Rules and regulations of the examination board in Public Administration

Article 1. Role and responsibilities of the Examination Board

The Examination Board fulfils its statutory duties within the framework of the Education and Examination Regulations (EER, Dutch: OER) of the Public Administration programmes at the Radboud University.
The Examination Board executes its tasks as outlined in the Wet op het hoger onderwijs en wetenschappelijk onderzoek (WHW) where the Examination Board follows the general administrative law (and its principles) to do its job and make decisions.
Central to the task of the Examination Board is the concern for the quality of testing. Tests should (collectively) demonstrate whether and to what extent students have achieved the learning objectives of the programme. To this end, the tests must be reliable and valid, cover the learning objectives adequately and be fraud-proof as much as possible. Tests should also be designed with the well-being of students and teachers in mind

Article 2. The way in which the Examination Board works

To implement its tasks, the Board members contact each other regularly.
The Examination Board has divided its tasks amongst the members of the Examination Board.
Any decision by the Examination Board in response to individual requests or appeals is made by at least two members; one of which is the chair or the administrative secretary. Decisions about rules, regulations, and protocols are made by the Board as a whole.
The Examination Board can decide to mandate certain (routine) decisions to, for instance, the NSM Education centre. The mandated leeway to make a decision is described in a precise manner.

Article 3. Admission to the programmes

The Board may in individual cases admit students to the bachelor or master programme on the basis of a prior education not listed in the EER.
The Examination Board decides on individual applications for admission to the Wo-premaster and HBO-premaster.
The Examination Board may pose conditions in line with the letter and spirit of the EER.

Article 4. Exemptions

Upon the request of students, the Examination Board can grant students an exemption for a course if a similar course (both in content and number of EC) was taken somewhere else. The request of the student should contain the information needed to assess the content and difficulty level of the course as well as proof that the course has been successfully completed. Exemptions are not granted without proof that the course has been successfully completed.

Article 5. Examination of courses

The Examination Board appoints the course examiners. Within the leeway granted by the EER, the Board has the authority to give examiners binding guidelines regarding procedural or organizational aspects of a course, but not about its content.
Teachers ask other teachers to peer review the exam questions and answers.
Partial tests of a course that are listed in OSIRIS, cannot be compensated. In other words, in order to pass a course, each partial test listed in OSIRIS needs to be a 5.5 or higher. Course coordinators can ask the Examination Board for an exemption of this rule, based on the specific didactic set up of the course.
The Examination Board periodically assesses a cross-section of assessments. The Examination Board assesses these exams using the quality criteria mentioned above (art. 1.3).

Article 6. Sitting exams

If a student (Bachelor, Master or Premaster) has passed all their courses (including their thesis) bar one Public Administration course, and it will take some time before the next exam opportunity occurs, the student can submit a request for an additional exam opportunity. It is of importance that this is a course that falls within the jurisdiction of the Examination Board of Public Administration. Moreover, this arrangement applies only to exams and assignments of regular courses, not to theses. If the criteria of reasonableness and fairness applies to this case, then the Examination Board can decide to give the student an extra exam opportunity.
The Examination Board does not make any decisions that fall under the authority of the Commissie Bindend Studieadvies. This means that the Examination Board does not grant additional exam opportunities when a student receives a negative BSA because of failure to complete a course.

Article 7. The Bachelor Thesis

As part of the Bachelor programme in Public Administration, students individually write a bachelor thesis.
The thesis is assessed by the supervisor. A form with the most important assessment criteria is used to assess the thesis and assign grades to each of these criteria.
In line with the EER, the final grade is rounded to the nearest half point.
that the thesis is a way for students to prove that they are qualified to receive their degree, they can only retake it if they fail. Thus, if students receive a pass for the thesis, they cannot retake it.
The administrative office of the programme archives the assessment form together with the thesis, for as long as the law requires.

