Faculty Information About Testing Center Exams
Menu of Faculty Information Pages
Pollock Testing Center Availability
-
The Testing Center is available on weekdays for undergraduate courses
at the University Park campus.
-
Exams are offered through Canvas using the
Respondus LockDown Browser.
-
Exams for different courses are administered on the same day; i.e.,
your exam will not be the only exam offered. See
How Seats are Allocated.
-
Normal operating hours are 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Hours
are limited during:
- the first two weeks of fall and spring semesters
- summer semester
-
The Testing Center is closed when the University Park campus is closed
(e.g., weather). When the campus is closed for part of a day, the
Testing Center is closed for testing for the remainder of the day.
Requesting an Exam
In fall 2024 Penn State IT installed a new secure browser, Respondus LockDown Browser (LDB).
This required changes in faculty, student, and Testing Center processes.
Exam length choices are limited to 30, 40, 50, 65, or 75 minutes. Students will be
allowed the time you select in the exam request form. The selected exam length cannot
be changed in Canvas.
We cannot offer 60- or 90-minute exams because students need time to check-in, find their
seat, sign into the computer, sign into Canvas, and find their exam. We strongly
recommend that you post the exam link on your course homepage during exams.
The testing schedule fills quickly, especially for common midterm dates.
Each course may submit only one request form.
If you have alternate dates for your exams, include those in the Comments section of
your request. Please do not submit a second exam request. We will monitor requests during
the process and if we receive a second (alternate) request it will be deleted.
General scheduling will begin beginning at 9:00 a.m. on the following dates
| Semester |
Opening Day |
First Day of Classes |
| Spring 2025 |
December 13 |
January 13 |
| Summer 2025 |
April 12 |
May 12 |
| Fall 2025 |
July 25 |
August 25 |
How Seats are Allocated
-
The Testing Center has 155 stations for testing.
-
Time in the Testing Center is divided into timeslots. These timeslots
will be either 60 or 90 minutes. Most days have a mix of 60 and
90-minute slots.
-
The maximum length of an exam in the two time slots are:
- 50 minutes in a 60-minute time slot
- 75 minutes in a 90-minute time slot
-
Seats for your course are distributed evenly across the time slots
for each day. The minimum per course per day is 2 seats per timeslot.
Examples:
- A course with a 50-minute exam and 42 students will be allocated 3 seats per time slot for the course
- A course with a 65-minute exam and 46 students will get 5 seats per time slot
-
All available slots on the first day will be assigned to
your course, and the remainder will be assigned to the next day. On each
day, the number of seats allocated for your course is distributed evenly
across all time slots.
Instructor Information about Students
Please read the Information for Students page
for information about the student experience at the Testing Center.
Before each exam, please show
eTesting Student Conduct Expectations
to your students.
Students Using SDR-approved Extra-time Accommodations
Students requiring accommodations should request approval through the
Student Disability Resources (SDR)
office.
-
Students that have approval for a 50% extra time on their exam are welcome to
schedule their exams in the Testing Center or in the SDR testing center. Students
with approval for 100% extra time typically are accommodated in the SDR testing center.
-
Students with extra time accommodations should never schedule
in the last time slot of the day because the Testing Center
closes at 11 pm.
-
Instructors should follow instructions in this Canvas article
to set up exams for students who need 50% extra time.
-
We have 6 height-adjustable workstations in the main testing room.
-
We have 6 workstations in a Quiet Room, one of which is height-adjustable.
-
We cannot test students that do not have approval for extra time from SDR.
-
SDR staff are trained to make such determinations, while instructors are not.
-
Allowing extra-time outside of SDR processes introduces
inequities because other students who could benefit from
extra time will not request it.
-
Allowing extra-time to students without documentation
also increases pressure on other faculty to do the same.
-
If faculty want to allow extra time for students outside of
the SDR process, they will need to administer the tests
outside of the Testing Center.
