1/12/2014
External Examiner Reporting
System
Preparation for Full Roll-Out 2015
08.12.2014
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Steps
No.
Description
Responsible
1
Confirm Key School Contacts
2
Schools to communicate the move to online
reporting to External Examiners
Brenda
Kutereba/previously
identified School Key
Contacts
School Key Contacts
3
Schools to identify the External Examiners who
School Key Contacts
are registered on the Visitor Registration System
(VRS) and who are not registered – series of
steps to be followed depending on VRS status
4
5
6
School to communicate with the External
School Key Contact
Examiner on accessing the External Examiner
Reporting System using EASE authentication
Identify Academic Response Coordinators who
School Key Contacts
will be responding to External Examiner Reports
and communicate the names to
academic.services@ed.ac.uk
School to input External Examiner data into
School Key Contact
EUCLID once the External Examiner is recorded
on EUCLID
2
Deadline for completion (note dates
are latest completion dates – advise to
complete steps asap)
Before Christmas
January 13 2015
January 23 2015 (identification)
January 30 2015 (updating VRS record
and communicating details to Student
System Operations)
February 16 2015 (adding External
Examiner to VRS an communicating
details to Student System Operations)
January 30 2015 (where they are
registered on VRS), February 27 2015
(where they are not registered on VRS)
February 27 2015
March 31 2015
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Allocation of External Examiner Reports to
Academic Response Coordinators and Readers
School Key Contact
April 24 2015
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Communication to the External Examiner that
there is an External Examiner Report ready to
be accessed
School Key Contact
Should happen immediately after
report is allocated to academic
response coordinators and readers
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1. Confirm Key School Contacts
Brenda Kutereba will confirm with currently recorded School Key Contacts, at UG
and PG level, whether they continue to be School Key Contacts. Brenda Kutereba
will notify Student Systems Operations (studentsystems@ed.ac.uk) of staff requiring
access. Deadline for completion of activity: 19 December 2015.
2. Schools to communicate the move to online reporting to
External Examiners
School Key Contacts must inform External Examiners that we are moving to online
submission of External Examiner reports (this applies from May/June Board of
Examiners onwards). Deadline for completion of activity: January 13 2015.
Draft Text (can be personalised)
Subject: For the attention of University External Examiners
Dear [insert External Examiner name]
This year, the University of Edinburgh is moving to online submission of External
Examiner reports. The University wanted to developed IT tools to support effective
qualitative and quantitative analysis of external examiner reports so as to inform the
University's strategic direction to quality assurance.
In the next couple of months, we will be preparing for implementation and uploading
details into the External Examiner System. Once your details are uploaded, [Insert
name of staff member] will be in contact with you on next steps for registering
yourself on EASE so that you will be able to access the External Examiner Reporting
System.
We appreciate your support as we change to this mode of report submission.
Best wishes
[Insert Name]
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3. Schools to identify the External Examiners who are registered
on the Visitor Registration System (VRS) and who are not
registered
Registration on the VRS creates an association with the University for the External
Examiner. The length of the visit recorded on the VRS will determine the length of
access to the External Examiner Reporting System (EASE login required).
Deadline for completing activity January 23 2015.
(i)
My External Examiner is registered on the VRS but their
visit is in the past
a) School Key Contacts must make sure that the External Examiners who are
registered on the VRS corresponds to their term of appointment and extends
to approximately 5 months after the completion of their term of appointment.
This is to account for the fact that the External Examiner may submit their
External Examiner Report after their term of appointment has finished.
b) Where the External Examiner(s) are already registered on the VRS, the
Schools must email their VRS ID and full name to Student System Operations
(studentsystems@ed.ac.uk) for creating the External Examiner record on
EUCLID. Deadline for completing activity January 30 2015. Student
Systems Operations will confirm when the record has been created.
c) School Key contacts must also identify whether their External Examiner has
registered on EASE as this will determine their next communication to the
Exterrnal Examiner.
(ii)
My External Examiner registered on the VRS but their visit
does not match up with their appointment
a) School Key Contacts must make sure that the External Examiners visit
recorded on the VRS corresponds to their term of appointment and extends to
approximately 5 months after the completion of their term of appointment.
This is to account for the fact that the External Examiner may submit their
External Examiner Report after their term of appointment has finished.
b) Where the External Examiner(s) are already registered on the VRS, the
Schools must email their VRS ID and full name to Student System Operations
(studentsystems@ed.ac.uk) for creating the External Examiner record on
EUCLID. Deadline for completing activity January 30 2015. Student
Systems Operations will confirm when the record has been created.
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c) School Key contacts must also identify whether their External Examiner has
registered on EASE as this will determine their next communication to the
Exterrnal Examiner.