Article 8. Master thesis

As part of the Master programme in Public Administration, students individually write a master thesis.
The thesis is assessed by a committee consisting of the supervisor and a second reader. Supervisors of MA thesis either have a PhD or are working towards their PhD. PhD students can only supervise thesis in accordance with policy outlined by the Examination Board and the master coordinator.
The supervisor initially determines if the thesis meets the minimum requirements to pass (see grading form MA thesis); if so, the thesis is forwarded to the second reader. The first and second reader independently grade the thesis. If the second reader agrees that the thesis meets the minimum requirements, supervisor and second reader determine the final grade together. The final grade for the thesis is based on the thesis form in which the most important grading criteria are listed as well as the first and second reader’s assessment of how the student performed on these criteria.
- When the marks of the second reader and supervisor differ one point or more, then the Examination Board will appoint a third assessor (usually a professor). This third assessor will independently grade the thesis using the thesis form. The third assessor’s grade is the final grade for the thesis.
- In line with the EER, the final grade is rounded to the nearest half point.
Considering that the thesis is a way for students to prove that they are qualified to receive their degree, they can only retake it if they fail. Thus, if students receive a pass for the thesis, they cannot retake it.
The administrative office of the programme archives the assessment form together with the thesis, for as long as the law requires.

Article 9. Approval internships and electives

Internship bachelor programme. Students can opt either for an internship in which they experience regular work processes within an organization, or a research internship. The internship coordinator assesses requests for internships based on the internship plan as outlined in the course manual and grants permission to students to do an internship if all requirements have been met. The internship coordinator also grades the internship report.
Electives bachelor programme. Students are free to choose bachelor electives at this and/or another university in accordance with the rules outlined in the EER. Courses that substantially overlap with the Nijmegen public administration bachelor curriculum or that are supporting the study (e.g. how to write or thesis support) will not be approved. Additionally, bachelor students cannot select courses of the public administration programme which are not part of their curriculum (such as selecting additional gebonden keuzevakken). A Learning Agreement needs to be in place for courses taken abroad (e.g. as part of the Erasmus+ Program).
Internship master programme. Students in the Dutch master choose between an internal or external research internship or an elective. If they link their internship to their thesis, they draft a research question together with their organization and supervisor; the latter checks if it meets the programme’s criteria. If the thesis 4 receives a 5.5 or higher, the internship is graded with a V SLUI. If students decide to do a research internship separately from their thesis, they submit an internship report to their thesis supervisor. If that supervisor determines that this document is passable, the internship is graded with V SLUI in Osiris. If there is no thesis supervisor or if he/she is unable to grade the internship report, the master coordinator fulfils that task. An internship is no part of the English programme.
Elective master programme. Students in the Dutch master can opt for an elective instead of an internship; for students in the English master, an elective is mandatory. In all cases, an elective must be a master course without substantial overlap with parts of the curriculum of the public administration master in Nijmegen. Also, the elective needs to fit with that programme and students must receive the Examination Board’s approval before starting with it. A Learning Agreement needs to be in place for courses taken abroad (e.g. as part of the Erasmus+ Program).

Article 10. Fraud/plagiarism

The EER states what fraud entails and stresses the need for teachers to be able to assess the student’s knowledge, insights, and skills. Any activity of students that hampers this assessment is considered to be fraud. These activities include working with other students even though it is an individual assignment, working with other groups of students even though you are supposed to only work with students from your own group, replicating text and/or ideas of others without providing proper references, and recycling material/text which you have used for another course.
In addition to the EER, the Examination Board points out that teachers are obliged to inform the Examination Board when they suspect that students have committed fraud – this not only applies to final versions of students’ work but also to draft versions.
If the Examination Board determines that a student has indeed committed fraud, then the Board decides upon a suitable punishment for this infraction thereby taking the student’s situation and the seriousness of the infraction into account. Possible punishments include excluding a student from a course or the programme as a whole for a maximum of one year, retracting a bonus point or excluding the student from an exam opportunity so that only one exam opportunity remains for that academic year. When the student has committed substantial fraud, the Examination Board can request the University Board to end the student’s enrolment to the Public Administration programme.

Article 11. Complaints and requests

The Examination Board deals with complaints from individual students (via CBE) regarding the determination of the results of an exam (whereby the Board is not allowed to question the assessment made by the teacher), as well as requests from students for a waiver of existing rules due to special circumstances. Complaints regarding your grades must be submitted via the CBE. Requests must be submitted 5 in writing, dated, signed and addressed to the Examination Board of Public Administration. A scan of this document is allowed. The information in the letter must contain sufficient details so that the Board can come to a decision. This includes the explanation of personal circumstances and in some instances attaching an overview of your grades.