Student Handbook 2025-2026

Contents
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Test Policies and Guidelines

 Test Policies and Guidelines

  1. Remote Testing: During the time frame that GSON maintains a virtual classroom, testing will be remote. Students are expected to adhere to the College Code of Conduct and Student Integrity.
  2. General Guidelines:
    1. Personal computers, tablets, PDAs, cell phones, smart watches, pagers, or any other form of electronic devices will not be allowed in the room during exams.
    2. Students must show GSON name badge to enter exam room.
    3. There will be assigned seating for examinations.
    4. Books, notebooks, book bags, etc., are to be stored in lockers or placed at the front of the room.
    5. Students are not allowed to move about in the room and may not leave the room during testing. Leaving the room prior to completing an exam will end the exam at that time.
  3. Cheating:

    A Student against whom an allegation of cheating has been made and found to be true will not be allowed to take the exam and/or finish the exam. If a student is suspected of cheating, the faculty will notify the Program Director, who will then notify the Assistant Dean, who will then notify the Dean for investigation. Further action will be taken which may include receiving a zero on that exam; failure of the course; and/or dismissal from the College.

a.  Students must close their computer completely before exiting the exam room.
b.  Students may not duplicate test questions or content by any method.
c.  Screen recording is prohibited.
d.  All cell phones and earbuds must be placed in the backpack or bags.

Students caught doing any of the above bulleted items will be required to take an alternative form of the test and may be subject to possible dismissal from the program.

 

Undergraduate Testing Policy and Procedure

Exam Average:

A cumulative score of 78% or better must be achieved on all summative tests/quizzes included in the exam average before the grades from other course work will be calculated into the final grade. Grades are not rounded. For example, 77.89% does not equal 78%. It should be noted that course work may lower the course grade.

General Guidelines Exam Build:

  1. To improve test security, a password will be assigned to each form of testing.
  2. Immediately before the start of the test, provide the password to students.
  3. For students with accommodations, communicate the password to student support and engagement team 24 hours in advance. A standard of 1.5 minutes per item will be allocated on exams and quizzes.
  4. Partial credit is allowed for NGN test items only, this will not apply to multiple choice, select all that apply, or any item not associated with NGN style questions.
  5. Each course with a clinical component must have a minimum of 5% of the test items that reflect pharmacology questions. This does not need to include drug calculations.

Policy Statements

Testing Procedures

  1. In the event of an emergency, the student must notify faculty via email at least 60 minutes before the start of an exam/quiz, failure to do so will result in a score of zero for the exam/quiz.
  2. Students are required to be present on campus on exam days. Failure to attend an exam/quiz without prior notification to faculty will be considered a no call/no show and will result in a grade of zero for that exam.
  3. If a student arrives more than 5 minutes late for an exam/quiz, they will not be permitted to take the exam/quiz. The student will need to schedule a make-up test with their faculty, and the make-up policy will apply.
  4. Faculty will escalate any unforeseeable circumstance requiring a student’s absence to the program director for assistance.
  5. Students will not disclose or discuss information about the items or answers on exam/test/quiz unless it is during a formal assessment review with the course faculty. This includes posting or discussing questions or content on social media or via text etc.
  6. Books, notebooks, book bags, cell phones, ear buds, smart watches, or any other form of electronic device (excluding laptop) need to be placed on the perimeter of the testing room.
  7. Once the exam/quiz has started, students are not allowed to move about the room and may not leave the room until their exam/quiz is complete.
  8. Once as student completes an exam/quiz/ATI, the student will promptly restart their computer and close the laptop before leaving the room.
  9. Faculty will verify that a student has logged out of the exam/quiz following the review of their rationales.
  10. Leaving the room prior to completion will result in the termination of the exams/quiz and the grade earned up to that point will be recorded in the gradebook.
  11. Faculty will actively monitor students continuously to deter cheating.
  12. During the exam, students are not permitted to ask any questions of faculty related to the exams/quiz items. Only technology issues/requests are permitted.

Online Testing:

  1. Virtual testing will be allowed only for online courses and/or in the event the college is closed for extenuating circumstances.
  2. Respondus monitor will be enabled for all online testing regardless of circumstance or online courses to support integrity of exams.

Accommodations:

  1. Students are responsible for presenting an accommodation letter to faculty the first week of the term. Accommodations will not be applied retroactively.
  2. It is the faculty’s responsibility to schedule assessments requiring accommodation with the student support and engagement team once the accommodation letter is received.
  3. It is imperative that faculty maintain the privacy of students with accommodations.
  4. Course content will not be delivered on the day that an exam/ATI is schedule, if the class is scheduled for less than 3 hours.

Make-up Tests:

  1. Make-up exams/quizzes will be given by appointment only and arranged with course faculty.
  2. Make-up exams/quizzes will not be given after one week from the original test date. After one week, a zero will be entered for the grade.
  3. Make-up exams/quizzes will not be the same as the original exam/quiz and may be given in a different format from the original exam/quiz. Make-up exams/quizzes will be at least 50% different from the original exam/quiz.
  4. There will be an automatic 5% score deduction on the student’s first occurrence of a make-up exam/quizzes. (e.g. if a student earns a 95% the score will be reduced to 90%)
  5. There will be an automatic 10% score deduction on the student’s second occurrence of a make-up exam/quizzes. (e.g. if a student earns a 95% the score will be reduced to 85%)
  6. On the third occurrence, the student will be given an automatic score of zero (which may result in failure of the course).

Grounds for Program Dismissal or Cancellation of Results:

  1. A student against whom an allegation of cheating has been made and found to be true will not be allowed to take the exam/quiz and/or finish the exam/quiz.
  2. Faculty will notify the Program Director, Assistant Dean, and Dean for investigation. Further action may include receiving a zero on the exam/quiz, failure of the course, and/or dismissal from the college.
  3. Students may not duplicate exam/quiz questions or content by any method.
  4. Screen recording is prohibited during exams/quizzes