Creighton University, School of Pharmacy and Health Professions

Online Assessments and Emergencies

Online assessments may experience disruption due to several types of unforeseen events.  OLAT support personnel are present in the classroom during on campus online assessments to troubleshoot technical issues occurring during an assessment.  A toll free Online Assessment hotline is available for distance students and their proctors.  Calls to the hotline are given priority by OLAT support personnel.  The following information outlines the School's procedures for addressing disruptions of online assessments. 

Instructors of distance courses complete an Exam Restriction Form for each online exam given during a semester.  Exam restriction forms are completed prior to the start of the semester.  Instructors indicate on the form the course of action support personnel are to follow in the event a distance student is not able to complete an online exam due to unforeseen circumstances. 

Connectivity Disruptions
Students on campus or at a distance may lose their connection to the online assessment for a variety of reasons.  If this occurs the following procedures are followed:

• At the discretion of the instructor, campus students may be provided a paper version of the assessment.   If instructors wish to have paper copies of their assessment pre-printed to bring to the classroom, they may contact their department administrative assistant to do so. 
• Distance students may call the toll free hotline for assistance (1-800-325-2830 Opt.#4). 
• If distance students are not able to complete the online exam due to technical problems the procedures outlined on the Exam Restriction Form are followed. 
• If a copy of the exam is faxed to a student's proctor due to technical problems with an online exam, the Administration of Paper Exams document outlines the procedure followed by the Doctor of Pharmacy Distance Pathway Office.

University Emergency Closing
If the University closes due to an emergency (e.g., inclimate weather) instructors will notify their distance students as to how to proceed with any assessments scheduled during the closure. 

OLAT will post messages informing students of the University closing on the SPAHP Home Page and Current Student Home Page.

The voice mail on the OLAT service desk phone and the Online Assessment Hotline will indicate the University is closed due to an emergency.

Students Unable to Reach Proctor Site/Proctor Site Unavailable
In the event a student is not able to reach his/her proctor site to take an online assessment, the student must contact the instructor to determine how to proceed with the online assessment.