Alternative Testing

Hours

• Make sure your accommodation letters are sent and confirmed at the beginning of each semester.
• Contact each professor to see if they can accommodate your exams for you.

1. Will the exams be timed? If so, how much time will be allotted per test, and how long will they be available/open to take? If all you require is extra time, your professors should be able to adjust the test time settings.
2. Do exams require supervision/proctoring? If so, how will the test be proctored? (i.e. Zoom via professor, Proctorio, or other)

A few days before each exam, send your instructor a courtesy email to remind them about your test accommodations. Include the specific exam details such as deadlines and time limit.

All exam appointments MUST be made by the student by email to @email. We do not accept requests made by professors on their student’s behalf.

• Please include the following information in the email to schedule your appointment:
  • Student ID #
  • Date desired
  • Preferred start time
  • Total exam time, including extended time
  • Class name (i.e. Math 227)
  • Professor’s name and email
  • Student phone number (if you are blind/visually impaired and in need of a reader)

Exams should be scheduled at least 3 days in advance to ensure that a proctor is available and to give your instructor reasonable notice. Please schedule as early as possible. Exams are scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis. You may schedule exams for the whole semester if you wish. We will do our best to schedule at your preferred time, but appointments are subject to staff availability.

Once your proctor appointment is confirmed by our office, you will receive two emails:

1. Cranium Café appointment reminder
2. An email from OSS Testing with instructions (and/or Zoom link information) on details about your upcoming exam. We will also send a copy to your professor.

Make sure your extended time has been added properly. If you are unsure, email @email

• Extra time is not displayed separately in CANVAS. It will be added to the total amount of time for the test/quiz.
  • For example: if your class gets 80 minutes for a test, but you are approved for double time, your time limit should read 160 minutes.
• Make sure the time window will accommodate your extended time.
  • For example: If an 80-minute test is only made available from 8:00 am-9:20am (80 minutes), this will not accommodate your required 160 minutes with extended time.

Being late may result in your not being able to take your exam with OSS Testing Services. Proctors are assigned for a specific time frame and cannot stay longer due to student tardiness. If you are more than 20 minutes late, you may need to take your exam with the remaining time available or make arrangements to reschedule with your instructor. Please note: during finals it may not be possible to reschedule. Please log in at least 15 minutes early so you can make sure to be ready when your exam time is scheduled to start. If you are having any technical difficulties, please contact OSS Exams at: @email

For students with approved additional materials as an accommodation, please forward an email from your professor indicating that they have reviewed the materials and approved their use.

• For example: if you are allowed a 3x5 note card for a Math exam with formulas on it, you must email your professor a photo of that 3x5 card (front & back). If your professor approves the note card, your professor should reply to you with a copy to ossexams@lacitycollege.edu so that we know the card will be allowed during your exam. On the exam day, your proctor will verify that the notecard you have matches the image that was approved by your professor.
• Please have instructor-approved test materials ready to show to the proctor for inspection (calculators, notes, scratch paper, dictionaries, etc.)

Share your full desktop screen (not one single app), camera, and audio with the OSS proctor for the entire duration of the exam. You must close any unnecessary web browser tabs or applications and disable any app notifications. The proctor will require remote control of your computer device in order to ensure test security.

• No virtual backgrounds are allowed.
• The proctor will send you a request for remote control of your device. You will need to approve this or the test will not begin.
• Do not disconnect from the meeting room or walk away from the computer for any reason before getting proctor approval first. This rule applies for bathroom breaks and breaks approved in your accommodation letter.
• To communicate with your proctor, simply speak directly to them in the call or use the chat box.
• In the event that you get disconnected from the Zoom meeting, immediately email @emailor chat with your test proctor on Cranium Café to notify him/her.

You must clear your testing area of any unauthorized materials, including your phone, smart watch and other unauthorized devices. If you are using scratch paper, your computer/laptop should be angled in a way that shows your workspace.

The proctor will ask you to show your surroundings again. If cheating is suspected or determined to have occurred, the OSS proctor will inform the professor who will then decide how to proceed. Your test may be disqualified and disciplinary action may be taken. This may also include suspension of OSS services.

The OSS proctor must ALWAYS witness/verify that you have finished your test. Without this verification, the validity of your test may be questioned.

• Exams that are proctored with a reader do not require Zoom. They are hosted over the phone.
• If you do not require a scribe per your accommodation letter, your exams will be hosted over Zoom.
  • The proctor will read the exam from the student’s screen share and the student will submit their own answers.

1. The student allows our remote proctors to have access to their testing log-in credentials. The exam is then read over the phone while the scribe fills in the student’s answers. Students need to send OSS their test log-in credentials before their testing appointment.
2. Professors may instead send over a fillable word or PDF document version of the exam, and the proctor will read the exam to you over the phone and then submit your completed exam directly via email to your professor.