TEN THOUSAND TESTS

Negotiating Expansion of Your Test Center

National College Testing Association Annual Conference

Minneapolis, MNAugust 2, 2012

ABOUT YOUR PRESENTERS

Dr. Jack Turner Margo H. Perry, MA

University of South Carolina Casper College (WY)

OVERVIEW

Necessity of Expansion What Steps to Take You’ve expanded! – Now What? Questions

WHY EXPANSION?

Needs of your clients and patrons. Needs of your institution.

New/Growing programs with testing needs Underserved groups Institutional mandate (because we should)

Need for greater capacity utilization. Need/Desire for increased revenue.

THE END IS IN THE BEGINNING

Where will expansion come from? Who will help you? What do you need? When can it happen?

WHERE WILL EXPANSION COME FROM?

Can you meet a need? Perform a self-study Look around your campus and community

Locate new vendors NCTA as a resource

At the conference On the listserv

Web searches

THINGS TO CONSIDER?

What is the vendor’s reputation?

How much space will you need to devote to them?

What are their rules and restrictions?

How many candidates do you think you can reasonably test in a set time frame?

WHO WILL HELP YOU?

Identify potential plankholders Academic departments Admission(s) office Any others?

Engage your supervisors Your immediate supervisor Upper administration

If you can get meetings with them In annual reports over the long term

What shall you say? Let them know the institution is missing out Describe how expansion benefits students

WHAT DO YOU NEED?

SPACE How much can you use

of your current space? Do you need to think

about moving? What would be ideal for

space; what can you live with?

Is there anywhere available to move to?

Do you need to modify the space to make it work?

WHAT DO YOU NEED?

EQUIPMENT Do you need

computers? More Computers?

What about furniture? For candidates and staff?

Do you have an estimate for how much it will cost?

WHAT DO YOU NEED?

PERSONNEL Do you need more

staff? Do you need an FTE? W Will part-time/student

workers do? What about the labor

situation in your area? How many staff do you

need? What can you live with?

Does your own position need an upgrade?

WHEN CAN IT HAPPEN

What sort of timeline are you looking at? Is this long-term (more than eighteen

months)? Is it short-term (first exam comes online in

six months)? Have a series of staged goals Remember: s/he who hesitates is lost!

MAKE A PLAN AND FOLLOW THROUGH

Present your findings to management Have two versions of your write-up: a short

version with important fact, and a long one with extensive detail.

Give them a choice, not just one way! Allows management to have a buy-in, committing

themselves to the process. Allows you to think about what is possible and what

is desirable.

Get as much agreement about the details as possible up front.

WATCH OUT! – HERE COMES THE PAIN!

“YEAH” AND “BOO”

You have more testing stations, now what and how?

Casper College 2011-12

WELCOME!To the Casper College

Academic Testing Center

# 0F TESTING STATIONS

From

12To

31

• Staffing

• Communication

•Schedules

• Maintenance

•Noise and other factors

• Institutional changes

Change the entranceFrom here …….

To here …

ADVANTAGES:

• “General Testing Room” - Large testing room reserved for Casper College students.

• “Online scheduling tool” - Added RegisterBlast that’s available to our students 24/7

• “Certification Testing Room” - Check-in procedures and proctoring are separate for certification testing (ACT, Pearson Vue, Castle Worldwide, etc.)

• “Front Desk” - phones, walk-ins, and check-ins are more private and separate from the testing rooms.

PROJECTS IN PROGRESS:

• Changing the College Email system to Google Loosing our current calendar and data Will try Outlook for scheduling calendars other than

the General Testing Room. (RegisterBlast)• Multiple proctor desks

Store electronic documents so accessible to all – create, train, and use Moodle

Same supplies stored in familiar way at each location

• Tweaking online scheduling system and announcing it to students and faculty on and off of campus. Welcome Back, Info Fair, Open House, and ……….

GOOD LUCK!

Please take a Casper College Academic Testing Center brochure and feel free to contact me.Margo H. Perry307-268-2212 mperry@caspercollege.edu

QUESTIONS?