Guidelines for fall 2021 are now available for ACC Testing Centers, which provide testing support services for faculty and students in approved courses. Changes have been made to online and in-person testing, including exceptions, updates, and frequently asked questions, which can be found here. 

Below are highlights from the July 15 memo from Dr. Charles Cook, ACC provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs.

Testing Center Guidelines for Fall 2021

ACC Testing Centers will allow only the following for in-person testing during fall 2021: 

  1. Testing Time: Time is limited to the class time (typically 1.5 hours)
  2. Student Accessibility Services (SAS) Testing: All approved SAS testing
  3. Assessments Tests: Institutionally approved assessment tests (e.g. TSIA or TABE)
  4. Placement Tests: Placement tests (e.g. ALEKS)
  5. Make-Up Exams (for students who missed the original test): Make-up testing is available for all lecture courses but will be limited to no more than 25% of students enrolled in each section for each of four tests
  6. Industry Certification Exams: Programs (e.g., Microsoft, Adobe, etc.) may use the ACC Business Assessment Center for industry certification exams (BACT) at HLC or RRC

Additionally, the college will establish an online proctoring service under the Distance Education Department in fall 2021 to make greater use of in-house proctoring.

Spring 2022 and Beyond

The testing center guidelines will be reviewed and revised for spring 2022. Starting spring 2022, ACC will move toward funding and supporting the use of ProctorU for weekend testing only. The college recently purchased Class for Zoom for fall 2021 to improve the learning and teaching experience in the online synchronous and hybrid environments. The technology provides proctoring functionality to allow faculty or designated staff to proctor a test in a live environment. Students are shown side-by-side with a full view of their monitor to ensure confidence and exam integrity. 

Standard Definitions of Instructional Modes

In order to ensure consistency and effective communication with students and employees, the following definitions will be used:

  • ONL = Online Asynchronous with no required travel to campus
  • DLS = Online Synchronous with no required travel to campus
  • HYD = Hybrid Online, with more than 50% of the instruction online, but some campus-based elements to include scheduled times for orientation, lab work, or limited in-person assessment of learning
  • HYC = Hybrid Campus, with 50% online and 50% face-to-face with classroom time to include assessment of learning

Further, the guidelines require that the vast majority of face-to-face and hybrid courses administer tests face-to-face in the classroom as part of the students’ regular schedules. This allows Testing Center staff to concentrate their services on the administration of tests for assessment, make-ups, accommodations, and licensure purposes.

Testing Center Alternatives

Alternatives to testing in the Testing Centers are to use Respondus Lockdown Browser, Respondus Monitor, Blackboard testing, and faculty-led proctoring using tools such as Zoom, and Google Meet. 

Prior to the pandemic, students were charged for the use of ProctorU. During the pandemic, ACC has covered the direct student cost using federal funds. This is not sustainable for the future. The college began to wean off the reliance on ProctorU. In spring 2021, ACC allowed limited use of ProctorU, and the college will continue to offer limited use of ProctorU for fall 2021. Additionally, ACC’s Distance Education Division will continue to provide support for faculty to migrate their assessments to Respondus Lockdown Browser, Respondus Monitor, and Blackboard.