Submitting Exams and Materials

USU Testing Services is committed to the highest standard of academic integrity. The online materials & testing system (MATS) has been designed to assist students in finding certified proctors and testing locations and securely distributing course material as well as exam access codes to proctors and testing centers around the state of Utah and beyond. This service is for all USU students.

Steps to submitting existing Canvas exams for proctoring

  1. Log into MATS.
  2. Select the course from the Courses Teaching dashboard.
  3. Select Add Exam.
    • If the exam exists in Canvas, you can select Import from Canvas to bring in some of the required information.
  4. Complete the form.
  5. If you are submitting a paper exam, please upload a PDF file of the exam after completing the form. 

Please include all necessary information: the date(s) the exam should be available to students, the exam file (if paper), the password (if online), allowed materials (scratch paper, what type of calculators, etc.), and time limit. Please also make sure to provide the e-mail address you would like materials sent back to when they are completed. Students should also be advised to put their name on all pages of submitted material. This will reduce confusion if scanned pages are separated. Exam and Material information can also be sent to distribution@usu.edu.

  • For testing center exams (available over multiple days) and/or online exam information & passwords for proctors worldwide we require 2 days advance notice.
  • The Respondus Lock-Down browser is not supported  by all testing centers and cannot be used for online exams.
  • Materials can only be posted to active courses for the current semester and to a specific course number. This means that exam information must be submitted every semester.

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Required Information
Exams given in testing centers must have a valid start date, end date, and time limit before students will be allowed to schedule their exam. Proctored online exams also require supplemental data (proctor notes, allowed materials, and student notes) to be entered.

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Calculator
Please be specific about what type of calculator students are allowed to use. If they are allowed a programmable/graphing calculator, we will clear the memory completely before the exam only if requested by the instructor. If you wish to allow students to use a calculator program you must expressly specify this beforehand.

How materials are returned

The standard exam return method is for testing centers to scan exams and place them in a Box folder which the instructor has access to.

Physical copies can also be mailed to Statewide faculty through campus mail at the request of the instructor. Logan faculty should collect exam materials in-person from the Testing Center.

Proctors and employees at the centers cannot grade materials or assist with anything that can affect a student's grade.

Centers store hard copies of all materials for 1 semester after the course has ended. Older materials are destroyed.

Things to Remember

  • Send documents as PDF files (file names cannot have symbols: #, $, :, etc).
  • Messages cannot be emailed directly to site facilitators or proctors. Facilitators/proctors receive posted materials in MATS.
  • Facilitators and employees at the sites cannot grade materials.
  • Graded materials cannot be posted to MATS (to return these materials to student they need to be sanned/emailed back to the sites).
  • The Respondus Lock-Down browser is not supported by all testing centers and cannot be used for online exams.
  • IVC Concurrent Enrollment courses cannot have materials posted to MATS (as most facilitators for these courses are not USU employees). The instructor will need to gather emails from the high school facilitators and email any printed class materials to them.
  • USU Statewide campuses must be given at least 2 weeks notice for in-class exams in IVC classes. 
  • Exam materials must be posted 2 business days before the exam begins.
  • Exams given in Testing Centers must span at least 2 days for courses of 60 students or less and 3 days for courses 61 students or more. The more days available for students the easier for them to get a scheduled time.  
  • Paper or non-Canvas exams can be submitted through MATS or emailing distribution@usu.edu.
  • Scantron services were decommissioned at the close of Spring Semester 2023. 

We have a responsibility to create a secure environment, to treat all students equally, to follow national standards, and to support testing for all classes. Instructors unwilling to comply with these policies are not required to use testing services. Instructors may request a formal review of policies they consider unreasonable.

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