Federal Requirement 4.8.3
Distance and Correspondence Education - Charges
An institution that offers distance or correspondence education documents each of the following:
4.8.3 has a written procedure distributed at the time of registration or enrollment that notifies students of any projected additional student charges associated with verification of student identity.
Judgment of Compliance: Compliance
Narrative/Justification for Judgment of Compliance:
Executive Summary
At St. Petersburg College (SPC) there are no required additional charges associated with verification of student identity. The only potential cost is attributed to a student’s choice to take proctored tests outside the free routes provided by the College. Students are made aware of these potential costs by displaying a written statement at the time of registration that notifies students of possible additional fees associated with taking proctored exams outside of the SPC proctored testing sites in order to verify student identity.
Proctored Testing
Faculty members determine whether their online class will require proctored testing for mid-term and/or final exams. St. Petersburg College (SPC) offers free proctored testing for SPC online students on all major campus sites. Students who opt to take proctored exams outside of the SPC proctored testing sites incur additional costs. Testing outside of SPC is typically done at another college or testing organization and can result in fees ranging from $10 to $60 per test, paid by the student to that non-SPC institution. Students may also opt to use the remote online proctoring service, ProctorU. Proctor U is a live online proctoring service that uses a three-step process to replicate the face-to-face proctoring experience over the Internet. ProctorU’s service does not require students to purchase specially designed biometric devices. Instead, students use their own webcam and microphone, which most already possess. Students who choose to use ProctorU’s service pay ProctorU directly, $22.50 per two-hour test.
SPC notifies students of these possible additional costs associated with the verification of student identities through the eCampus Online Proctored Testing webpage, as follows:
St. Petersburg College offers online proctored exams for eCampus students. Proctored exams for placement testing, midterms, finals and state exits are available to students both outside and within Pinellas County. Testing at our four designated Pinellas County proctor sites is free of charge for SPC students. Charges for testing at other proctor sites vary according to the provider's fee schedule. Select the choice below that best fits how you will test.
At the time of registration for an online class, a note on each course section notifies the student of possible charges that they may incur in the class notes section, as shown in the following example:
A similar
message is displayed on the ANGEL Learning Management System's login page during the first week of
class, as shown below:
Faculty are advised to include the information in the course syllabus as well:
Supporting Documentation
In order to preserve the integrity of the supporting documentation in case of updates occurring between the submission of this document and the review, the narrative above links to pdf versions, whereas live links are included below.