The faculty management team has just adopted new standards for co-examiner remuneration at Health. At the same time, the faculty’s use of external co-examiners is being reduced. The new rules aim to provide conditions that are more transparent for external co-examiners and to bring the use of external co-examination onto the same level as other Danish universities.

2019.01.24 | Simon Byrial Fischel

From the Summer exams 2019, new uniform rules will apply for co-examiner remuneration at Health. At the same time, the faculty has decided to reduce the use of external co-examiners in the future. Photo: Simon Fischel.

In future, a two-hour written exam will trigger the same number of working hours and the same remuneration for a co-examiner – regardless of the degree programme on which the co-examiner is working. This is the result of the new set of standards which the faculty management team have adopted so that the faculty can have uniform standards in place for how co-examiners are remunerated across departments and degree programmes. The new rules will enter into force after the 2019 summer exams.

The set of standards for co-examiners will ensure greater transparency, simpler administration of the rules and fairer practice following criticism from co-examiners, who found the old system opaque and – in certain respects – unfair. The new set of standards have been adopted following discussions with the board of studies, the chairmanship of the body of external co-examiners and the Academic Council and follow in the footsteps of similar standards at Science and Technology at Aarhus University and the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.

Less external co-examination

At the same time, the faculty management team has decided to reduce the use of external co-examination at Health. The faculty’s degree programmes have traditionally used significantly more external co-examination than corresponding degree programmes at other Danish universities. For example, 89 per cent of the ECTS credits on AU’s Bachelor's degree programme in medicine are assessed using external co-examiners, compared to 43 per cent on the same degree programme at the University of Copenhagen.

Health currently spends approx. DKK 5.7 million per academic year on remunerating external co-examiners. It is estimated that the departments collectively could save approx. DKK 3 million annually by reducing the use of external co-examination to the minimum requirements stated in the Examination Order – this is 33 per cent of the degree programmes' ECTS credits. It has therefore been decided that the individual degree programmes should work towards reducing the level of external co-examinations, so they reach a level similar to that of corresponding degree programmes at other universities. In practice, this will be implemented in connection with the ongoing revisions of the academic regulations at the various degree programmes.

Contact

Head of Studies Administration Anna Bak Maigaard
HE Administrative Centre - HE Studies Administration
Email: annabak@au.dk
Mobil: (+45) 2041 2740