(iii)
My External Examiner is not registered on the VRS
a) Schools must add External Examiners to the VRS. Further details on visitor
registration can be found at: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schoolsdepartments/information-services/computing/application-development/vrs/vrsfaqs
b) Schools must forward the VRS ID and full name of the external Examiner to
Student System Operations (studentsystems@ed.ac.uk) who will add the
External Examiner to EUCLID and confirm when this action is completed.
Deadline for completing activity: February 16 2015. Student Systems
Operations will confirm when the record has been created.
4. School to communicate with the External Examiner on
accessing the External Examiner Reporting System (EERS)
using EASE authentication
Schools must communicate with External Examiners informing them of their need to
use EASE authentication to access External Examiner Reports. Some External
Examiners will already have EASE logins. The following scenarios should cover any
eventualities.
(i)
My External Examiner is already registered on EASE
Draft text to External Examiner on accessing EERS using EASE authentication
Dear [Name of External Examiner]
You may be aware that the University of Edinburgh is preparing to roll-out its new
External Examiner Reporting System [EERS]. You will need to use your EASE login
to access EERS.
What if you have forgotten your EASE login.
We will notify you once your External Examiner Reporting System [EERS] account is
ready to use.
Best wishes
[School Key Contact]
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(ii)
My External Examiner is not registered on EASE
The External Examiner should first be informed that they will need to register on
EASE in order to access the system. Once the External Examiner is registered on
the VRS they should be informed they should be emailed with their
See draft texts. Deadline for completion of action: February 27 2015.
a) Draft Text to be sent in advance of sending request to register on EASE
Draft Text
Subject: For the attention of University of Edinburgh External Examiners
Dear [Name of External Examiner]
Please keep this for future reference.
You may be aware that the University of Edinburgh is preparing to roll-out its new
External Examiner Reporting System [EERS].
You will be required to register with EASE, the University's secure login system.
Your Key Contact will write to you in the next few weeks to provide details of your
University user name [UUN] and EASE registration password.
The attached document describes the steps to register with EASE. Once you
receive your UUN and registration password, please complete your EASE
registration. You will then be able to log into your University MyEd account.
We will notify you once your External Examiner Reporting System [EERS] account is
ready to use.
If you have difficulty registering with EASE or logging into MyEd please see the
guidance on getting help at https://www.ease.ed.ac.uk/userdocs/help.html.
We appreciate your support as we change to this mode of report submission.
Kind regards
[Name of Key School Contact]
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Attachment
https://www.myed.ed.ac.uk/ [Click ‘New users register with EASE]
- EASE Registration Initial identification: Step 1 of 3
Enter your University user name.
- Do you know your password?
Yes, my password is:.
- and tick the box to accept the University's Computing regulations.
- Click Continue - you will be asked to create a series of 'shared secrets' to help
you with further login problems.
Complete these and then click 'Continue to next step'.
IMPORTANT - Follow the instructions to create a new password.
Once you have done this you will be able to enter your MyEd portal.
Please keep a note of the password so that you can log into MyEd to access your
University services.
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b) Communication to External Examiners on their need to register on EASE
Subject: Action Required for University of Edinburgh External
Examiners: – Registration on EASE
Draft Text
Subject Line: Action Required – Registration on EASE
Dear [insert External Examiner Name]
You may be aware that the University of Edinburgh is moving to online submission of
External Examiner Reports. We are preparing for implementation and require your
cooperation to set up your EASE login for the External Examiner Reporting System.
You must use the following credentials to set up your EASE login:
University Username (UUN): xxxxxx
Registration password: xxxxxxxx
Please go to the following link https://www.ease.ed.ac.uk/register/ and follow the
instructions on the attached document.
We will notify you once your External Examiner Reporting System [EERS] account is
ready to use.
If you have difficulty registering with EASE or logging into MyEd please see the
guidance on getting help at https://www.ease.ed.ac.uk/userdocs/help.html.
We appreciate your support as we change to this mode of report submission.
Kind Regards
[Name of Key School Contact]
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Attachment
https://www.myed.ed.ac.uk/ [Click ‘New users register with EASE]
- EASE Registration Initial identification: Step 1 of 3
Enter your University user name.
- Do you know your password?
Yes, my password is:.
- and tick the box to accept the University's Computing regulations.
- Click Continue - you will be asked to create a series of 'shared secrets' to help
you with further login problems.
Complete these and then click 'Continue to next step'.
IMPORTANT - Follow the instructions to create a new password.
Once you have done this you will be able to enter your MyEd portal.
Please keep a note of the password so that you can log into MyEd to access your
University services.
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5. Identify Academic Response Coordinators who will be
responding to External Examiner Reports and communicate
the names to academic.services@ed.ac.uk
School key contacts to let Academic Services know by email
(academic.services@ed.ac.uk who will be performing the role of Academic
Response Coordinator – see appendix for description of role. This information is
needed in order to identify those who will need to attend sit-down training. Action to
be completed by February 27 2015.
