UPDATE: Proctortrack Online Proctoring Solution

October 9, 2020

Dear Colleagues,

I have reproduced further below the memo from EVC Cruz about ProctorTrack that I forwarded to all faculty on October 1. I’ve been designated Baruch’s campus representative to the central office team that the EVC referred to in that memo. In that role, my first task is to:

“identify courses/class sections that will use online proctoring and would need to be coded with appropriate class attribute in CUNYfirst for identification and license allocation;”

Please note that no one will be considered for use of ProctorTrack for exams unless they included in their syllabus at the beginning of the semester an indication that an online proctoring system might be employed this semester. As the chancellor wrote in his memo (highlighted further below in green):

“Finally, per previous guidance, it is important to note that the online proctoring tool may only be required if the course description or course syllabus noted that they might be used, allowing students to make an informed decision about enrolling in that course.”

Note: in my memo to faculty of August 21 (re-sent on August 23), I advised “If you might use online proctoring in your class(es), you should let your students know (on the syllabus or otherwise in writing) that CUNY is in negotiation with online proctoring providers and that if negotiations are concluded successfully your students will need to turn on their webcams in order to take the final exam. (If the negotiations conclude soon, online proctoring for other exams might be possible as well.)”

If you did let your students know via your syllabus or otherwise in writing at the beginning of the semester, you are eligible now to let our office know that you would like to be considered for use of ProctorTrack this semester. (We should know soon about when it will become available.)

If you are eligible, please send your information to Vanessa Cano Vanessa.Cano@baruch.cuny.edu by noon on Monday, October 12. That information should include:

Your name
The name of your course
The course designation (e.g., MSC 1005)
The section designation (e.g., BTRA 22021)
The number of students in your class
Indication of whether the course is synchronous, asynchronous, or hybrid
How and when you let your students know that online proctoring would be a possibility

Finally, please note that the advice from CUNY’s Office of Legal Affairs stands (highlighted further below in BOLD):

The Office of Legal Affairs has reviewed the Terms and Conditions of several online testing application services and it is the office’s guidance that faculty cannot compel students to accept the corresponding tools’ “Terms and Conditions” and that in the event students do not accept the terms, faculty must provide students reasonable assessment accommodations to demonstrate they meet the course learning requirements.

Thank you,

Dennis Slavin, PhD
Associate Provost and Assistant Vice President
Baruch College, CUNY
dennis.slavin@baruch.cuny.edu
https://provost.baruch.cuny.edu/about-us/leadership/

Begin forwarded message:

From: José Luis Cruz <JoseLuis.Cruz@cuny.edu>

Subject: Announcement and Request for Information (October 6, 2020): Proctortrack Online Proctoring Solution

Date: September 30, 2020 at 5:54:28 PM EDT

Dear Presidents and Provosts,

I am pleased to report that the University has secured the services of Proctortrack as an online proctoring solution and is working hard to have this solution enabled and accessible for use by faculty and students by mid to late October.

The decision to implement Proctortrack came after a thoughtful, purposeful approach toward securing an online proctoring solution that would best balance the safety of our campus communities, the data privacy issues of our students, and the integrity of our academic programs per the recommendations of our system-wide task force charged to provide forward-looking recommendations for Fall 2020.

In selecting Proctortrack as a remote proctoring tool while CUNY is primarily operating in remote mode we endeavored to mitigate risks to our students and our University, secure fair pricing for services to be provided, and maintain tight controls over privacy issues. The level of service in procurement, for example, will make proctoring data available to faculty and University officials only in cases where academic integrity issues are suspected, will require the safe disposition of any and all student data 60 days after a proctored test or quiz, and provide continental 24/7 U.S. support services through Blackboard. Proctortrack is a solution used by institutions such as Rutgers University, MIT, SUNY Cobleskill, and other universities served via edX and 2U (e.g., Brown, NYU, Columbia).

Per previous communications, the University has secured product licenses that will be allocated to campuses based on campus needs. To this end, I ask that if your campus is interested in securing some of these licenses, you designate a campus representative to work with a central office team including folks from OAA, CIS, and OGC. That campus representative will work to:

identify courses/class sections that will use online proctoring and would need to be coded with appropriate class attribute in CUNYfirst for identification and license allocation;
oversee integration of Proctortrack with Blackboard;
serve as primary contact for campus faculty and students to ensure usage guidelines are met;
identify faculty and staff who need to undergo Proctortrack training; and
identify faculty and staff who will be trained Subject Matter Experts and can serve as liaisons to the CIS Technical Support Team on using the Proctortrack solution.

Please send the names and contact info of your designees to Suman Taneja (suman.taneja@cuny.edu) on or before Tuesday, October 6, 2020.

Finally, per previous guidance, it is important to note that the online proctoring tool may only be required if the course description or course syllabus noted that they might be used, allowing students to make an informed decision about enrolling in that course. No other student can be compelled to agree to the terms and conditions of proctoring solutions procured by the University, Colleges, Programs, and/or those which may be bundled in with specific textbooks. When in doubt, please refer to the following guidance from our Office of General Counsel regarding this matter:

Examples of alternative methods of assessment include papers, presentations, annotations, e-portfolios, and in-person exams following campus reopening safety guidelines. As part of the communications roll-out, the University will develop an FAQ page with additional information on Proctortrack and on alternative assessment methods and will coordinate a webinar on effective assessment practices that do not require online proctoring tools.

More information will be forthcoming.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

All the best,

—

José Luis Cruz, Ph.D.

Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost

The City University of New York