Remote Proctoring     Recommendations for Faculty

Remote proctoring raises privacy as well as equity concerns for students. The following recommendations are intended to help faculty effectively address these concerns when remote proctoring is required for course assessments.

• Remote proctoring tools directly monitor students during remote assessments with the goal of securing academic integrity. Faculty should be aware that these methods raise privacy as well as equity concerns for students.

• Before engaging remote proctoring services, instructors are encouraged to first consider assessment methods that do not require remote proctoring. Suggestions for alternate assessment strategies as well as information about the National College Testing Association network of off-site testing centers is available in the resources section below.

• Remote proctoring should be performed using a university-approved proctoring solution. Additional information about the university-approved tool(s) is in the resources section below.

• An onboarding process into the remote proctoring system is linked within the LMS. A one-page explanatory document for instructor review is provided in the resources section below.

• Instructors should review all flags before submitting an Academic Integrity violation report. Remote proctoring services produce many “false positives” – for example, any sound or movement in the room in which the student is taking the exam can generate a flag. Instructors should review the flagged incidents thoroughly to reduce anxiety for students and to not unduly strain the Academic Integrity process.

Recommendations for Preparing in Advance:

• Take an exam using the software so that you are familiar with the process that will be expected of students. 

• Provide alternative arrangements for students who have accessibility issues or are unable to take the test using the proctoring software. This is no different than having a make-up exam available for students who are unable to attend in person. 

• For all classes that have any in-person component or are offered to residential students, provide alternate locations for test administration for students who object to the use of room scans.

• Provide extra time during the exam window to allow for the resolution of technical issues. 

• Develop a backup plan in case the technology fails or service is interrupted, and clearly articulate the plan to students. 

• Create a communication plan for the exam period so that students can contact the instructor if they encounter technical difficulties, and the instructor can contact students if there is a systemic problem.

• Employ room scans in a way that doesn’t allow students to see the scans of others.  

Recommendations for Informing and Preparing Your Students:

• Students should be made aware of remotely proctored exams as soon as possible. For example:

  • Designate the plan to use remote proctoring technology in the Schedule of Classes.  Use the section notes to include the technology requirements for the course.

  • Include a statement on the course syllabus and LMS specifying that the course tests, exams, and/or quizzes will involve remote proctoring.

  • Provide notifications about room scans in writing to students well in advance of the end of the add/drop period. 

• Share a summary of what students should expect. A one-page explanatory document for students is included in the resources section below. Explain to students why the software is being used and reassure them that all flags will be reviewed before submitting an Academic Integrity violation report.

• Inform students of alternatives for those with accessibility issues or objections to the use of room scans.

• Conduct a test exam in the course in advance of the real exam with enough time in between for students to resolve any technical issues that might be identified.

Additional notes about videoconferencing software:

• Videoconferencing software (e.g. Zoom, Webex, Big Blue Button) should only be used to proctor exams involving one student (e.g. makeup exams). There are multiple reasons for this restriction:

  • The nature of these tools allows everyone in a session to see into the homes of every other participant, drastically increasing exposure of students’ home environments to others. This can be mitigated by using a virtual background, but this requires additional processing time on the student’s computer and, on older machines, will impact performance. 
  • When microphones are enabled, disruptions in one student’s home will expand to impact all students and further impact privacy. 
  • For larger exams, multiple screens must be used to view all the participants, requiring the proctor to repeatedly switch between screens to view everyone.  
  • Recordings will only show the participants who were active on the screen of the host at a given moment in time. 
  • Recordings of sessions should be confidential. However, there are no controls in these platforms that can ensure that data is stored properly, retained, and removed after appropriate intervals have elapsed.