UBC has extended its contract with the exam invigilation service Proctorio by a year as it searches for a replacement.
In a statement released on January 22, UBC announced that it has begun the process of finding a new invigilation service following student concerns. The university’s contract was scheduled to end this month.
“We have heard numerous student, faculty and staff concerns about using such tools for online assessments, including privacy, ethical, and equity and inclusion concerns, many of which have been clearly and frequently expressed by student leaders,” said Simon Bates, associate provost of teaching and learning, and Christina Hendricks, academic director of the Centre for Teaching, Learning & Technology.
In a written statement, Bates said that finding a new service “can take around 3–4 months in total.” He added that a group of faculty and students was formed to review UBC’s criteria for remote-proctoring software. The university added criteria for “equity, accessibility and ethical concerns” in addition to existing privacy and security considerations.
Bates did not disclose what alternatives UBC was considering now that the Proctorio contract has been extended.
“Vendors will not generally license tools for shorter periods. This does not necessarily mean we need to continue to use Proctorio for the entirety of this period,” he said.
AMS VP Academic and University Affairs Georgia Yee said that UBC held a meeting with the society about the Proctorio contract where she “quite vehemently” opposed a renewal. However, the university argued in favour of continuity for instructors using the service.
The AMS has opposed the use of Proctorio since the beginning of the pandemic and urged UBC not to renew its contract with the invigilation service. Student and faculty concern surrounding Proctorio has continued since the transition to online classes in 2020.
“We want to really continue to emphasize that it is really important to gather the informed consent of students before rather than coercing them into using harmful software like Proctorio,” she said.
UBC employee Ian Linkletter is currently being sued by Proctorio for posting training videos to his Twitter account. Linkletter had also expressed concern over privacy with the service.
The university’s statement said that “concerns should be weighed heavily in the decision” for instructors to use Proctorio.
UBC released guidelines last fall recommending that instructors maintain academic integrity in other ways first and limit the use of remote invigilation software, but Yee said at the time that the university did not go far enough.
“It is really vital that students are not being forced into using Proctorio as part of their grade and that instructors are also creating options to accommodate students who have opposition to using Proctorio,” said Yee.