Proctoring Remote Exams

This resource is intended to provide guidance for proctoring remote exams given ongoing legal developments involving Cleveland State University concerning the potential violation of a student’s right to privacy during a virtual room scan.

You may administer remotely proctored exams using third-party solutions such as Respondus AND, as long as certain protocols are strictly adhered to, you may require students to briefly show their surroundings through the use of the virtual room scan. Most important, students must be clearly notified that the course requires remotely proctored exams.

Please note, it is possible to turn off the virtual room scan. This quick how-to video on using environmental scans in Respondus will demonstrate how to do this. More information about remote assessment can be found on the ITS website.

• For the remainder of Fall 2022 and going forward, if your course requires or offers remotely proctored exams and an environmental or room scan is required, please provide students with advanced written notice of that information in the Canvas course shell announcement section, with a direct email communication to all students in the class, and in any new or updated syllabi. A sample statement is included below.
• It is the student’s responsibility to identify an appropriate location to take a remotely proctored exam where they will not be interrupted and where they consent to having a room scan. This applies to students on campus and enrolled in online or distance programs or classes.
• Students who choose to take an exam in their home/residence hall room are deemed to consent to a room scan of the area where they take the examination. Please make this very clear in your communications to them.
• The virtual room scan must not be visible to other students and is only to be reviewed by you or other University administrators in the event of suspected academic misconduct. Virtual room scans must only take place via a third-party proctoring platform like Respondus. Do not use Zoom, Microsoft Teams or similar virtual platforms that may enable students to see the room scans conducted by other students.
• You are not required to offer alternative testing methods to a student who does not consent to take a remotely proctored exam unless necessary to fulfill an accommodation approved by the Office of Accessibility Services.

Sample syllabus statement, Canvas announcement and email correspondence:

• This course requires you to take a remotely proctored examination, during which you may be required to briefly show your surroundings using your web camera (a “room scan”), wherever you choose to take the exam.
• By choosing to take the exam in your home/residence hall room, you are consenting to a room scan of the area where you take the exam.
• If you do not wish to have your home/residence hall room subject to the room scan, you may take the exam from another location where you won’t be interrupted, such as the University Libraries or study spaces on campus. If you are enrolled in a distance program, a local library or testing centers at another educational institution may be an option. You will be required to complete the virtual room scan in the alternative location. It is your responsibility to identify an appropriate location to take your exams.
• The room scan will only be visible to your instructor and other BGSU faculty or staff members with a legitimate need to review the video. Other students will not be able to see your room scan.

If you have or require testing accommodation, please contact the Office of Accessibility Services at access@bgsu.edu or 419-372-8495