Challenge
To uphold academic integrity with a sudden shift to online assessment, the University of Florida (UF) required scalable and effective remote proctoring.
Solution
For their entire FTE, UF turned to Honorlock for a reliable, comprehensive, scalable, and secure proctoring solution.
Results
By partnering with Honorlock, UF realized substantial cost and time savings, pleasing both faculty and students, while upholding academic integrity.
Key insights
- $1.14 million cost savings over three semesters
- 8.5 hours faculty time savings per semester, per course
- Proctoring is allocated in their central budget alongside the LMS
- Scaled to remotely proctor exams for more than 63,000 students across 5,000 courses in a matter of days
- Contracted for remote proctoring of exams for full FTE
UF at a glance
- Top 5 Public University in the U.S. News & World Report
- The only university in Florida that belongs to the Association of American Universities, the top 64 research institutions in the U.S.
- No 1 in the U.S. News & World Report for best online undergraduate program in the nation
- 55,781 enrolled students
- 94 undergraduate programs
- 228 graduate programs
Challenge: Ensuring academic integrity amidst uncertainty
The University of Florida (UF), like many academic institutions, faced significant challenges when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traditional education models.
With the sudden need to move 5,000 courses online and administer exams to more than 63,000 students, UF initially leveraged a mix of proctoring solutions.
However, the challenges presented by the global pandemic required a more comprehensive and scalable proctoring solution.
Solution: Honorlock remote proctoring for Full FTE
For their entire FTE, UF turned to Honorlock for a reliable, comprehensive, scalable, and secure remote proctoring solution.
UF’s decision to partner with Honorlock for their entire FTE was driven by several key factors: scalability; effective, secure proctoring tools to protect exam integrity; cost savings; and the convenience and flexibility needed by both students and faculty.
Three years later as learning returns to campus, UF continues to use Honorlock for all students.
Results: Enormous ROI, an essential partnership
Scalable, affordable, proctoring for all
One of the primary considerations was the ability to scale affordably without passing the cost onto students, according to Brian Marchman, University of Florida Assistant Provost and Director of Distance & Continuing Education. Marchman led the charge and emphasized the importance of finding a remote exam proctoring solution that wouldn’t burden students financially.
“We had not planned in our budget for any way to pay for this, so we had to find the funds and not put it on the backs of students, and they [Honorlock] were able to make it work for us. We were over a barrel, and they didn’t take advantage of that,” Marchman noted.
The issue of how institutions budget and allocate resources to support online learning is crucial for the future. According to Marchman, rather than seeking additional funding, UF evaluated existing budgets and found ways to redirect funds from outdated or unnecessary facilities and programs to online learning solutions. This allows them to fund online learning innovations with their existing central budget, without requesting additional money.
Honorlock enabled UF to scale affordably without passing the cost onto students.
Cost & time savings
The partnership with Honorlock not only provided a scalable solution but also resulted in substantial cost savings for UF.
Over three semesters, UF saved an impressive $1.14 million, a significant achievement that earned recognition from Florida Tax Watch.
“This would not have been possible without an effective partnership between Honorlock and the university,” Marchman said.
“This would not have been possible without an effective partnership between Honorlock and the university. Honorlock allows faculty to focus on what they do best, teach.”
Brian Marchman
University of Florida Assistant Provost and Director of Distance & Continuing Education
“Honorlock allows faculty to focus on what they do best, teach,” Marchman said, “The
time savings reaped by faculty is an estimated 8 1/2 hours per semester per course. That’s nearly three weeks worth of class time returned to the faculty member to focus on instruction and student engagement rather than monitoring assessments or reviewing incident reports.”
Protecting exams & upholding academic Integrity
Honorlock’s innovative approach to remote exam proctoring, which blends human proctors with AI monitoring, played a significant role in its selection by UF because it’s secure, non-invasive, and offers various tools to protect exams from start to finish.
Honorlock’s artificial intelligence monitors exam sessions and alerts a live proctor who can review the situation and intervene if necessary. Otherwise, the student won’t be interrupted and they do not feel like they are being watched while they take their exam, “eliminating the ‘creepy’ factor of live proctoring.”
“We don’t just say we’re proctoring exams; we mean it. We don’t just give it lip service and partial effort. We want students to know their stuff and be able to prove it. Honorlock has been able to help us make that a reality,” Marchman explained.
Convenience & faculty satisfaction
Continuing with online assessments and remote proctoring beyond the pandemic was driven by flexibility and convenience for both students and faculty. Faculty members observed the success of the proctoring system, even those who were initially skeptical, according to Marchman.
It also allowed faculty more time for teaching, eliminated support wait times, and addressed privacy concerns that UF had previously experienced with another remote proctoring service. Students enjoy the flexibility and convenience of remote testing.
An essential partnership, not just a nice-to-have
The University of Florida’s ongoing partnership with Honorlock serves as a testament to the proctoring platform’s effectiveness, scalability, and cost-efficiency. Honorlock’s commitment to ensuring academic integrity and its seamless integration with UF’s learning management system has made it an essential tool for the university’s long-term assessment strategy.
Brian Marchman sums it up, stating that online proctoring with Honorlock isn’t a “nice-to-have add-on,” but an integral part of their educational infrastructure, just as important as their learning management system (LMS).
UF’s experience with Honorlock serves as a compelling example of how a proactive and innovative approach to online assessments can benefit students, faculty, and institutions.