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This article is intended to provide faculty and staff guidelines when helping External Examiners put together Nomination Letters for thesis awards.
With the reduction in required defence forms for master’s thesis defences and the consolidation of defence forms required for PhD dissertation defences, nomination letters from External Examiners have become a requirement for various awards including:
- CAGS-ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award
- WAGS Innovation in Technology Award
- WAGS Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award
- USask Master’s Thesis Award
- USask Doctoral Dissertation Award
- Herbert Percy Toop Memorial Prize
Recommendations for the content in the External Examiner Nomination Letter:
- Highlight the readability and coherence of the written work.
- Focus on the significance of the study and contributions to the program or broader field.
- Explicitly mention why and how the thesis or dissertation constitutes a significant piece of original work.
- Provide concrete examples of the quality of the written work of the student and why that work is worthy of the award.
- Outline how this thesis or dissertation compares to others in the field that you have thoroughly reviewed.
- Comment on the quality of the oral defence of the final thesis or dissertation (if applicable).
- Write in an engaging manner.
- Convince the reader of your enthusiasm for the work.
- Do not exaggerate, but be compelling.
- Ensure the nomination letter:
- is between one and two pages in length.
- clearly identifies the author and title of the thesis or dissertation.
- follows any award-specific formatting requirements.
- is dated and signed.