The new semester has brought about a lot of changes to Weber State University, including a new testing center policy no longer allowing students to wear watches while in the testing center. While the focus of the policy has been on watches, the policy prohibits any electronic wristbands.
The new policy became effective on Jan. 12, the start of the spring semester. Students will now be asked to remove watches and place them in their pockets while in the testing center. Students also have the option of placing the watch under the desk or inside of their bag. This policy is in place for all testing centers on Weber State’s main campus as well as the testing center located at the Davis campus.
The Director of Testing at Weber State Tracey Smith said the idea of the new policy regarding watches came about during late October and early November of fall semester, 2014. With the increasing use of smart watches the faculty testing advisory committee began to discuss a new policy concerning watches.
Those concerned with leaving valuables unattended while in the testing center won’t have to worry about their watches. The policy does not require the student to leave them out while testing; however, students will have to remove them from their wrists and keep them in their pockets.
“We didn’t want to have to inspect watches going into the testing center and invade everyone’s privacy. Instead, we are simply asking that students take them off and leave them in their pockets while in the testing center,” said Smith.
Since the new policy has been in place, Smith has said that no complaints have been received from students, “We haven’t had any bad responses so far. Actually I had one student ask me what took us so long to make this policy.”
No students have been caught using a smart watch to cheat but the policy has been put in a place as a preventative measure.
Alex Brown, the Student Services testing coordinator said, “We want to be advancing our policies as the new technology is coming out.”
Brown also spoke about a possible increase, saying the amount of smart watches hasn’t been overwhelming, but they expect an increase when Apple releases their new smart watch.
Brown and Anthony Lambert, a HUB testing specialist, presented the new policy change to the student senate on Monday Jan. 26th. Both spoke of the excellent compliance from students regarding the new policy change. Lambert said, “This has been the smoothest policy change that I’ve seen in my three years of working in testing. Overall there has been no negative pushback.”
There will be signs posted in each of the testing centers around campus informing students of the policy change. Students wanting more information on testing center policies at Weber State can visit the testing center policies webpage.
