Dream Big – Designing a New Test Center

1. Dream Big – Designing a New Test Center Diane Patterson, Three Rivers College, MO Charlotte McGowan, SW Michigan College Susan Morgan, Appalachian State University, NC Joyce Smith, Marian University of Wisconsin

2. Dream Big! Diane Patterson – Coordinator of Testing and Assessment with Three Rivers College, Missouri • 8 years in testing • Public Community College with four satellite campuses • 4300 student body • Quick move – planning real move • Tests administered – just shy of 7000 • College BASE – education majors – 122 • Compass placement exams – 5492 • CLEP – 14 • GED – 456 • ETS Proficiency Profile exit exam – 408 • Technical Skills Assessment – NOCTI – 58 • Correspondence exams – 75 • Allied Health exams – NLN, ATI, HOBET V – 349 • Millers Analogy Test - 0

3. Dream Big! Charlotte McGowan, Director of Academic Assessment and Testing Services with Southwestern Michigan College • Public Community College with on campus housing • Approximately 3,000 students • 12 years in testing • Newly renovated testing center - 1 year ago • Test administered approximately 17,000 per year • Compass • Developmental Math • Make up exams • Disability Testing • IC3, MTA, Castle, ISO, DSST, CLEP, WorkKeys, NLN, HESSI, Kaplan, TABE other University’s exams

4. Dream Big! Susan Morgan, Director of TestingAppalachian State University, Boone, NC • Public Liberal Arts University – part of UNC system • 16,000 students with equal population in surrounding community • Began testing career in 1998 when CBT/ETS lab opened. Moved to current location in 2004 • In 2004, remodeled large, second floor conference room plus office into new Office of Testing Services located in student support bldg. which includes Admissions, Registrar, Financial Aid and Graduate School offices • Administer paper and pencil tests such as LSAT, NCE, GRE Subject Tests and Praxis in another classroom bldg. • 2 CBT labs in current location: 3 seat lab for Castle, IQT, Pearson, MAT, DANTES, CLEP, Distance Ed. • 7 seat ETS/Prometric lab for GRE, Praxis, MCAT, Prometric IT and ASE exams

5. Dream Big! Joyce Smith , Coordinator of Academic Testing with Marian University, Wisconsin • Private Catholic College - 2011 celebrated 75 years • Serve approximately 1,500 students (traditional, adult and disability services) • 16 years “temporary” in mobile unit – Now have 16 seats • Increased our revenue in the last year from $8,000 to over $13,000. • CBT and PBT exams • Make up exams for students attending Marian • Disability Testing (accommodations) • Castle, ISO, Comira, DSST, CLEP, ACT, Residual ACT and Kryterion as well as other University’s exams

6. Dream Big! What you need to consider • Working with architect on layout • Meeting ADA requirements • Working with Technology on network cabling, servers and monitoring • Working with Tradesmen on specifications

7. Dream Big! What you need • Quiet location with minimal distractions • Soundproofing • Check in station/area • Testing rooms for individual testing • Waiting area with lockers • Coordinator’s office • Secure storage room • Chairs with rollers • No drop ceiling • Carpet • White Board

8. Dream Big! What you want • Glass wall separating waiting area from testing area • Monitoring equipment • Separate area for assistant behind window with secure work area • White noise machine • Noise reducing headsets/earplugs • Large area for testing

9. Equipment List • Sound/White Noise Machine: Marpac Sound Machine Dual Speed – average of $50.00 • Noise Reduction Headsets: Vic Firth H9A, EN352 http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/vic-firth-db22-isolation-headset?src=3LVFWXX1 • Air purifier: http://austinair.com/products/junior-series%E2%84%A2/test-healthmate-jr-hm200/

10. Dream Big! ADA Requirements http://www.ada.gov ADA Information Line 1-800-514-0301 (voice) ADA Information Line 1-800-514-0383 (TTY) • Facilities (I.E.: Handicapped Accessible) • Furniture (I.E.: Adjustable tables, chairs, textures, colors, etc.) • Equipment (I.E.: Screen size, adapting software, keyboard and mouse pads, headsets, microphones.)

11. Dream Big! Moving • Make sure you have at least 50% more boxes than you think you need! • Label all the boxes with contents, and securely seal the boxes • Keep a tracking sheet of boxes, check them off as they are unpacked at new location • Staff move personal items (photos, mementos, art, etc.) themselves • Color code boxes going to different areas, testing - blue, counseling - red, library - green, etc.

12. Diane’s Floor Plan 1

13. Dream Big! Diane’s Floor Plan 2

14. Dream Big! Appalachian State UniversityStep 1, Room Assignment

15. Dream Big! Appalachian State UniversityStep 2, Dividing up the Space

16. Dream Big! Appalachian State UniversityStep 3, Filling the Space

17. Appalachian State UniversityAdmin Station and Lockers

18. Appalachian State UniversityWaiting Room and Testing Room

19. Southwestern Michigan College Proctor workstation and testing room

20. Dream Big! Challenges • Aesthetics vs. Function • Making sure the final decision makers understand testing requirements • Cost • Renovation or new build • Planning for the future

21. Dream Big! • We have 3 testing rooms that are multi-purpose. • This one room allows for: • CLEP testing • PBT and CBT testing • resource library • lunch room/storage/ copier room, and work-study area. • This shows our storage units • baskets w/clips to hold identification • Bags w/ties are used in the middle unit which locks (upon request). Marian University, Wisconsin

22. Dream Big – Questions, Answers & Discussion Diane Patterson, dpatterson@trcc.edu Charlotte McGowan, cmcgowan@swmich.edu Susan Morgan, morgansb@appstate.edu Joyce Smith, jasmith16@marianuniversity.edu