the student or any of the examiners.
Examiners
Examiners are full voting members of the examining committee. All examiners must be either active in the general subject area of the student’s research or bring relevant expertise to the assessment of the thesis.
There are four types of examiners: ex-officio examiner, arm’s length examiner, University of Alberta examiner and External examiner.
Ex-officio Examiners
The supervisor(s) and, for doctoral students, the other members of the student’s supervisory committee are ex-officio members of the examining committee.
By definition, no individual can be both an ex-officio and an arm’s length examiner on the same examining committee.
Arm’s Length Examiners
An arm’s length examiner is knowledgeable in the field and comes fresh to the examination. They must not be (or have been) a member of the supervisory committee, or have been connected with the thesis research in a significant way. The examiner should not have been associated with the student, outside of usual contact in courses or other non-thesis activities within the University, nor be related to the student or supervisor(s).
The arm’s length examiners should not be a former supervisor or student of the supervisor(s).
Except in special circumstances (fully justified in writing to the Dean of the department’s Faculty), an arm’s length examiner should not be an active collaborator of the supervisor(s) (see Conflict of Interest Guidelines, below).
Arm’s length examiners who have served on a student’s candidacy examination committee do not lose their arm’s length status as a result, and are eligible to serve as arm’s length examiners on the student’s doctoral final examination if the other conditions of being arm’s length remain unchanged.
External Examiner
An external examiner from outside the University of Alberta is required for doctoral thesis examinations. In addition to being an arm’s length examiner this examiner must fulfill additional criteria as described under “Final Doctoral Examination … Inviting the External Examiner or Reader” in the Calendar.
University of Alberta Examiners
The University of Alberta examiner is a tenured, tenure-track, or retired University of Alberta faculty member, or Faculty Service Officer, (current or retired categories A1.1, A1.3, or current category C1.1, as defined in the University of Alberta’s Recruitment Policy (Appendix A) Definition and Categories of Academic Staff and Colleagues).
The key relationships are: the supervisor to the student; the supervisor to the other committee members; and the student to the committee members. There must be no conflict of interest in these relationships, as defined by the University of Alberta policy. Any personal or professional relationships that alter or affect this academic relationship may constitute a conflict of interest.
It is a best practice to request examiners and the chair declare any potential conflicts of interest prior to approval of the examination committee. Where potential conflicts of interest emerge, the matter may be referred to an Associate Dean at FGSR for advice on how to best manage unavoidable conflicts of interest.
For all examination committees, at least half of the examiners must have a degree equivalent to or higher than the degree being examined.
For all examination committees, at least half of the examiners must fulfill the criteria as a University of Alberta examiner as tenured, tenure-track, or retired University of Alberta faculty members, or Faculty Service Officers (see above under Categories of Examiners and Eligibility).
Master’s Thesis Examination Committee
- The minimum size of a master’s final examining committee is three examiners. The maximum size is five examiners.
- The ex officio members of the committee are the supervisor(s) and the supervisory committee members if there is a committee.
- There must be one arm’s length examiner.
- At least half of the examiners must hold a master’s degree or higher (see above).
- At least half of the examiners must fulfill the criteria of University of Alberta examiner (see above)
- The chair is not the supervisor. The chair is a faculty member in the student’s home department or with experience chairing master’s examinations. The FGSR recommends that committee chairs not be examiners except in extenuating circumstances where any conflict of interest in this role be managed transparently for the student.
The authority for the appointment of final examining committees rests with the Dean of the department’s Faculty [unless delegated to the department].
Doctoral Candidacy Examination Committee
- The minimum size of a doctoral candidacy committee is five examiners. The maximum size is seven examiners.
- The ex officio members of the committee are the supervisor(s) and the supervisory committee members.
- There must be two arm’s length examiners.
- At least half or more of the examiners must hold a doctoral degree or higher (see above).
- At least half of the examiners must fulfill the criteria of University of Alberta examiner (see above)
- The chair is not an examiner. The chair is a faculty member in the student’s home department or with experience chairing doctoral examinations
The authority for the appointment of doctoral candidacy examining committees rests with the department.
Doctoral Thesis Examination Committee
The authority for the appointment of final examining committees rests with the Dean of the department’s Faculty [unless delegated to the department].
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