In its meeting of 24 January 2017, the UDC International Doctoral School Permanent Committee agreed and approved the Procedures provided below for the casting and counting of secret votes by PhD examination board members for the award of cum laude distinction.
RD 99/2011, article 14.7, states that: ‘the Board of Examiners will make its report and announce the final grade of qualification for the thesis in accordance with the following scale of evaluation: fail, pass, very good or excellent. If the PhD is awarded with an overall classification of ‘excellent’, then the thesis may be considered for cum laude distinction, if so recommended by unanimous secret vote by all members of the examination board. The University will put in place the mechanisms necessary to ensure the implementation of the Board’s recommendation, including the provision of a separate session for the counting of examiner votes.’
In accordance with UDC PhD Policies and Regulations, article 38, ‘the Doctoral School will put in place additional procedures separate from those of the oral examination to ensure the application of the distinction recommended by the Board of Examiners’.
UDC International Doctoral School Regulations, article 9, paragraph 6, states that the EIDUDC Permanent Committee will be responsible for ‘establishing the procedures for the award of cum laude distinction’.
In accordance with the legislation and regulations provided above, the following procedures are hereby established:
Secret ballot session for the award of cum laude distinction. Following the period of deliberation to decide on the final grade of qualification for the thesis, the examiners will proceed to cast in secret their vote in favour of or against the award of cum laude distinction.
Non-disclosure agreement. The members of the Board will be bound by their declaration in the Official Record of the Meeting of the Board of Examiners and Results of Thesis Assessment to have read and understood the Procedures for the award of cum laude distinction and the undertaking made therein to keep their vote secret and make no comment of any kind in relation to their decision to award or deny cum laude recognition.
Casting of secret votes. Examination board members will be provided with a form containing the statement, ‘I hereby recommend this thesis for cum laude distinction’, and two options: ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.
Each examiner will mark in secret his or her selection on the form provided and place the form in an unmarked envelope.
The Secretary of the Board will place the envelopes together in a single envelope marked ‘Cum laude distinction’, which will then be sealed and signed on the envelope flap by all members of the Board.
Voting forms and envelopes will be included in the dossier supplied to the Board prior to the oral examination.
In accordance with the provisions of RD 99/2011, article 14.7, establishing the secrecy of the vote to award cum laude distinction, examiners will not be entitled to make any comment of any kind in relation to their decision to award or deny cum laude recognition.
Delivery of voting documentation to the UDC International Doctoral School. The Chair, Secretary or designated professor of the UDC will deliver the envelope containing the voting documentation in person to the Doctoral Studies Office, together with all other documentation pertaining to the oral examination. In the case of theses defended in departments located in the Ferrol campus, all oral examination documentation will be submitted to the Ferrol campus Records Office and forwarded from there to the Doctoral Studies Office in A Coruña.
Examiners conducting the defence examination by video conference will be required to cast their vote to award or deny cum laude recognition using the official form and unmarked envelope provided. Examiners attending via video conference will be supplied by post in advance of the oral examination with the official voting form, unmarked inner envelope and outer envelope bearing the address of the Doctoral Studies Office in A Coruña.
Counting of secret votes. The vote counting session following receipt of voting envelopes by the UDC International Doctoral School will require the presence of the following persons:
a) Chair, Secretary or designated professor of the UDC In the case of theses examined in departments located in the Ferrol campus, the count may be overseen by the Director or Secretary of the UDC International Doctoral School in representation of the Board of Examiners.
b) Head of the Doctoral Studies Office, or his or her authorised representative.
Official record of counting of secret votes. The counting session will be recorded using the form provided by the UDC International Doctoral School, to be signed by the Board of Examiners representative and the Head of the Doctoral Studies Office (or his or her authorised representative) and included as an annex to the Results of Thesis Assessment document.
Notification of result of vote count. The result of the secret vote will be communicated by the Doctoral Studies Office to the relevant UADI (Departmental Administration and Research Support Unit) ascription centre of the PhD, who will in turn issue a public announcement and notify the decision to the candidate and examiners.