Rationale: 

• To create an environment of respect between faculty and students
• To discourage environments which would be conducive to academic dishonesty
• To retain integrity of examination questions
• To decrease stress of testing environment for students

Effective Fall 2011: Academic Policy adopted by the College of Pharmacy, for all “PHAR” courses

Room Environment:

• All personal items (including food & beverages) to side/front of room (not under desks or by feet)
• All cellular phones turned off and in bag at side/front of room
• No hats with bills
• Whenever possible, students will be separated by at least one seat, which may, at times, require >1 room.
• Maintain a proctor to student ratio of 1: 15-20.
• Proctors may not multi-task (e.g. grading, reading newspaper, working on computer, etc.)
• Non-programmable calculators will be provided for use during exams. Students may not use their personal calculators.
• Leaving the room during examinations:
  • Students are not permitted to leave and return to the exam for any reason, including restroom breaks. 
  • In the event of an emergency situation, as determined by the course coordinator, a student may be granted permission to leave and return to the exam.

Exams:

• All exams will include a common student contract as a cover page.
• All exams will have a minimum of two versions, with at least two colors of exams utilized.
• All exams will be collated into one document to be distributed at the beginning of the exam, with objective-type questions being graded via ScanTronTM.
  • Rationale: (Not advocating using or not using objective-type questions.)
    • May expedite return of exams
    • Using ScanTronTM item analysis for repeat use of questions will allow instructor(s) to perform item analysis to verify validity and appropriateness of given questions. Furthermore, item analysis of questions (when pertinent and appropriate) may allow instructors to identify objectively, content areas in which students struggled, and to effectively use post-examination class time to review these concepts.
• Absence & Tardiness procedures for examinations:
  • Missed examination policy:
    • Certain absences, including, but not limited to serious medical or major family emergencies, or travel required for University athletic commitments may be excused absences, and will be decided on a case by case basis at the discretion of the instructor or course coordinator. 
    • Requests for an excused absence must be made in writing.
    • Written confirmation of illness by a physician or appropriate documentation of the circumstance/emergency should accompany the student’s written request when the student returns to class.
  • Absence procedures for examinations:
    •  If a student will miss an examination due to an excused absence, the exam must be taken as close as possible, but not after the examination is given to the remainder of the class.
    • In the case of serious illness or emergency that would prevent the student from taking the examination prior to its scheduled offering, there will be no make-up mid-semester examinations.
    • The examination score for an excused absence (as outlined above) from any mid-semester examination will be prorated based on the score for the final examination.
    • An unexcused absence will result in a grade of "0" on any or all examinations.
  • Tardiness procedures for examinations:
    • A student arriving late for any examination may take the examination only if no students have left the classroom before his/her arrival.
    • If any student has already left any examination room, the examination will be treated as an unexcused absence as outlined above.

Strongly Encouraged Policies:

• Non-objective types of questions should be placed together for ease of distribution to the grading instructor(s) (e.g. at end of document)
• For coordinators of module courses, it is strongly encouraged to put “like” questions together (i.e. organize questions in the exam by disease state and not by instructor); furthermore, it is recommended that questions are not clearly labeled for students as to which instructor wrote a given question.
• Seating will be randomly assigned; assignments revealed at the time of the examination (not before).
• Minimize questions regarding anything other than semantics or suspected typographical errors during the examination regarding content of questions, especially after any student has completed the exam and left the room. (In this case, space should be provided for questions and comments to be written by student if there is a concern.)
  • Rationale:
    • Distracting to fellow students to have professor(s) circulating between them to speak to students during the exam.
    • Doing so distracts the professor(s) from diligent proctoring.
    • Such questions may allow a student potential advantage over fellow students.
    • The writer of the question may or may not be one of the proctors in the room, or may be proctoring in another room.
• It is the responsibility of the course coordinator to review all exams in their entirety and address any concerns with the contributing instructor(s) prior to the examination