Policy and Procedures: Examinations on Computer

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Generally

The School of Law permits students to take examinations on computer.  Taking any examination on computer is not a right but a privilege, subject to individual faculty approval and conditioned on each student's compliance with all of the requirements and expectations set forth in this policy.

The School of Law licenses and supports Extegrity's Exam4 software for use by every student on in-class, essay exams, but cannot and does not guarantee compatibility between Exam4 and any particular student's computer.  Each student must provide:

  1. His or her own computer.  The computer must meet or exceed Exam4's hardware and software requirements, which are updated regularly and posted at www.law.louisville.edu/it/exam-software-download.
  2. A portable storage device, such as a USB flash drive, for storage and submission of completed exams.

Students taking exams on computer acknowledge and accept that in cases of pertinent software or hardware problems, they may be required to take or complete an exam by hand in approved bluebooks.

A new version of Exam4, for both Mac and PC, will be provided at least once each semester, and each student is responsible for obtaining, installing and testing the most recent version available for his or her exams by applicable deadlines, which are published on the School of Law's Web site and in The Daily Docket e-mail newsletter.

Practice Test Requirement

Each semester in advance of exams, the School of Law IT staff will make Exam4 available for download by students and publish instructions for obtaining, downloading, installing, and testing Exam4.  Each student who wishes to use his or her computer to take any exam that semester must successfully:

  1. Download the applicable version(s) of Exam4;
  2. Install the applicable version(s) of Exam4;
  3. Properly complete a practice test, or tests, if applicable, using the most recent version(s) of Exam4 available for his or her exams;  and
  4. Submit the practice test(s) b b by the published deadline(s) for doing so.  The practice test deadline(s) each semester will be published on the School of Law's Web site and in The Daily Docket e-mail newsletter, and every student is presumed to have notice of such deadlines.

A properly completed practice test is one on which the student has identified himself or herself using his or her University of Louisville computer accounts user name (e.g., ldbran01).  A practice test on which the student has identified himself or herself by his or her name, or a portion thereof, student ID number, a string of sequential or random numbers, etc. is not properly completed.

Because of limitations imposed by the University of Louisville's network firewall, each student must successfully take and submit the practice test on campus each semester.  No student will have satisfied the practice test requirement whose practice test was not successfully submitted electronically using Exam4.

Any student who experiences difficulty downloading, installing or running Exam4, submitting a practice test, or otherwise complying with these requirements by the published deadline each semester must notify an IT staff member on or before the date by which practice tests must be submitted.   The IT staff shall make reasonable efforts and/or recommendations to assist the student in complying with the practice test requirement and deadline.

Exemptions and Extensions

Exemptions from or extensions or other modifications to the practice test requirement may only be made for cause by the Associate Dean for Student Life upon petition from the student seeking such exemption, extension or modification.  Any student seeking an exemption, extension or modification to the practice test requirement must make such petition to the Associate Dean for Student Life on or before the practice test deadline for that semester.

Penalties

Any student who does not comply with the practice test requirement, as detailed above, in any semester is not permitted to use a computer for any exam that semester.  Any student who has not complied with the practice test requirement in any semester and who attempts to circumvent the requirement by taking any exam on computer shall be refused technical assistance should he or she experience any computer problem or issue during any exam.  Additionally, any student who cannot successfully submit his or her exam electronically and who has failed to bring a USB flash drive on which to copy the exam file shall be refused technical assistance.

If the identity of any student who has not complied with the practice test requirement, above, and who takes or attempts to take any exam on computer becomes known to the IT staff, the IT staff shall report the student's name to the Associate Dean for Student Life.

Exam Day Procedures and Support

Before Exams

The IT Staff will be available to provide technical support for least one (1) hour before any exam on which students are permitted to take the exam on computer, during all such exams and for a reasonable time after any such exam has ended.  Each student planning to take an exam on computer must bring:

  1. The computer on which they successfully installed and tested Exam4, along with the computer's AC adapter/power supply and fully charged battery or batteries;
  2. A USB flash drive;
  3. Approved bluebooks, which are available for sale in the Law Resource Center in Room 272; and
  4. Ink pens or other writing instruments.

Each student planning to take an exam on computer must:

  1. Report to the assigned exam room;
  2. Set up and boot up his or her computer and log on to the University's wireless network (ulsecure);
  3. Start up Exam4, providing one's assigned exam number and other information at the appropriate prompts, stopping at the screen that says "Wait!" in large red letters; and
  4. Click Begin Exam only when instructed by the professor that he or she may begin the exam.

Troubleshooting Procedure

Any student whose computer exhibits a problem or irregularity in anticipation of taking, while taking or having immediately taken an exam on computer must bring his or her computer and AC adapter/power supply immediately and directly to the IT staff on duty for that exam and describe the problem(s) in as much detail as possible.

