Reflecting the general trend in European higher educational legislation to emphasize quality, and in response to a domestic scandal with the quality of diploma certificates, the latest reform of the Dutch Higher Educational Law (in force since 1 December 2010) places centre-stage the quality assurance of assessment and examination practices. One of the main instruments through which this increased quality assurance is to be achieved is by strengthening the role of the Board of Examiners (also known as the Examination Committee). This strengthened role is accomplished on the one hand, by the explicit reaffirmation of the independent role that this organ is to play in the formulation of the assessment policy of the educational institution. On the other hand, the Board of Examiners is designated as the warrant of the quality of the diploma certificates of the educational programmes. How can the newly vested responsibilities be interpreted in practice and how the influential organ of the Board of Examiners (BoE) can be reorganized to meet the latest legal requirements are the main questions that the paper deals with. It will report on how the debate at Maastricht University is shaping, and will present the concrete case of the BoE reforms at the Faculty of arts and social sciences. The central aspect highlighted in this context is the relationship between the BoE and the Management team (i.e. executive board and the educational coordinators). By means of example the recently endorsed Faculty regime on assessing final work (theses and internships) is presented. The following questions will be answered: How was the issue defined and by whom? Which were the main actors and steps in the process? How was the cooperation between the Management team and the BoE organized? Which criteria were defined and how was the implementation executed?
