Anyone with Experience with Proctor U?

[marianne202]

I just got word that my new program endeavor will allow me to challenge out of a few courses for $500 an exam and it is done through Proctor U. I have never heard of them and I'm wondering how they work? Is it an online proctoring service or in-person like Pearson Vue or Prometric. I ask because the school is in Missouri and I'm in NC and I have never seen or heard of Proctor U. Any input would be greatly appreciated. I'm working hard on some less expensive, easier options, but I want to fully understand how their system works. I know that they will give me a syllabus and book info, then I have 1 week to take the exam. The exam is a mid-term and final taken at the same time and I have to get 85% on both exams to get the course credit. This seems pretty steep to me, so I'm trying to find some local options. Any info on Proctor U?

[NAP]

This has come up a few times for TESC students recently. Here are a few of the posts/threads that I remember reading:

http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...#post90626

http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...#post98495

http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...#post98791

It is probably the wave of the future, but it sounds like there are security concerns to address.

[ProctorU]

Hello, I work for ProctorU. There are some helpful resources out there for you to get a little more information about who we are and what we do. I would also like to clear the air on some of the information I've seen in these posts.

Start with our website and some of our introductory videos:
ProctorU: How it works!
ProctorU: Getting Started
ProctorU on Vimeo

Some users of this forum have expressed concerns about security.
We do not have access to your computer once your exam session is over. We use a program called LogMeIn https://secure.logmein.com/ that allows us to share your screen. You can see whatever the proctor can see. We may borrow a user's mouse to trouble shoot a technical problem, but that person can see everything the technician is doing. Once the session has ended, the connection is permanently closed and we no longer have access to your computer. Students that use us again and again can testify that they must connect with us for each session to establish a new connection because the original one from their first exam is long gone. We proctor hundreds of exams per day and thousands per month for over 100 institutions.

We are a service-based company. If there were a security breach on a student's computer, it would be detrimental to our business, just like if McDonald's served poisoned hamburgers. We want you to be happy and comfortable with our service and continue to take your exams with us.

Our four company pillars are Integrity, Service, Simplicity and Fun. We stick to these principles and take the very seriously.

For this reason, we only hire individuals with high levels of integrity. Each ProctorU employee must successfully pass a background check and a rigorous interview process. Our proctors work in a controlled environment where their sessions are monitored and managed by an experienced team of professionals.

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact us at 205-870-8122 or email me personally at fhayes@proctoru.com.

[ryoder]

I used them a couple of weeks ago and it felt a little intrusive. I had issues connecting up the webcam to their site even though I went through the cam test. Something just didn't work right. So the girl started going through the menus trying to make it work. It felt a little odd to me as a security conscious person. I know for a fact that I would be forbidden from taking this test on a company owned laptop due to security policy so I think that a good thing for a techie to do is to consider doing this from a virtual machine or a dual booted scratch machine with no access to your hard drive or other personal information. Another simpler option would be to create another user account on your PC so that when you have the proctor login they cannot access your personal documents, favorites, history etc.

[dmsgirl]

Another simpler option would be to create another user account on your PC so that when you have the proctor login they cannot access your personal documents, favorites, history etc.

I tried that when I had my ProctorU exam a few months back since I had the same concern. You have to be logged into the Administrator profile to take the exam. I had another user account set up and the connections wouldn't work. That's when I found out the main computer profile is the one that has to be used.

I would think though that nothing could really be accessed while I'm taking the exam if I'm using the mouse. I mean I would know if someone was trying to use my mouse because I would be using it. We can't both use it. And if someone were to use the keyboard it would move me away from my exam page and it would be obvious to me if that were happening. What other ways could personal info be taken?

I have used logmein and other programs like that in the past for business and never experienced a problem. I like the convenience of ProctorU but I just wished TESC's tuition wouldn't have been raised for the cost. I would have just stuck with the pen and paper exams (I prefer those anyway).