By requesting that PSU Academic Testing Services ("ATS") proctor a quiz, test, or exam on your behalf, you acknowledge and affirm that you have read, understand, and agree to abide by the following Instructor Testing Agreement in full.
- IMPORTANT: For Midterms and Finals in particular, we encourage instructors to connect with their DRC-registered students who have testing accommodations and to get all exam support requests in at the start of the term. All requests for a student to take an exam with Academic Testing Services ("ATS") must be submitted at least 7 business days (Monday through Friday, excluding PSU holidays) in advance of the desired exam date. We cannot consider any request received less than 7 full business days (M-F) in advance of the desired testing date due to the communication and coordination required among students, faculty, proctors, the DRC and so forth. Please do not request an exception as this is what allows us to serve your colleagues and their students who need our support. If you have any questions, please send an email to: TestingServices@pdx.edu
- Final Exams Request Deadline: All requests for Final Exams must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM on Wednesday, May, 29th, 2024. Please be sure to submit your exam request(s) by then if you'll need our support for one or more final exams. The further in advance you can submit these, the better.
- Non-Final Exams Request Deadline: Support requests for all other exams (other than Finals) must be submitted at least 7 business days before the desired exam appointment date due to the communication and coordination necessary among students, faculty, proctors, the DRC, and so forth. The further in advance you can submit these, the better.
- In the case of accommodated exams your DRC-registered students, you are encouraged to proctor these or have a designee within the department do so whenever feasible. When you do so, you are responsible for ensuring eligible testing accommodations are provided for any DRC-registered students who test with you or your designee. We are here to support you when this is not possible.
- With few exceptions, we have found that students are best served when able to take exams within the department and with the instructor or someone designated by the instructor rather than having this delegated outside your department, such as to ATS.
- The DRC provides detailed guidance designed to assist you in providing testing accommodations for all in-person and remote exams and quizzes. Please review the following in full and consider all options before referring a student to ATS:
- Consideration #1: Are you able to implement multiple or alternative means of assessment for the course? Students may be able to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways, not just via traditional exams or quizzes. Is there another way for you to allow students to showcase their learning in your course? The Office of Academic Innovation (OAI) provides resources and support for faculty who wish to incorporate the principles of Universal Design for Learning into their courses, including learning assessment.
- Consideration #2: Are you able to put the exams and quizzes in Canvas? Putting exams into Canvas for all of your students (DRC and non-DRC registered student alike) increases the likelihood that all of your students will be able to demonstrate their learning for you. More information on how to move exams to Canvas can be found on the OAI website. There is additional information here on how to grant individual students extra time for timed quizzes in Canvas.
- Consideration #3: Are you able to proctor the exam yourself? This is an option that many faculty have used for years. Oftentimes, faculty feel the need to proctor the tests of all of their students in case any questions arise or if clarification needs to be provided to all test takers. See below for information on how to proctor exams with DRC-approved testing accommodations.
- Consideration #4: Are you able to collaborate with others in the department to proctor the exam? This, again, is an option that many faculty have used for years. Faculty choose this option as a way to keep the exam taker close by (in case questions arise during the exam) without having to do the proctoring directly. The proctor could be admin staff, a GA/TA, other faculty, etc.
- The exam could also not be proctored at all, but rather the student could take it in a totally secure location like an empty faculty office without needing to have a proctor in the space with them. See below for information on how to proctor exams with accommodations.
- Proctoring exams and quizzes with accommodations. If you or a colleague will be proctoring DRC accommodated exams and/or quizzes, we recommend that you first review the DRC Faculty Notification Email(s) you have received for the current term and visit the linked information from the email to relevant DRC web pages about testing accommodations. Note that some testing accommodations are irrelevant in Canvas while other accommodations remain necessary, and the DRC does their best to break this distinction down and give you as much support as possible.
- After going through the considerations above, should you still require proctoring support, ATS may be able to assist. The details you provide in the Exam Guidance from Instructor form will help Testing Services to understand your general expectations for the exam or quiz. The information you include there should be applicable to all students (with and without disabilities) within your course this term.
- Make-Up Exams for Non-DRC Registered Students: Starting Spring 2024, in an effort to continue expanding our support for faculty, ATS has resumed offering limited support for make-up exams for non-DRC registered students. This was discontinued during the heart of the pandemic and we have been keen to resume it as soon as operationally possible. This is now offered on a capacity basis as we must continue to prioritize support for DRC-registered students and their instructors. If you have any questions, please send an email to: TestingServices@pdx.edu
- ATS must have the Exam Guidance from Instructor on file for that specific exam before an exam request from a student in your course can be scheduled and the exam proctored on your behalf. While we need the exam guidance as far in advance as possible, we don't need the exam materials until 48 hours before your student's exam appointment with us.
For questions about specific student accommodations, please contact the Disability Resource Center (503-725-4150; drc@pdx.edu).
For questions about testing procedures, please contact PSU Academic Testing Services (503-725-4459; TestingServices@pdx.edu).
PSU Academic Testing Services
The center of excellence for equitable, accessible learning assessment at Portland State University.
Division of Student Success | Academic Affairs
Hours of operation: Monday - Friday from 9am to 5pm.
Email: TestingServices@pdx.edu (this is the best, most efficient way to communicate with us)
Website: https://www.pdx.edu/learning-center/testing-services
Telephone: (503) 725-4459
IMPORTANT: Given that we operate out of multiple locations, in-person visits — including to pick up completed exams — are by appointment only.