The Daily Bulletin

We would like to take a moment to thank our instructors for a successful launch of the new Testing Center at Student Accessibility Services during the fall 2021 semester. We could not have been as successful without all your positive participation!

As we begin the spring 2022 semester, we would like to make you aware of two issues that increase complications to the Testing Center process and explain why they are there by design.

1. The Testing Center Is Student-Driven

• The process starts with your students making their exam appointments five to seven days before your exam is scheduled for the class. We appreciate that instructors may want to assist their students as much as possible; however, we we ask that you direct your students to the ‘Make Your Exam Appointment in the Testing Center’ link on the Testing Center website so that students are encouraged to observe their responsibility and increase their self-advocacy.
• When students make their own exam appointments, instructors receive an automated email with the appointment details and are thereby notified that their student intends to take his or her exam in the Testing Center. Friendly reminders will continue to be automatically sent until the exam is with the Testing Center. The email also includes a link for instructors to send their exam to the Testing Center, which is our preferred method of delivery. Students also receive a summary of the exam appointment that they have made for their records.
• Testing Center staff members use the information provided by your students when they make their exam appointments to ensure that they will have a space in the Testing Center to take their exam and will have access to all needed exam accommodations or assistive technology. These provisions take time to set up correctly for each individual user and can be requested only by the student.

2. Submission of Your Exam to the Testing Center Using the Online Form Is by CRN for Your Course

• We appreciate that instructors may be using the same exam for multiple courses each semester. Because of the limitations of our database, regardless of the exam being identical, the exam must be submitted to the Testing Center based on the course registration number (CRN) of your course.
• The unique identifier that our database uses to link your student to your course and ties the entire system together is the CRN; therefore, although it is typically not a highly used piece of data, the CRN is the single most important component for our Testing Center.
• We realize that this may cause the occasional instructor to have to make multiple submissions of his or her exam, and for those instructors, we appreciate your understanding. As an alternative, instructors may always drop off their exams in person at the Testing Center, Butler Library 160, during the exam day: Monday–Friday, 8:30 a.m.–3:45 p.m.

We kindly ask new instructors and those not yet familiar with the new policies and procedures of the Testing Center at Student Accessibility Services to please take the time to familiarize yourself with your roles and responsibilities available on our website.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact Andrea Gustafson, learning and accommodations specialist, who is in charge of the Testing Center at exams@buffalostate.edu, the email address for all Testing Center correspondence.

Thank you for being a part of Buffalo State College’s dedication to equal educational access for individuals with disabilities.