Examiners add to workload criticism

"The assertion that quality is at risk because of current workloads is deeplyoffensive, misleading and wrong," said Derek Crothall, pro vice-chancellor atthe University of Lincolnshire and Humberside.

His response to assertions by lecturers' union Natfhe that ever-increasingworkloads in the business school leave too little time for proper studentassessment and threaten quality could not have been more robust. "There is noevidence to support this," he said, adding that Natfhe was simply "seeking toachieve more privileged conditions".

But Natfhe is not alone in disputing Professor Crothall's analysis. Theschool's external examiners have echoed the union's assertion.

A board of examiners' report from last summer, before the tougher workloadswere introduced, shows that one external examiner praised a subject team forits effort, "particularly in the light of the tight turnaround time for marks,which he felt were totally unreasonable". Indeed, at the same meeting, it wasrecorded that "the chair concluded by stating that once again, deadlines hadbeen tight for all the processes required to take place".