The exponential growth in the University’s distance education offerings and enrollment necessitated creating a larger testing center.
The Distance Education Testing Center recently moved to the Barnard Building with space to accommodate 23 students with individual testing carrels.
“With 13 additional seats, the new testing center will provide more appointment opportunities for distance education students,” said Terri Fish, program implementation supervisor for distance education. “In addition, the center will be able to support additional distance education faculty requests regarding proctored exams.”
The new center’s controlled environment, which features a high-raised podium with full visibility for testing proctors, will enable distance education faculty to administer exams in a supervised setting, Fish added.
Distance education began offering proctored exams in fall 2010 in the Cone University Center. In fiscal year 2011, the 10-carrel center monitored 565 exams; that number increased to 1,133 in fiscal year 2015.
In addition to 23 all-in-one computer testing stations, the Distance Education Testing Center in the Barnard Building offers stand-up accessibility and additional desk space to meet ADA compliance. Distance education officials held a formal grand opening for the new center recently; it will begin use in January.
Photo: Eric Barlow (center), online proctoring coordinator for the UNC system, attended a grand opening reception for the Distance Education Testing Center.