What to Do In Case of Technical Trouble During Proctored Exams

During online exams there might be technical malfunctions at times—it can happen to anyone. If the problem is on the Examus side, the students will be able to retake the exam. Here are steps teachers and students should follow in case of technical failure during an exam. The document outlining the procedure was signed today by HSE University Vice Rector Sergey Roshchin.

If a student has technical problems during the authorization process or during the first 30 minutes of the exam, they should immediately contact the technical support via e-mail elearn@hse.ru.

Use your HSE student email (@edu.hse.ru) to contact the technical support team.

If the issue is not resolved, the student should report the incident by sending one email from their HSE student email account cc’ing:

eLearning support service (elearn@hse.ru)
degree programme manager / doctoral school manager
course instructor.

In your email, include the following:

your name&surname,
degree programme,
discipline (course title),
date and time of the exam,
detailed description of the problem.
supporting evidence (timestamped screenshots, photos, video, etc).

There can be different solutions to the problem:

Situation 1

If 20% or more students taking the exam experience technical trouble:

The manager of the degree programme / doctoral school / department sends the list of such students and the information confirming their attempts to enter the system during the first 30 minutes of the exam, as well as information about the technical malfunction to the head of the Proctoring Centre for review. Information is to be sent on the day of the exam until 23:59 inclusive;
No later than two business days from the date of the request, the Proctoring Centre sends to the manager the results of the review of technical problems with Examus and / or HSE servers at the time indicated in the request;
The teacher, together with the manager, schedules a new exam date for students who have faced technical trouble. It is recommended to hold the new exam before the end of the current exam session (Modules 3-4 of 2019/2020 academic year). If that is not possible, the exam is to be scheduled for the next retake period (September 01 – October 15, 2020). An exam taken on a new date will be treated as the first exam attempt.

Situation 2

If more than three people but less than 20% of students taking the exam experience technical trouble:

The student has the right to submit a personal request to the programme academic supervisor to postpone the exam until the next retake period. Such request has to be submitted no later than one business day from the exam date;
No later than three working days from the date of receiving the request, the academic supervisor reviews it and makes a decision about the deferral. Degree programme / doctoral school manager informs the student about the decision.

Situation 3

If less than three people face technical malfunction:

For such students (with their consent), by the decision of the teacher, the exam can be held the same day using distance technology and independently organized proctoring without using the Examus system;
If students agree to such conditions, they express their consent via HSE student email or orally before the exam using a video recording;
If students do not agree, the steps outlined for Situation 2 are taken.

Answers to frequently asked questions on dealing with technical problems during proctored exams can be found here.

June 09, 2020