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Testing Center

Learning Centers

Consistent with our institutional values of integrity, inquiry, collaboration, service and humility, the mission of the Belmont University Testing Center is to support students and faculty in the assessment of student knowledge. The Testing Center, available on-campus, is a secure environment available to students who need additional time, minimal distractions, or other University approved accommodations. The Testing Center is also available for students who have an excused absence for an exam that they would have otherwise taken in their typical classroom setting. Please note that the Testing Center currently only allows for Belmont exams, not outside standardized testing. 

Location & Hours

Location: Gordon E. Inman Center 141

Dates: January 29 - May 3

Hours: 
Monday - Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. 
Saturday: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Closed:
Spring Break (Mar 4 - 8), Easter Break (Mar 28 - Apr 1)

Important Notes:

To ensure the best experience for students and adequate proctor preparation, Testing Center appointment requests must be made at least seven days before the desired date of the test. All requests made for dates within less than a week of the desired testing date will be denied.

Dates to consider: 

Appointments for Spring 24 will be available starting January 22, and the first day of testing will be January 29.

  • Last day to make an appointment for SPRING 24 testing is April 26.
  • Last day of SPRING 24 testing is May 3.

Instructions & Policies

  1. Before submitting an appointment request, contact your professor to discuss the need for an alternate testing time and secure pre-approval for the time and testing conditions. Exams will NOT be scheduled without faculty approval.
  2. Request your appointment at least one week in advance of the testing date you desire. Coordination between the Testing Center and your professor requires time, and requests made for appointments within less than a week's time will be denied.
  3. Complete all form information to the best of your ability. All information entered will be verified with the professor prior to test arrangements.
  4. If your appointment request is approved, you will receive a confirmation email with your scheduled testing time and place, along with instructions for your arrival. You will be required to present your Belmont student ID and have your picture taken at the time of test.

Make an Appointment

The Testing Center arranges alternate test times with a graduate assistant proctor. Here are the exams we can and cannot administer this semester:

Can Administer

Cannot Administer

  • Paper and pencil tests, proctored in-person
  • Canvas tests, proctored in-person
  • Exams that require specialized software (Photoshop, SPSS, etc.) or equipment (soundboards, mannequins, etc.)
  • Clinical exams
  • Non-Canvas online systems

To use the Testing Center:

  1. We encourage you to have students directly submit their scheduling requests to the Testing Center. (See suggested syllabus language below.) Students are instructed to discuss pre-approval for all make-ups with you first, and no exams will be scheduled without your explicit approval.
  2. The Testing Center cannot accommodate requests for appointments given less than a week from required dates. Any requests made without a week's notice will be denied.
  3. When an appointment request is made, you will receive an email from a Testing Center representative with a copy of what the student has requested (time allotted for test, materials permitted, accommodations, date of the appointment, etc.). You will be able to confirm or adjust these requested parameters.
  4. Once an appointment is confirmed, the assigned proctor will contact you for access to test materials. If the exam is paper/pencil, we will request an emailed copy of the exam for us to print out. If the exam is online, we encourage you to adjust Test Availability for the student (Availability Instructions), and setting an Access Code (Access Instructions) you provide to the proctor to give the student access at the testing appointment.
  5. Paper Exams- The Testing Center will print out your test for the student, but you must pick it up from Inman 141 during our open hours within 2 business days. Tests will be sealed by the student on test day and kept in a securely locked file cabinet.

Suggested syllabus language:

An alternative exam date, due to a Provost-excused absence or university-approved accommodation, must be discussed with me at least one week prior to the exam. All alternative exams will be given through the Testing Center. The Testing Center is available Monday-Friday 9am-12pm, with additional hours on Thursday and Friday from 2pm-4pm. Please come to me with an alternative date and time already in mind. After discussing an alternative date with me, submit a request form to the Testing Center here.

Check-In and Late Arrival

Students are expected to arrive at least 5 minutes before their start time so that they can be checked in.

Students must provide photo ID and BUID to proctor before testing

End times for students who arrive late (or at time) will not be changed. For instance, if a student arrives at 9:10AM for a 50 minute 9:00AM appointment, the test period will still end at 9:50AM.

Students arriving more than 15 minutes after their start time will not be permitted to test and must reschedule with professor.

Please use the restroom before you come to the Testing Center. Once testing begins, you will not be allowed to leave the room until the test is completed.

