The purpose of this procedure for Institutional Policy E-18: Student Examinations is to provide a fair and secure exam environment for students.
This procedure applies to all Year 1 and Year 2 course quizzes and exams. Faculty responsible forsuch exams will define the procedure in the syllabus for their course. The Clinical Evaluation Centerwill set the procedures for administering the OSCEs, and the Office of National Boards and Exam Center will determine the procedures for administering the required qualifying exams as defined in Institutional Policy E-23 and its associated procedure.
WVSOM reserves the right to amend this procedure at any time, as necessary or appropriate.
The following personnel will be present at each computer-based examination:
A Head Proctor designated by the Chairperson of Biomedical Sciences will be present for classroom examinations, but not quizzes.
A representative from the Exam Center.
A representative from the Informational Technology department.
Faculty member(s) may also be present.
On the day of the exam, each student must bring the WVSOM issued laptop, power supply, Ethernet connected adaptor, and other optional and/or approved devices to the exam venue at the time designated for the exam by the Course Director.
Students will be notified of pre-exam procedures via email from the Office of National Boards and Exam Center. If a student experiences technical problems on the day of the exam, despite appropriate pre-exam measures by the student, the Exam Center and/or IT department representative will attempt to address the issue prior to the start of the exam within a reasonable amount of time (15 minutes or less). If the issue is resolved, the student will not lose any time from the exam. If the issue cannot be resolved, the student may be provided a loaner laptop or paper copy of the exam. If transferred to a paper copy of the exam, answers may be submitted on a scantron sheet or the exam sheet itself, at the discretion of the Director of the Office of National Boards and/or the Associate Dean for Preclinical Education. Once a student has been switched to a paper copy of the exam, he/she must finish the entire exam in that format and will be allowed the full exam time. Students who must take the exam on paper, unless the entire class does so, will be relocated to a different venue but all exam policies and procedures will apply.
Particular items are subject to the following restrictions. Any attempt to bring information or items not permitted into the exam venue will not be tolerated and may result in disciplinary action.
Headwear/Clothing
Hats and caps may not be worn and hoodies may not be in the raised position.
Headbands are permitted but must not be continuously touched or adjusted.
Religious items such as head coverings, Rosary beads, Kabbalah bracelets, etc. are permitted in the exam venue after being approved in advance by the Head Proctor. Similar to any other clothing or jewelry, any religious items allowed to be worn in the exam venue must remain on the person at all times and must not be continuously touched or adjusted.
No wristwatches of any kind or wristbands are allowed in the exam venue.
No electronic or wireless devices (e.g., cell phones, PDAs, iPods, Smart Watches,Bluetooth headphones, etc.) except for the computer and approved accessories may be brought into the exam venue.
All personal items must be removed from the desktop and seating area prior to the examand placed on the table at the front of the exam venue or in the lobby. Items must be removed from the lobby within 24 hours of the exam end time.
Only foam earplugs are allowed. Students must provide their own foam earplugs. In-the ear and over-the-ear noise suppression devices are not allowed.
No sunglasses or other accoutrements that hide the eyes may be worn during the exam.
No backpacks are permitted in the exam venue.
No snacks or water are permitted in the exam venue.
Computers must sit completely on the desktop for the entire exam; students are not permitted to hold the computer in their lap during the exam.
Students should not engage in behavior that might be construed as cheating. Such behavior includes, but is not limited to: placing the chair away from the desktop and computer in such a way that would allow observation of other students’ computer screens, glancing from side to side often, and staring away from the student’s computer screen for long periods of time.
All exams are monitored via video cameras and are recorded.
Upon entering the exam venue, the student will:
take one (1) laminated green sheet, or dry erase board, towel, and marker (only school issued black dry erase markers are allowed) from the designated area of the room;
clear the seating area of any materials except for the items allowed under Section 3.4 above; and
prepare to take the exam by accessing and downloading the exam through the testing software as instructed in the pre-exam email sent by the Office of National Boards and Exam Center.
The Head Proctor will determine when the exam may begin.
To start the exam:
the Head Proctor will display the password for the first block on the front screen;
students are not to begin the exam until instructed to do so by the proctor;
after being instructed to begin the exam, the student will enter the exam password in the appropriate box and select “begin”; and
the Head Proctor will note the time, add the time allowed to finish the exam, and write the ending time for the exam on the front board.
Any student who arrives more than 5 minutes after the exam has started will not be permitted to enter the exam venue; that student must go to the Office of Preclinical Education and receive instructions from the Associate Dean or designee. The Associate Dean or designee will seat the student in a manner which will not disturb other students. If the student does not have an excusable reason, no additional time will be allowed on the exam.
Once an exam block is started on the student computer, it will automatically time out after the predetermined time has been reached. For students taking the exam on paper, the time will be monitored by the proctor. These students will be “warned” 15 minutes prior to the expiration of their exam time.
Students are allotted 1 minute and 12 seconds per exam item.
Additional time may be provided for computer-based anatomy lab practical examinations.
If a student experiences a technical or other issue after the exam has begun, the student will make a proctor aware of the problem while not disturbing other students. If an issue occurs:
The student will leave the exam venue and bring his/her computer directly to the Exam Center/IT representative.
