Board of Examiners 

According to the Act (932/2014, § 15, 19), the University of Applied Sciences must have at least one Board of Examiners or a corresponding body to handle requests for rectification related to study attainments. Oulu University of Applied Sciences has one Board of Examiners for handling requests for rectification related to study attainments. 

The Board of Examiners consists of a Chairman and other members, who all have personal deputy members. The Board of Oulu University of Applied Sciences appoints the Chairman, the members of the Board of Examiners and their personal deputy members. The Chairman of the Board of Examiners and his/her deputy member must be a Principal or Senior Lecturer. Other members of the Board of Examiners are Lecturers of the University of Applied Sciences and at least one a degree student at Oulu University of Applied Sciences.  (Act 932/20140, § 19.) The Board to the University of Applied Sciences appoints the Chairman of the Board of Examiners, two Lecturers and two degree students and their personal deputy members for a period of two years at a time. The nominations for the Chairman and the Lecturers as well as their personal deputy members are made by the Rector. The nominations for the student representative and his/her deputy are made by the Board of the Student Union of Oulu University of Applied Sciences. Attendance allowances are paid according to the attendance allowance practices of Oulu University of Applied Sciences. 

A student unsatisfied with the evaluation of his/her study attainment or the accreditation decision on studies completed elsewhere or with other means is entitled to demand rectification either orally or in writing to the evaluation from the evaluating Lecturer and to the accreditation from the person, who made the accreditation decision. The student is entitled to demand rectification from the Board of Examiners if he/she is unsatisfied with the decision made regarding the above-mentioned rectification demand (Act 257/2015, § 57). The student can request rectification from the Board of Examiners to the grades of courses arranged in connection with bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, vocational teacher education, specialisation studies, continuing education, Open University studies or non-degree studies containing parts of degrees. 

Before the rectification process arrives at the Board of Examiners: 

The student must submit an oral or written request for rectification of grading to the teacher within 14 days of the results of grading and the application of grading criteria to the study attainment becoming accessible to the student. The student must submit an oral or written request for rectification of accreditation to the body that made the decision within 14 days of receiving notification of the decision. (Act 257/2015, § 57.) A response to the request for rectification must be submitted within 14 days of receipt of the request. The time limit does not run during leave of absence. 
If no agreement is reached, or if the student does not receive a response to the request for rectification by the deadline, the student can notify the head of studies. The head of studies serves as a mediator and if required, invites the supervisor of the teacher or the person who made the accreditation decision to participate in handling the matter. The head of studies records the dates and contents related to the processing of the request for rectification. If the request for rectification concerns grading or an accreditation decision made by the head of studies, the student communicates with the supervisor of the head of studies.  
 
If the process described above does not lead to a result the student feels is satisfactory, he or she may apply for rectification from the Board of Examiners within 14 days of receiving notice of the decision. The rectification process is regulated in the Administrative Procedure Act (see Act 434/2003).  (Act 932/2014, § 57.) The request for rectification must indicate how the decision should be rectified, and the grounds on which rectification is requested. The request for rectification and any request for its withdrawal must be submitted to the registry office of OAMK. 

Matters concerning the Board of Examiners are settled by the Board of Examiners in its entirety during its meetings. The chairperson of the Board of Examiners convenes the board within 30 days of the receipt of the request for rectification, with the exception of requests received in June and July, the handling of which must be initiated at the latest in September. Invitations to the meetings of the Board of Examiners must be sent a minimum of five business days before the date of the meeting. For the meeting, the Chairman of the Board of Examiners requests a reply from the Lecturer or the person, who made the accreditation decision. The chairperson also requests a description of the handling of the rectification request from the head of studies or their supervisor. The reply and description must be delivered within 14 days of receiving the request. 

The meeting has reached quorum when the Chairman, one Lecturer and one student member are present. During the meeting, the student’s request for rectification, the written response from the assessor or the person who made the accreditation decision, as well as the description of the handling of the rectification provided by the head of studies or their supervisor are discussed. The Members of the Board of Examiners have the right to familiarise themselves with all documents to be processed by the Board of Examiners. Prior to arriving at its decision, the Board of Examiners may hear statements from the parties involved as well as from experts. The Board of Examiners bases its decision on statues, the degree regulations and the assessment procedure of study attainments, as well as on material related to the request for rectification. If the Board of Examiners does not reach a unanimous consensus when making their decision, the matter is settled by majority vote or if the votes are still even, according to the decision of the Chairman. 

If the Board of Examiners deems the student’s request for rectification to be warranted, the Board returns the study attainment or the accreditation and additional information that have arisen during the rectification process to the evaluator or the person, who made the accreditation decision for re-evaluation. Reassessment must be completed within three weeks of the decision made by the Board of Examiners. The three-week time limit does not run during leave of absence. The re-evaluation is submitted to the Chairman of the Board of Examiners. If the evaluator or the person, who made the accreditation decision in question does not change his/her original evaluation, the Board of Examiners shall request the evaluation of another evaluator/other evaluators for the study attainment or accreditation, which shall then come into force. If necessary, the average of the evaluation of the other evaluators is calculated. The evaluation in question will remain in force if it is the same or higher as the original evaluation. 

The decision of the Board of Examiners decision regarding the evaluation of study attainment or accreditation cannot be appealed (Act 932/2014, § 60). 

During the rectification process, the associated documents are filed by the Chairman of the Board of Examiners. Minutes are recorded for the meeting and are signed by the Chairman and the Members of the Board of Examiners. After the completion of the process, the Board of Examiners submits the minutes and other related documents to the registry office of OAMK. The decision of the Board of Examiners is submitted to the student, the teacher or person who made the accreditation decision and the head of studies, as well as to their supervisors if they participated in the handling. The documents will be archived. 

These regulations of the Board of Examiners replace the regulations approved by the Board of the University of Applied Sciences on 9 February 2015 (section 13). The updated regulations will take effect immediately.  

OUAS board on 22 September 2021 

From 1 December 2024, the duties of the head of the degree programme will be handled by the head of studies.