Once a student has completed a draft of their thesis, it should be shared with the Chair of their Supervisory Committee. Once corrections and edits have been made to the draft, the student should share the revised thesis with all members of the Supervisory Committee. Once their edits have been incorporated and the Supervisory Committee members and the Chair agree that the thesis is complete and an accurate reflection of the work, the thesis should be submitted to the Office of the Dean of the SGS.
Selection of External Examiners
When the thesis is approaching its final internal review by the Supervisory Committee, the candidate and the Chair of the Supervisory Committee, in consultation with Supervisory Committee members, should consider appropriate External Examiners (EE’s).
- The Chair of the Supervisory Committee is responsible for submitting the names, CV, and contact information for two proposed named EE’s on the nomination form for approval by the Dean, SGS. Candidates may contribute a list of potential EE’s to their supervisor(s) and may identify persons whom they would not like to have examine their thesis, but otherwise must play no part in determining their EE’s and must not communicate with EE’s during the course of the examination.
- The EE Nomination Form must be completed and submitted prior to submission of the completed thesis to the Dean, SGS.
- The Office of the Dean of the SGS will not dispatch theses to EE’s until the Student and Supervisory Committee Chair complete the Conflict of Interest EE Declaration Form. Once received by the Office of the Dean, the nominated EE’s will be reviewed by the SGS Curriculum Committee Thesis Sub-committee.
- The SGS Curriculum Committee Thesis Sub-committee will be responsible for the selection of one EE for all PhD and MSc thesis examinations.
- All nominated EE’s must be suitably qualified to examine the thesis and will be external to SGU. This will normally require that the EE; i) holds a degree at least of equal standing (e.g. holds a PhD if examining a PhD thesis), ii) preferably, the nominated EE’s will be research active (i.e. has a record of recent refereed publications in a relevant field of study), and iii) is familiar with the expectations of a PhD (e.g. has experience in supervision of PhD candidates to completion, and/or has previously examined PhD theses).
- Nominated EE’s can have no close connection to the supervisors or the candidate. For further details, consult the Conflict of Interest EE Guidelines below. The Chair of the Supervisory Committee must sign the statement on the Nomination of EE’s Form to indicate that they have complied with the Conflict of Interest EE guidelines, and that they have consulted all Supervisory Committee members in arriving at the list of EE’s nominated.
- The Chair of the Supervisory Committee is responsible for contacting the agreed list of proposed EE’s to determine their availability to examine. Letters of invitation to act must not include extraneous information about the candidate or thesis. Copies of correspondence confirming EE’s agreement to act, and of materials supporting their suitability to act, must be included with the approval documentation.
- Once approved by the SGS Curriculum Committee Thesis Sub-committee, the Dean of the SGS will inform the Chair of the Supervisory Committee and will await receipt of the thesis for examination. The Dean of the SGS Office corresponds with the approved EE and is responsible for providing the EE with expected criteria for the examination.
Once the EE is approved by the Office of the Dean, the Office of the Dean will communicate with the EE to ensure they are willing to serve as an EE and complete the review within the 6-week time limit. The Dean will be responsible for submitting the thesis, together with the EE forms, to the EE. EEs are requested to complete their evaluation of the thesis within 6 weeks. Their report and the completed forms must be returned to the Dean of the SGS, who shares the outcome with the Chair of the Supervisory Committee. If the EE has requested changes to the thesis, these must be completed to the satisfaction of the Chair of the Supervisory Committee prior to submitting the final copies of the thesis to the Office of the Dean of the SGS. It should be noted that for master's theses, the EE cannot fail a candidate but can request substantial changes. In the case of a PhD, the EE can fail the candidate or request a time extension for additional research and the resubmission of the thesis for examination.