Actions will be taken to resolve the issue in a reasonable amount of time (15 minutes or less). If the issue is resolved, the student will start/resume the exam and be allowed full time to complete all blocks on the exam.
If the issue cannot be resolved in a reasonable amount of time (over 15 minutes), the student will be given a paper copy of the exam and will be compensated for any time lost due to the issue.
Students who experience technical or other issues may be moved to a separate testing venue to continue the exam.
For any technical or other issue, the initial time in the student log may be used to determine any extra time the student will be provided for the entire exam.
In extraordinary circumstances where a significant portion of the class experiences computer software or network issues, the Associate Dean for Preclinical Education or designee in consultation with the Director of the Office of National Boards, may choose to reschedule the examination if rescheduling can be done with minimal disruption to course schedules. If rescheduling is not a viable option, he/she may require the entire class to take the exam using printed exams (with answers recorded either on scantron sheets or on the paper copy of the exam itself). In such a case, a paper exam will be distributed to each student and students will be provided the full amount of time allocated for the exam.
The student may not leave the exam venue until an exam block has been completed. Once the block has been completed, the student must close the block and leave the screen with the list of downloaded files. The computer must be left at the seating position with screen left available for viewing by the proctors.
Students are limited to 10 minutes in break time between exam blocks.
Students must stay in designated areas during breaks. Leaving the building is prohibited.
Students may not:
talk to one another during breaks;
refer to notes or any other materials (electronic or otherwise) during breaks; or
use any electronic devices during breaks without approval of a proctor.
When reentering the exam venue, the student must go to the next block, enter the password, and resume the exam.
In the case of an emergent situation with a student (as with illness or a health issue), the student may be permitted to leave the exam venue before the block is completed. This permission will be granted by a proctor.
In the case that the exam must be administered via paper copy, each block will be administered as a separate entity. Start and finish times for each block will be written on the board in front of the class. Upon finishing a block, students must turn in their exam sheet and leave the testing room. Subsequent blocks will begin 10 minutes after conclusion of the previous block. Students who finish early will not be allowed to begin subsequent blocks until all members of the class are instructed to do so.
After completing the last block of the exam, each student will:
submit the exam and upload the test; and
collect their permissible belongings from the seating area with a minimum of noise and distraction; have a proctor check that the upload has occurred; and leave the building.
Any student who has not completed the exam by the end time displayed on the board is required to close out the exam, unless any extraordinary circumstances have been noted by the Head Proctor. This will be enforced by the Course Director, Head Proctor or faculty/staff proctor.
Given the time constraints of both the TBL IRAT and anatomy lab practicals, any student who experiences computer issues will immediately be issued a paper copy of the test and allowed the appropriate time designated for the assessment.
Accommodations for examinations will be made in accordance with WVSOM’s Health and Technical Standards and Institutional Policy E-22: Accommodations for Examinations.
Students who are granted testing accommodations may be tested in an exam venue separate from the class in general, as designated by the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean. These students will be subject to the same exam conditions as the class, unless otherwise noted.
In the event that course exams cannot be held on campus, students will be notified of the Off-Campus Exam Procedure, which will include students taking their course exams in their home environment. Exam Center and IT technical support will be provided via electronic communications as described within the Off-Campus Exam Procedure.
Students must maintain internet at home for testing and studying purposes.
Students must immediately contact the Exam Center (through defined means) to alert the staff of any exam related concerns.
Post-exam reviews of each exam will be scheduled for the day after the exam unless deemed to be infeasible.
Exam answers and results will be provided to students the same day as the exam. For on campus reviews, students will print out the exam answers to bring to the review venue.
For on campus exam reviews, students are not permitted to bring anything into the building for the exam review except for his/her printed exam answer sheets/results. This prohibition includes electronics (computers, cell phones, etc.) or items such as backpacks or beverages. No items (e.g., backpacks) may be left in a lobby or hallway of the building where an exam review is occurring.
Students may not record exam questions or answers in any way.
Exams may be reviewed in the Exam Center or ASPIRE for 10 business days after the exam grades have been released. Any exception to this policy must be approved by the Associate Dean for Preclinical Education, the Director of the Office of National Boards or their designees. Students are encouraged to review exams in the presence of faculty and/or a representative from ASPIRE. Exams may not be reviewed during re-test or remediation periods defined in the academic calendar.
A printed exam answer sheet is allowed in the review.
A student is allowed 30 minutes to look at an exam. If there are no students in line to see the exam, this may be extended at the discretion of the Exam Center. The time allowed to review an exam in ASPIRE will be determined on an individual basis as deemed appropriate by the Counselor/Learning Specialist.
All review sessions in the Exam Center are monitored via video cameras.
Any exam violation noted during Year 1 or 2 exams will be reported to the Associate Dean for Preclinical Education and may be grounds for disciplinary action as defined in Institutional Policy ST-01: Academic and Professional Standards.
Students are obligated by Institutional Policy ST-01: Academic and Professional Standards to report any observed exam violations to the Associate Dean for Preclinical Education.