The IT staff member on duty will complete an Exam4 Incident Report, noting:

  1. The time the student arrived;
  2. The student's name and exam number;
  3. The nature of the problem;
  4. Steps taken to resolve the problem and whether the problem was resolved; and
  5. The time the student leaves.

The student must then take the Exam4 Incident Report to the Dean on Duty.  The Dean on Duty will determine whether to allow the student additional time and, if so, how much time, then, if appropriate, permit the student to resume the exam as instructed.

At the end of the exam, the Dean on Duty will return Exam4 Incident Reports to the IT staff, who will use the forms to assess whether a pattern of similar problems is emerging and take appropriate remedial action in conjunction with Exam4's publisher, Extegrity.

Following Exams

Upon the student completing and electronically submitting an exam, Exam4 will confirm that the exam was successfully submitted.  However, students may further confirm their exam submission by visiting www.law.louisville.edu/it/exam-tracker.

Any student who cannot successfully submit his or her exam electronically must save the exam to a USB flash drive and immediately bring the flash drive to an IT staff member on duty, who will copy the encrypted exam file and return the flash drive to the student.

Any student who cannot successfully submit his or her exam electronically and who has failed to bring a USB flash drive on which to copy the exam file will be referred immediately by the IT staff to the Dean on Duty, who will note the incident in the student's file.

An Exam4 file is not like a conventional word processing document.  It is encrypted and cannot be modified once an Exam4 session is ended.  Therefore, it is extremely important that each student:

  1. Correctly identify himself or herself using his or her assigned exam number;
  2. Correctly provide any other information, such as a pledge, as instructed by the professor; and
  3. Do nothing that will disclose the student's identity to the professor or otherwise compromise his or her anonymity.

The IT staff will not correct students' mistakes or make other modifications to a completed exam.

Printing Exams

The following practices will govern the printing of exams taken on computer.

Regularly Scheduled Exams

The IT staff will print and deliver exams taken using the School of Law's official exam software during scheduled final exam periods to the professor administering each exam no later than three (3) hours following the scheduled end of the exam.  The IT staff will assume that each exam's duration is three (3) hours unless otherwise notified by the professor administering the exam.  In all cases, the IT staff will make its best efforts to print exams taken using the School of Law's official exam software as soon as is reasonably possible under the circumstances.  Factors that may affect the timeliness of exam printing include availability of the Law Resource Center's Xerox printer/copier; other demands, foreseen or unforeseen, on the time and attention of the IT staff member(s) on duty; and the number of other exams administered simultaneously.

If an exam's total duration is less or more than three (3) hours, upon notice of such from the professor administering the exam, the IT staff will print and deliver exams taken using the School of Law's official exam software to the professor no later than three (3) hours following the scheduled end of the exam.

Delivery

After all exams taken on the day on which the exam was scheduled have been printed, including accommodated exams, as defined below, the IT staff will deliver the exams to the professor's office.  If the professor is not present at time of delivery, the exams will be left in a box, either provided by the IT staff or designated by the professor.  Adjunct faculty should notify the dean on duty and the IT staff member(s) on duty where they will be located during administration of their exams.  The IT staff will deliver all of his or her exams taken that day or evening, including accommodated exams, as defined below, to him or her at that location as soon as all have been printed, unless the adjunct professor wishes to make other delivery arrangements in advance with the Assistant Dean for Information Technology.

Accommodated Exams

"Accommodated exam" means any exam on which a student receives extra time, a separate room or any other reasonable accommodation supported by documentation and approved by the University of Louisville Disability Resource Center and the School of Law's Associate Dean for Student Life, pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.  The IT staff will print accommodated exams no later than two (2) hours after the regularly scheduled exam ends and insert those exams, in exam number order, into the stack of non-accommodated exams, but will in all cases make its best efforts to print accommodated exams as soon as is reasonably possible.

Make-Up Exams

Many factors may affect the administration of make-up exams, including make-up exams that are also accommodated exams, as defined above.  Consequently, the IT staff will print and deliver exams taken using the School of Law's official exam software during scheduled make-up exam periods to the Director of Student Records.  The Director of Student Records will then deliver to the professor, including adjunct professors, all of his or her make-up exams, including both hand-written exams and those taken on computer.

Take-Home Exams

The IT staff will print and deliver take-home exams taken using the School of Law's official exam software to the professor administering those exams by arrangement made with the professor.  Each professor administering a take-home exam should contact the Assistant Dean for Information Technology to make such arrangements.

Notice

Before the beginning of the final exam period each semester, the School of Law Administration will distribute to all faculty members, including adjunct professors, a schedule to include the names and contact information for the deans and IT staff members on duty during all scheduled exams.

On or before the day of each scheduled exam, the Associate Dean for Student Life will notify each professor of the number of students receiving an accommodation on or taking a make-up of that exam.  This is to ensure that the professor knows how many exams may still be outstanding when the regularly scheduled exam ends.