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Examity for Faculty

SPS partners with Examity to proctor online exams. Each time you teach a course with a proctored exam, you need to confirm that your settings are correct for each course you are teaching. If you are teaching multiple sections of a course you will need to repeat this process for each section.

Carefully read the instructions on this page because the process for setting up and managing exams in Examity was changed as of May, 2022. Complete the setup process in the order presented here. 

The process of registering an exam with Examity is now largely automated. There is no need to contact Examity Support or manually enter your exam’s basic information in Examity.

Note: If your proctored online exam is hosted outside of Canvas on another platform, such as a textbook publisher's, not all of the information provided here will apply. Contact SPS Distance Learning Support at spsdlsupport@northwestern.edu for assistance.

Set up and manage a proctored exam

Setup your exam in Canvas for Examity proctoring

Note: The exam settings in Canvas must be configured before you click the Examity external tool link to launch the Examity dashboard, otherwise your exam settings will not be imported correctly from Canvas into Examity.  

In your Canvas course, prepare your course materials for proctoring by doing the following:

  1. Ensure your exam has the following settings:
    1. Confirm that your proctored exam title contains the word Examity.
    2. Mark the Time Limit checkbox and enter the exam duration in minutes.
    3. Mark the Require an access code checkbox and enter the access code.
    4. Set a Due date and Available from and To dates.
    5. Publish the exam.
  2. Ensure the introductory module contains the Examity - How To for Students page.
  3. Update the Examity - How To for Students page to reflect your exam’s specific instructions, as well as any additional exam rules or exceptions to Examity’s standard rules. 
  4. Send an announcement to your students reminding them to sign up for a proctored exam appointment.

Launch the Examity dashboard

Each time you teach a course, you will need to set up Examity in your course.

  1. Locate the Examity link in the Modules area of your course.
  2. Click the Load Examity in a new window button to go to your Examity dashboard.

After you launch Examity, wait 24 hours for your exam to be listed on your Examity dashboard before continuing the exam set-up process. 

Examity Automated Setup Process

Once you have launched the Examity dashboard from your course for the first time, the following data will be automatically imported (in up to 24 hours) into Examity :

  • Exam platform (Canvas)
  • Course Name
  • Instructor(s)
  • Exam:
    • Name
    • Window dates
    • Duration
    • Link
    • Password
  • Students:
    • Name
    • ID (as email address)
    • Email
    • Time Zone

Instructors are still responsible for manually entering the following in Examity:

  • Security Level (for the type of proctoring service, select Live Premium)
  • Special instructions
  • Special accommodations
  • Scheduling exceptions
  • Alternate or additional rules
  • Optional exam settings

Note: Each time you make a change to your exam settings in Canvas, you must wait 24 hours for the changes to be reflected in your Examity dashboard.

View or change exam settings in Examity

  1. Click Courses on the your Examity dashboard.
  2. Select the course name from the list.
  3. Click the Exams tab in the Course Shell.
  4. Select the exam name from the list.

The Exam Shell has five tabs that will allow you to view and edit the exam settings, or review results:

  1. Info: View or change the basic information about your exam. This information which is retrieved automatically from Canvas includes:
    • Course name
    • Exam name
    • Exam window (start and end dates)
    • Exam duration
    • Access code (password)
    • Security Level (type of proctoring service)
      Note: You must ensure that Live Premium is selected for the security level.
  2. Rules: View or specify rules for your exam. Standard rules are listed on the left. Additional rules may be added by marking the checkboxes on the right.

    Note: Provide all exam rules to your students prior to the exam on the Examity - How To for Students page.

  3. Instructions: View, edit or copy exam instructions for the test-taker and reviewer. Enter special instructions or import them from an existing exam.

    Note: If you have multiple instructions, click the Add Instructions button after entering each one to ensure ease of reading for both the proctor and your students.

  4. Supporting Documents: View or upload any files students will need for the exam, such as reference materials.

  5. Exam Results: View the status of scheduled, completed, and reviewed exams for each test taker.

    For reviewed exams, click the Detail button at the end of the test-taker’s row to view the exam recording and details of any flags.

    All exams will be reviewed and the results will be available within 48 hours of completion.

    Session recordings with no violations will remain available for 30 days, while recordings with violations will remain available for one year.

Exam Results Flags

Examity uses a system of colored flags to summarize the issues from each test-taker's proctoring session.

  • Green flags (no violation): indicate that all significant steps in the proctoring process were completed successfully.
  • Yellow flags (potential violation): indicate an exam rule was broken but cheating was not apparent.
  • Red flags (violation): indicate the test-taker exhibited clear cheating behavior.
  • Blue flags or alerts (technical issues): indicate a technical issue occurred.

See the Examity Flag Breakdown for further details.

Define special accommodations for one or more students

In Examity, testing accommodations are set at the course level and may be applied to one or more students.

  1. Click Courses on your Examity dashboard.
  2. Click the Course Accommodations tab.
  3. Select the name(s) of the test-taker(s) in the drop-down menu by marking the checkbox next to each name.
  4. Enter the accommodation in the Accommodations box and click the Add Accommodation button.

    Note:If you have multiple accommodations, click the Add Accommodation button after entering each one to ensure ease of reading for both the proctor and your students.

  5. Click the Save Changes button when you have entered all the accommodations for each test taker or group of test-takers.

Support for configuring your exam

Download the Proctoring Guide: Administrator and Instructor for detailed instructions.

Contact Examity Account Service at accountservice@examity.com if you need assistance setting up your exam in Examity.

Student Proctoring Fees

Students are responsible for all proctoring, late scheduling, cancellation and no-show fees. The costs for exam proctoring are based on the allotted time for the exam:

  • 1 hour – $18.75
  • 2 hour – $25.75
  • 3 hour – $32.75

Additional Fees

Scheduling within 24 hours of exam: $5.00 per exam hour

Cancellations or schedule changes within 24 hours of exam: $5.00 per exam

No-shows: Full payment of all proctoring fees 

To avoid additional fees, please schedule your exam appointment more than 24 hours prior to the exam.

Student Instructions

The Examity for Students page contains detailed instructions, resources and costs for students. In addition to providing the link in an introductory module in your course, you may include a link to this page in an announcement, your syllabus, exam instructions, or other relevant locations in the course. 

 Note: Students must use Google Chrome for the current version of the Examity platform. Additional hardware and software requirements can be found in How to get started with Examity online proctoring.

General Questions or Issues

For help with Examity, please contact Examity Account Service at accountservice@examity.com and copy SPS Distance Learning Support (spsdlsupport@northwestern.edu) on your message.