We choose to stay with [Meazure Learning] because of their outstanding customer service. Our [test-takers] receive the help they need from a real person at [Meazure Learning], and a lot of the other proctoring companies don’t do that.
– Donja Tripp, Director of Student Services, Georgia Southwestern State University
How would you describe Meazure Learning to colleagues or other institutions considering an online proctoring solution?
If you’re considering online proctoring, Meazure Learning (formerly ProctorU) is the way to go. Through the years, other proctoring services have tried to get our business and I have been asked to evaluate other companies, but we choose to stay with Meazure Learning because of their outstanding customer service. Our test-takers receive the help they need from a real person at Meazure Learning, and a lot of the other proctoring companies don’t do that. Other companies have fully automated services, proctoring with the technology only. Having a real person there during an exam is important to us.
Why did Georgia Southwestern choose Meazure Learning? And how long have you been using Meazure Learning?
GSW’s School of Business Administration has been using Meazure Learning since 2013. The School of Business Administration has an expansive offering of online courses. The online enrollment in the school of business is actually larger than the on-campus enrollment. On-campus test-takers are not permitted to be enrolled in online courses. The online programs have grown through partnerships with two-year institutions throughout Georgia. More recently, GSW’s SoBA has entered in a partnership with eCampus (University System of Georgia) to offer GSW’s BBA to online test-takers from different markets. We attract graduates from two-year schools who want to further their education with a four-year degree. A lot of these test-takers choose Southwestern because of our online course offerings.
As for Meazure Learning, our vision was to have a true partner in this endeavor. We’ve evaluated other proctoring services in the past, but to tell you the truth, the only other option we really considered was using testing centers across Georgia and beyond. However, to do that for 500 test-takers taking three or four courses would be labor-intensive. So, we chose one proctoring solution to accomplish the whole thing, scheduling and testing, which has proven to be the best experience for our test-takers.
Are there any specific features you’ve found helpful?
I like the chatbox, it’s a great tool. The chatbox helps test-takers ask questions in real-time and resolve issues quickly. I direct them to go there for additional help, and I use it myself at night when I’m scheduling exams or resolving testing issues. Allowing test-takers to test 24/7 is another advantage for online test-takers.
In your experience, do you think Meazure Learning keeps pace with the changing needs of online education?
I think Meazure Learning is doing everything it can to stay ahead of academic integrity issues. Technology changes so quickly, you really must stay on top of it to ensure the academic integrity of the exams is protected as well as the reputation of the school.
Our partnership with Meazure Learning also helps keep us in good standing with our AACSB accreditation. AACSB has certain checkpoints and one of those checkpoints is maintaining specific standards when teaching online courses. So not only is it a great assessment tool for us, but we’re also able to meet our accreditation requirement with AACSB and reaffirm the quality of the programs and support Southwestern provides to test-takers.