”No Right of Appeal Concerning Obligatory Tests”
If you do not pass your obligatory tests, your course may come to an end. It is in fact up to each Department whether you have the right to appeal obligatory test results.
På norsk;)
FOTO: Åshild Bekke Eidem
Ellen Vigmostad, student of Spanish at the Faculty of Humanities (HF), failed her obligatory test for the module SPA 2301 last semester. She wished to appeal but was told that she did not have right of appeal since this was an obligatory test and not an exam.
“It was announced that I had failed only ten days prior to submission date for my assignment for the module in question,” Vigmostad says.
In addition to Vigmostad`s reaction to the late feedback from her tutor, she is also critical to the objectivity concerning the obligatory test.
“Students were not anonymous during the tests and my seminar tutor was also the examiner. This is why I feel that a review from another tutor should be in order,” she thinks.
“Different Procedures”
“The intention behind the obligatory tests is that they should work as means of qualification in order to prove that students comprehend the professional subject matter, and that they are capable of taking the exam,” Tor Egil Førland, Sub-Dean at HF, says.
“Therefore, we do not practise the right of appeal for obligatory tests. Right of appeal applies by and large to exam results,” he says.
Chief academic officer at the Faculty of Social Sciences (SV) Kristin Fossum Stene, however, points to a different procedure.
“If a student fails obligatory coursework, another go at it would usually be in order if this is practically possible,” she says.
Stene points out that this applies to presentations and assignments to be submitted, where students are not anonymous and tests are assessed by module tutors.
Faculties decide
Universitas reports following a number of phone calls that the various faculties at the University of Oslo (UiO) are reluctant to promise right of appeal concerning obligatory tests and presentations and refer procedures to the departments.
Torbjørn Grønner, head of Central Administration at UiO, confirms that there are no central guidelines regarding obligatory coursework at the University.
“Unequal Treatment”
Responsible for Academics in the Student Parliament Kristian Meisingset reacts to the various procedures:
“Guidelines have to be adopted concerning obligatory coursework so that the rights of appeal and equal treatment for students are safeguarded, departments and faculties notwithstanding. The University should always guarantee student rights,” Meisingset establishes.
“A lack of common procedures results in unequal treatment of students. Currently, students are casualties of poor information about modules,” he says.