Attire

The following items are not permitted while testing:

  • Hoodies (with hood up)
  • Brimmed Hats
  • Caps
  • Smart Watches
  • Any writing on the hands or arms
  • Sunglasses

Food and Drink

Unless otherwise specified by accommodation, there is no food or drink of any kind permitted in the testing center once testing has begun. This includes bottles of water, gum and candy. Water bottles can be left at front desk with proctor until end of test.

Scratch Paper

The only scratch paper allowed in the Testing Center will be provided by the proctor. All scratch paper must be given back to the proctor at the end of the exam.

Electronic Devices and Personal Belongings

All electronic devices, including cellular phones and smart watches, are to be turned off and put away. They may not be turned on again until you leave the Testing Center at the end of the test. Any use of a non-approved electronic device during testing will result in an immediate end to the test and removal from the testing center. If a phone rings during test time and disturbs other testers, you will be asked to leave.

Only authorized materials are allowed on the desktop while testing. Personal belongings such as backpacks, bags, books, notes, calculators, head phones, cell phones, tablets, MP3 players, computing devices or any device capable of recording audio, photographic, or video content, or capable of viewing or playing back such content will not be allowed on the testing surface.

Noise and Plagiarism

Plagiarism and disruptive behavior is prohibited in the Testing Center. The following is a general list of misconduct and disruptive behaviors; however, it is not exhaustive. The Testing Center reserves the right to dismiss a tester for misconduct and/or disruptive behavior, as well as to refuse to administer an exam for the same reasons.

  • Causing a disturbance of any kind
  • Failure to follow instructions
  • Giving or receiving assistance of any kind
  • Attempting to take an exam for someone else
  • Taking or attempting to take the same exam more than once during a testing session
  • Using any prohibited aids (this includes Internet sites)
  • Removing or attempting to remove test questions, responses, or notes
  • Attempting to remove scratch paper
  • Tampering with the computer
  • Attempting to use the computer for any reason other than testing
  • Speaking with other testers

In the event of encountered misconduct and/or disruptive behavior, the Testing Center staff will take one or more of the following actions:

  • Confiscate unauthorized materials
  • Notify instructor
  • End the test period immediately
  • Call the university police to attend
  • Dismiss the tester from the testing center

Frequently Asked Questions

Appointments may be booked starting September 5! We encourage students to book all foreseen alternate testing appointments as early in the semester as possible, as slots may fill up, particularly toward final exams.

Yes. For this reason, you should discuss arrangements with your professor before requesting an appointment. The Testing Center is not a substitute for communication between professor and student, but an aid to their partnership in accurately and fairly assessing student learning.

An email is sent to both the professor and student, outlining the requested date/time and testing conditions. Once both parties have confirmed agreement, a confirmation email will be sent to you with further instructions on what to do on test day.

No. The Testing Center provides proctored space to make alternate exams easier for faculty and students. However, the student and professor may make other arrangements that suit their needs. The Testing Center is an option, not a requirement.

  • Photo ID
  • Belmont ID
  • Pen and #2 Pencil (for Scantron exams)
  • Other materials as instructed/approved by your professor (e.g., calculator, Blue Book or notes for an open-notes test)

Appointments have a clear start and end time. If you arrive late, the test will still end as scheduled. If you arrive fifteen minutes late or more, you will not be permitted to test. If you miss your appointment, it is akin to missing class on the day of an exam. Permission to reschedule will be determined by your professor, and space may not be available in the center for alternative dates.

Testing center dates must be scheduled at least one week in advance. If faculty need to schedule an alternate testing time with less than a week’s notice, they may use the “On Demand” testing rooms. Faculty can book a testing room in real-time on EMS. EMS will show you what rooms are available across campus for the purposes of individual or small group testing. (Tutorial here.) Please note, no proctor is provided through this process.

At this time, we are only able to provide proctoring for traditional pencil/paper exams and Blackboard exams. Other formats of testing are not available at this time, but there is a plan to offer additional formats as expansion of testing center services occurs in future semesters. If there is a particular type of testing format you would like to see included in the future, please submit that suggestion here.

For pencil/paper tests, Testing Center proctors will arrange the exchange of materials with the professor. For Blackboard tests, we highly encourage the use of passwords/access codes and test availability constraints (Original/Ultra). Exam passwords/access codes will be entered directly by the proctor in the Testing Center. The proctor will note any abnormalities with the testing process and communicate those to the professor (e.g., Internet disruption, academic integrity concerns, late arrival, etc.).

Please contact Michael Hudson Wood at michael.hudson@belmont.edu.