Exam Proctoring Policies & Guidelines

Below is the policy and guidelines.  If you would like, you can view/download a pdf version.

Travel Letter & Exam Conflicts with Competition Travel

Campus policy stipulates that instructors distribute class syllabi including due dates and deadlines to students by the end of the first week of instruction. Students are asked to make arrangements for conflicts in writing, by the end of the second week of class. To facilitate this, team travel letters will be provided by the team’s academic advisor. Student athletes are responsible for taking the travel letter to their professors and graduate student instructors no later than Friday of Week 2. Failing to do so can result in unexcused absences, loss of attendance and participation points, lowering of final grade or, in extreme cases, a student athlete not being able to travel and compete.

Student athletes are also responsible for checking their class syllabus to see if they have any exam conflicts with competition travel. Student athletes must meet with their professors no later than Friday of Week 2 to receive approval for alternate testing dates/times, which may include before or after the competition or while on the road. Instructors are encouraged to be flexible in accommodating travel schedules for student athletes. However, the decision is based solely on the professor’s discretion and not the student athlete or coach. If there are exam conflicts, student athletes must fill out an “Exam Information Sheet.” This form must be returned to the team’s Academic Advisor immediately after the student athlete has spoken with the professor. The student athlete may be prohibited from having an alternate testing date/time approved if they fail to make prior arrangements and submit the Exam Information Sheet.

If the professor requires the exam to be proctored while the student athlete is traveling, only a staff member from the following approved groups can administer the exam. Separate guidance for students from club sports can be found at the end of this document.

In all exam proctoring situations, student athletes are responsible for having all required materials to take the exam, such as pen, pencil, blue book, scantron and calculator. If a student athlete registered with the Disabled Students Program (DSP) has been approved for testing accommodations and would like to use these accommodations for an exam proctored on the road, the student athlete must work with their proctor and DSP Coordinator to coordinate these accommodations.

If in rare cases none of the above groups are available to administer the exam, the Faculty Athletics Representative will contact the professor to determine if another staff member traveling with the team is permitted to administer the exams.

In situations where an approved exam proctor staff member is required to travel in order to support any academic support needs while on the road, the following resources are deemed necessary:

• Flight expenses: The cost of flight tickets should be covered for the approved exam proctor staff member.
• Accommodation: The approved exam proctor staff member should be provided with their own room during their stay.
• Food per diem or team meal access: The approved exam proctor staff member should be given food per diem or granted access to team meals.
• Academic time blocks in the itinerary: The itinerary should include dedicated time blocks for academic activities, such as two-hour studying blocks, attending lectures, and participating in tutoring sessions.
• Academic workspaces: Suitable spaces should be provided for students to engage in studying, watching lectures, attending tutoring sessions, completing assignments, and taking tests.

By incorporating these guidelines into the academic travel policy, we ensure that the necessary resources and support are provided to approved exam proctor staff members, enabling them to effectively fulfill their responsibilities while on the road.

Confidential Integrity and Exam Security

When professors allow approved exam proctors to administer exams on the road, they trust that these exams are administered in accordance with University policy and are free of violations of academic integrity. Therefore, it is vital for the integrity of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics (IA) as well as the protection of the student athletes that exams be proctored according to the exact guidelines and instructions given by the professor.

Exam security involves accounting for all exam materials before, during and after test administration. To maintain confidential integrity, only approved exam proctors may have access to the exam materials. All exam materials must be kept in secure storage when not in use.

Confidential integrity involves protecting the contents of all exams, bluebooks and scantron answer sheets. Maintaining confidential integrity requires compliance with the following guidelines:

• Proctors must sign the “Exam Proctor Confidential Integrity Agreement” prior to administering an exam.
• All exams must be administered in strict accordance with the instructions contained in these proctor guidelines as well as the directions provided by the professor.
• No person may review or reveal the contents of the exams before, during or after an exam administration.
• No person may answer verbally or nonverbally any questions that relate to the contents of an exam before, during or after an exam administration.
• No person may review student athlete responses during or after an exam administration.
• No person may change any response or instruct a student athlete to do so.
• Irregularities in exam security or confidential integrity may result in the invalidation of student results and disciplinary action.

Approved exam proctors must understand and adhere to the guidelines outlined in this document. Academic Study Center (ASC) staff will provide proctors with a thorough explanation of the proctor role and responsibilities.

Procuring Testing Materials

The approved exam proctor will immediately be contacted by ASC Staff when the exam has been provided by the professor. At this time, the professor’s directions for proctoring and submitting the exam will be reviewed.

