SDAC will not be able to offer exam proctoring services. The majority of exam accommodations can be fulfilled by your instructor in the online format. If you have an approved exam-related accommodation that does not translate easily to an online format, please contact your SDAC Advisor.
Students who have been approved for exam accommodations through our office should continue to receive these accommodations regardless of the platform used for administration.
Tests, quizzes, and exams given this semester may be offered through Collab, Canvas, or Blackboard. In this instance, the platform controls the amount of time and will shut down the exam when the time allotted expires. For this reason, we can’t stress enough the importance of confirming your extended time accommodation with your instructor so the timing of the exam can be adjusted to reflect your approved amount of extra time. Your instructor may choose some other means to administer a timed exam. If so, please talk with your instructor to ensure that your start and end times, including your extended time, will be properly documented so there is no question about the amount of time you worked on the exam.
For exams proctored remotely through Zoom, we recommend that faculty create individual breakout rooms to monitor students. That way, students can receive their approved testing accommodations, ask questions, chat with their faculty, etc., while under a more private and confidential setting.
Approved extended time is applicable when the exam has a finite amount of working time (i.e., 1 hour, 3 hours). If the exam is available for a period of time (such as a day or several days) but you have a defined amount of working time (i.e., 1 hour) once you open the exam, your extended time would be applied as is done for in-class exams. If, however, the exam is available for several days with no specific amount of working time indicated, then extended time is generally not applied when the working window is more than 24 hours. To clarify how your extended time should be applied, please contact SDAC.
Ability to Take Breaks
Taking a break would be applicable for an exam that is administered with a specific amount of working time. As described above, platforms such as Collab and Canvas involve setting the start and end times for the exam to be available to you. It is imperative that you communicate well in advance with your instructors so that your exam timing can be adjusted to include the total amount of rest break time that you are approved to take. Typically, SDAC recommends that students with this accommodation receive 10 minutes additional time for each hour of exam or quiz time. Details of the exact nature of the break should be included in the student’s Faculty Notification Letter.
If you have “Stop the Clock” breaks, your break time should not exceed the amount of extended time (i.e., 1.5x, 2.0x, etc.) that you have been approved for. To assist you with monitoring your break time, we recommend that you use a device (other than your phone, your computer, or smartwatch) to help you keep track of your time.
Please note that breaks for personal needs are not to be used for working on the exam. As with any in-class exam, the Honor Code still applies to your appropriate use of the working time and breaks.
Large Print Exams
If you have any concerns about the ability to use your computer to magnify the size of exams, please contact your instructor to ensure that the exam is available to you in a format conducive to magnification. If you have any difficulties, please inform your SDAC Advisor.
Other Exam Accommodations
If you receive other exam-related accommodations that will be impacted by the change in course administration, please communicate with your instructor immediately to discuss options. SDAC is available to assist as needed in conversations about how to apply accommodations to an online format.
