Students with approved alternative testing accommodations must enter all quiz, exam, and midterm requests at least 5 business days in advance of standard tests. Requests must be entered at least 10 business days in advance of final exams. Business days are weekdays, Monday through Friday, and do not include weekends or holidays.
Students can edit or cancel exam requests by logging in to the Student Portal or emailing disability@rochester.edu.
The Office of Disability Resources is open to proctor accommodated exams from 8 a.m.-10 p.m., Monday-Friday during the semester and from 7 a.m.-10 p.m. during finals week. Any evening exams, including finals, that will end past this time frame with a student's accommodations will be automatically rescheduled to an earlier start time so that they end by 10 p.m. and those students will be sequestered until at least 30 minutes past the common start time if they finish early.
Students must adhere to exam request deadlines described in our Testing Policies. Exams are to be scheduled in the Office of Disability Resources (ODR) at the same starting time that their class is taking the exam, unless the student provides the ODR Testing Coordinator with evidence of instructor approval to test at a different date/time.
If your extended time accommodation would cause an exam to run past 10 p.m., refer to the Rescheduling Policy below and obtain permission from your instructor for an earlier start time
Note: ODR will not proctor any exams between noon and 5 p.m. on April 8, although students are welcome to test earlier in the day if they finish before noon.
Note: ODR will not proctor any exams (including make-up exams) during Reading Days prior to Finals Week (May 1-4 for the spring 2024 semester).
Rescheduling Policy
If an exam needs to be moved or rescheduled to an alternative day/time:
Students with accommodations may move or reschedule an exam with their professor's permission. Professors have the ability to indicate on the Testing Agreement whether they approve alternate start times. If there is no Testing Agreement, then students must contact their professor first and if they approve, forward their professor's written / emailed approval of the alternate date to the Testing Coordinator (disability@rochester.edu).
If there is space and proctor coverage available, the alternate exam date will be approved. Otherwise, the student must make exam arrangements directly with their professor.
The Office of Disability Resources will aid in rescheduling a student's exam two times. If a student misses the exam a total of three times (original date plus the two rescheduled dates), the student must work with their professor for them to administer the exam.
Allowed Materials
Students are responsible for knowing what materials are allowed for their exams. Students should pay careful attention to the type of calculator allowed, if any.
Disability Resources does not provide graphing or scientific calculators to students. Students will need to bring their own (if allowed).
Students should bring their own headphones for listening exams (if allowed).
In order to avoid misunderstandings and to distinguish between the use of instructor-allowed note/formula sheets, Disability Resources supplies students with watermarked scrap paper as requested.
Cell phones, smart watches, or any electronic devices that have an alarm are not allowed.
Food/drink brought with the student is permitted providing it does not cause a disturbance.
Arriving at the Exam Site
Procedure for Taylor Hall
Students must check in to their exams with photo ID.
Students must leave all unapproved material on the hooks and/or shelving units provided.
Students must arrive on time. Extra time won’t be granted for late arrivals.
Students who arrive more than 15 minutes after the standard exam start time won’t be allowed to start the exam without instructor permission.
Students who are scheduled to start an exam early but don’t arrive until the standard exam start time will be allowed to use their full extended time, unless that would push their exam end time past the last scheduled proctor shift.
For students testing in the testing suite (Taylor 27), camera monitoring is set up to proctor exams. Monitoring is done via a secure livestream. If you would like more information, email the Testing Coordinator.
Students should sit in the seat assigned at check in.
Procedure for Off-Site Locations
Students must check in to their exams with photo ID.
Students must leave all unapproved material at the front of the room.
Students must arrive on time. Extra time won’t be granted for late arrivals.
Students who arrive more than 15 minutes after the standard exam start time won’t be allowed to start the exam without instructor permission.
Students who are scheduled to start an exam early but don’t arrive until the standard exam start time will be allowed to use their full extended time, unless that would push their exam end time past the last scheduled proctor shift.
Exam Breaks
Break time will not be added back to the exam end time, except for students that have “breaks without time penalty” as an approved accommodation.
Breaks should be kept as brief as possible, and no longer than 5 minutes.
Students must be supervised at all times except during restroom breaks. At no other time will students be allowed unsupervised breaks.
Proctors will record the time students spend away from the exam room. Frequent and/or long breaks will be reported to the instructor.
Student Questions
Disability Resources requests contact information from professors and/or TAs for any questions that may arise during an exam.
Students should review the entire exam as soon as they arrive to identify any possible questions and notify the proctor so that they may try to contact the professor right away.
Proctors will attempt to contact instructors via phone, text, and/or email. If the instructor doesn’t respond, the student may request that the proctor accompany them to the exam room. If the student can’t reach the instructor, we encourage them to write the question on the exam and immediately email the instructor after the exam to follow up, and copy in their access coordinator.
Academic Honesty
Per the University's Academic Honesty Code: exam proctors who observe suspicious behavior during a quiz or exam must provide a written report and all pertinent documentation to the instructor.
Any instances of students testing with the Disability Resources suspected academic dishonesty will be reported to instructors.
All exam materials used during the exam, including any notes and scrap paper, will be collected and given to the instructor.
If students are beginning an exam earlier than their class, they will need to remain supervised at the exam site for at least 30 minutes after the standard class start time to ensure exam security.