6. School to input External Examiner data into EUCLID once the
External Examiner is recorded on EUCLID
Once the Support Team has recorded the External Examiner on EUCLID, the School
will input External Examiner data on screens within EUCLID which will feed to the
External Examiner reporting System.
See Separate guidance provided.
Deadline: must be completed by 31 March 2015
7. Allocation of External Examiner Reports to Academic
Response Coordinators and Readers
In order for the report to be sent to the External Examiner, the School Key Contact
must allocate the External Examiner Report to Academic Response Coordinators
and Readers.
See User Guides:
http://www.studentsystems.ed.ac.uk/staff/User_Guides/External_Examiners/school_
key_contact.htm
i) First need to build the School Distribution List for Readers
How do I add Readers to the School distribution list?
ii) Than need to build the School List of Academic Response Coordinators
How do I add to the list of Academic Response Co-ordinators for my school?
iii) Than need to allocate the Readers to the Report
How do I add Readers to a report distribution list?
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iv) Finally allocate the Academic Response Coordinator to the Report
How do I allocate an Academic Response Co-ordinator to a report?
Deadline for completion of action: April 24 2015
8. Communication to the External Examiner that there is an
External Examiner Report ready to be accessed
Immediately after allocating the External Examiner report to Readers and the
Academic Response Coordinator the School Key Contact must follow up with a
communication to the External Examiner.
Draft Text
Subject: Access to the External Examiner Reporting System
Dear [Name of External Examiner]
I am pleased to confirm that your access to the External Examiner Reporting System
(EERS) has been completed.
You will be able to access the system at https://www.eers.is.ed.ac.uk. Please
bookmark this location in your web browser.
Please ensure you have completed your EASE registration and created your own
password. You will be required to log into MyEd to access EERS. The attached
document describes how to log into MyEd and add the EERS channel to your
account.
An introduction to the External Examiner Reporting System (EERS) is available at
http://www.studentsystems.ed.ac.uk/staff/User_Guides/External_Examiners/External
_Examiner.htm.
If you require assistance using EERS please send an e-mail to the following
address: studentsystems@ed.ac.uk
We appreciate your support as we change to this mode of report submission.
Kind regards
[Name of School Key Contact]
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Attachment
How to add the External Examiner Reporting System to your MyEd account
Please ensure you have completed your EASE registration and created your own password.
Log in with EASE at https://www.myed.ed.ac.uk/
You will be taken to the MyEd Student and Staff portal.
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To add the External Examiners Reporting System ‘channel’ click ‘Customise’.
This will display the ‘Add Stuff’ menu:
Type External in the Search box.
The image for External Examiner Reporting System (EERS) will be displayed. Hover your
cursor over the image and click ‘Add’.
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The External Examiner Reporting System (EERS) channel will be added to your MyEd.
Click ‘Launch EERS’ to access the system.
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Frequently asked Questions
Question: Our External Examiner will be returning a report after the January Board of
Examiner meeting; we still upload their details?
Answer: Follow all the steps 1 - 6, do not allocate the report, request College to record the
EE reports as submitted offline.
Question: My External Examiner is already uploaded onto EERS? Is there anything I should
do?
Answer
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Appendix
Role Descriptions
School Key Contact:
The School Key Contact has an overview of the system and can monitor and track External
Examiner reports (reports) against deadlines or amend deadlines if necessary. The main
tasks of this role are to allocate an Academic Response Co-ordinator to a report and allocate
Readers to a report. This task triggers the notification to the External Examiner that a draft
report is ready for completion. This role will be the primary contact with the Project Team
in preparation for full roll-out of the system.
Payment Administrator:
The Payment Administrator uses the system to monitor and track when an External
Examiner report is submitted. In addition, they will record on the system that a payment to
an External Examiner has been initiated. The payment process takes place outside the
system.
Academic Response Co-ordinator (an academic member of staff):
The Academic Response Co-ordinator responds to the External Examiner report(s) (report)
that they have been allocated to. Where the Academic Response Coordinator ascertains the
report contains a data protection breach, they must flag the report as containing one. They
monitor and track reports due to be submitted which will require a responses and where a
data protection breach has been logged against a report.
Readers:
The Reader is notified once an External Examiner report (report) has been submitted, and
may provide feedback to the Academic Response Co-ordinator, where required. This
feedback is outside the system. Where the Reader ascertains the report contains a data
protection breach, they must flag the report as containing one.
College Key Contact:
The College Key Contact monitors unallocated External Examiner reports (reports), breaches
of External Examiner report submission deadlines and responses to reports. The role holder
will be able to amend deadlines if necessary and record if a report has been submitted
offline (only applicable for the pilot).
General readers:
The General Reader may view submitted External Examiner reports at any time by accessing
the External Examiner Reporting System and performing a search task.
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