Note: If a student athlete registered with the Disabled Students Program (DSP) and has been approved for testing accommodations for an exam being proctored, all DSP approved accommodations will be provided to the proctor and the proctor is mandated to provide these accommodations.

Proper Testing Practices

Test sessions must be conducted under the best possible conditions. By following the practices listed below, the proctor ensures the security and confidential integrity of the University, and the uniform evaluation of all students in the course.

• The testing room needs to be quiet, well-lit, well-ventilated and comfortable with ample work space.
• A "Testing Do Not Disturb" sign should be posted outside the testing room.
• Students may not use notes, reference sheets, calculators, cell phones, tablets and/or laptop computers during the exam unless authorized by the professor’s instructions.
• Students must remain seated and are not allowed to talk to one another during testing.
• Students may not remove the exam from the testing location under any circumstances.
• No breaks are allowed during testing unless authorized by the professor’s instructions.
• Each exam is timed and should not exceed the time allotted by the professor.
• The proctor must identify the student by requiring a photo ID, such as a driver's license, a school photo ID or a state photo ID.
• The proctor must actively observe the students throughout the exam with the students in full view.
• During the exam, if there is any improper conduct on the part of the student or any evidence that the testing process has been compromised, stop the testing, remove the exam materials from the student and report the incident to the instructor of the course for which the exam has been administered. In the event that you are unable to reach the faculty member, please contact:
  Oliver O'Reilly, Faculty Athletic Representative (oreilly@berkeley.edu), or
  Tarik Glenn, Interim Director of the Athletic Study Center (glenntarik@berkeley.edu).

Answering Questions

Proctors are not allowed to answer questions related to the content of the exam itself. If an examinee asks a question that the proctor is not permitted to answer, the proctor may respond, for example, “I cannot answer that for you; Try to do the best you can.”

Proctors are not allowed to:

• Translate exam questions into another language;
• Rephrase or add information to questions;
• Discuss exam questions with anyone before, during or after testing; or score exam items or discuss with examinees how they performed.

Returning Exam Materials

At the end of the exam administration, the proctor shall collect all exam materials and secure the items. The proctor must then immediately follow the specific directions provided by the professor in regards to scanning and emailing exams, if necessary. Immediately upon return to campus, the hard copies will be returned per the faculty member’s specific instructions.

Club Sports

Club Sports are student run organizations managed through UC Berkeley Recreation and Well Being. Club Sports depend heavily on student dues and donor support. Unlike IA, student athletes in Club Sports do not have access to academic advisors from the Athletic Study Center, and are not supported by the Athletic Study Center. Thus, students participating in Club Sports do not use travel letters. However, students participating in Club Sports are still responsible for checking their class syllabus to see if they have any exam conflicts with competition travel and communicating with their professors and graduate student instructors no later than Friday of Week 2 to receive approval for alternate testing dates/times for any travel dates, which may include before or after the competition, or while on the road. Failing to do so can result in unexcused absences, loss of attendance and participation points, lowering of final grade or, in extreme cases, a student athlete not being able to travel and compete. Instructors are encouraged to be flexible in accommodating travel schedules for students participating in Club Sports. However, the decision is based solely on the professor’s discretion and not the student athlete or coach. Since students in Club Sports are not supported by the ASC, they do not submit an Exam Information Sheet. Students in Club Sports are responsible for managing arrangements with their professors and graduate student instructors.

Additionally, students participating in Club Sports are provided an exception to the list of exam proctors above. Given ethical considerations related to revenue generation in IA and its ties to salaries and budget, there is an inherent conflict of interest for coaches to serve as exam proctors. Those concerns are not present for Club Sports because they are not revenue generating and do not have a full-time professional coaching staff. Given its independence from IA and the lack of institutional resources to support a proctoring staff for Club Sports, Club Sports are in a different category. Therefore, for Club Sports, coaches are allowed to serve as exam proctors during competition travel. Students must provide name and contact information for their team’s coach to the professor and graduate student instructor. The professor will provide the designated exam proctor with the exam and any proctoring instructions. The exam proctor is responsible for proctoring the exam according to the professor’s guidelines and submitting the exam to the professor or graduate student instructor.

Contact Information

If any questions or concerns arise regarding these policies and guidelines, please contact:

Oliver O’Reilly, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Faculty Athletic Representative, oreilly@berkeley.edu

Tarik Glenn, Interim Director, Athletic Study Center, glenntarik@berkeley.edu