As of January 2024, the Poorvu Center will no longer provide proctors for remote exams. If you need to proctor a remote exam, consider one of your teaching fellows or a graduate student in your department.
Should you have a teaching fellow or graduate student serve as a proctor for a remote exam, here are suggested guidelines to follow. The Poorvu Center originally developed the following best practices and guidelines for remote exams prior to the Fall 2020 semester in collaboration with the University Registrar, Yale Summer Session, and the Office of General Counsel. Revisions have been made based on experiences since that time.
Instructor Obligations
- Schedule each Zoom session on behalf of the proctor. All proctors should provide instructors scheduling privileges for their Zoom accounts. This feature allows instructors to schedule meetings for the proctor that will be hosted by the proctor. All instructors must schedule the sessions through the Zoom website or desktop app and not through the Canvas-Zoom integration in the Canvas course site to which the assessment is connected. This recommendation safeguards the privacy of session recordings. (Click here for instructions on scheduling the Zoom session on behalf of proctors.)
- Select “record to the cloud” for every proctored session.
- Inform the students as soon as possible that their exam will be proctored remotely using Zoom and recorded for review.
- Set clear expectations for the students about appropriate behavior during exams, and provide a way for individual students to communicate in advance about specific concerns they may have (internet reliability, potential interruptions, accommodations, etc.).
- Confirm that the proctor knows the exam procedures. (Suggestions for exam procedures follow at the end of this document.)
- After the exam, review any recordings flagged by a proctor for further attention.
- If an instructor believes a student violated exam procedures, we recommend that the instructor start by talking to the student about the activity. It is possible the student can provide an explanation for their actions that lead to the determination there was no academic dishonesty. Evaluating actions on a recorded Zoom session is challenging; the student should have the opportunity to discuss the situation with the instructor.
- If the student is unable to provide a satisfactory reason for their actions, the instructor should follow the process established for the “Submission of matters to the Executive Committee: 1. Reports of possible Academic Offenses.”
Proctor Obligations
- Ensure your Zoom account is configured to allow cloud recordings to display the “Gallery View.” (Click here for instructions on enabling your account to capture the “Gallery View” in cloud recordings.)
- Provide the instructor “scheduling privileges” on your Zoom account. (Click here for instructions on providing “scheduling privileges” to another user.)
- Know the specific exam procedures implemented by the instructor and review them with the students prior to starting the exam.
- Ensure the session is being “recorded to the cloud.”
- Keep the Zoom session in “Grid View.”
- Disable chat between students and only allow chats between the host (the proctor) and students. (Click here for instructions on allowing chats only between participants and the host.)
- Email the link to the Zoom cloud recording to the instructor as soon as it is available, typically 3 – 5 hours after the session is recorded.
- Include in this message to the instructor any observed violations of exam procedures or other behaviors by students that require review. For example, if a student lost internet connectivity during the exam.
Suggested Exam Procedures
We recommend the following procedures for proctored Zoom exams.
- The student-to-proctor ratio should not exceed 10:1.
- Students should leave their microphone and video on so the proctor can hear and see them while they complete the exam.
- Students should lower their audio so they do not hear other students.
- Proctors should take student attendance asking each student to present photo identification.
- Proctors should communicate via Zoom private chat if they need to contact a student.
- Students should communicate via Zoom private chat if they need to contact a proctor.
- Students should show the proctor their desk and surroundings prior to starting the exam to ensure there are no aids specifically restricted by the instructor (ex. course textbook).
- Instructors may implement specific guidelines based on the exam type. Common guidelines for students taking remote proctored exams include the following:
- No talking
- No headphones
- No phones or tablets, other than the devices being used to actually take the exam
- No books (if you are comfortable allowing students to refer to books during the exam, a proctor may not be necessary)
- No searching the Canvas course site to locate lecture videos, notes, etc. (if you are comfortable allowing students to refer to the Canvas course site during the exam, a proctor may not be necessary)
- Instructors might also consider the following procedures:
- If the students are taking a paper-based exam, they should not be allowed to type on their computer
- Specifying whether students are allowed to have blank paper on their desk to use as scratch paper
- Specifying whether students are allowed to have a calculator on their desk
- Specifying whether bathroom breaks are acceptable
- Students should be permitted to have food and drink on their desk
- Students should send the proctor a message via private Zoom chat after they submit the exam. The proctor will acknowledge receipt and, if applicable, confirm the submission has been received. The student can then exit the Zoom room.
- The proctor will remain in the Zoom room until all students submit the exam.
- Exams should not use both Respondus Lockdown Browser AND a remote proctor on Zoom for the same assessment. Doing so will present significant technical complications. Instructors must choose between Respondus Lockdown Browser OR a remote proctor on Zoom.