{"id":117830,"date":"2020-09-21T12:49:47","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T10:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=117830"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:04","slug":"two-students-really-annoyed-by-the-revoked-diplomas-and-exams-i-think-its-unreasonable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/09\/21\/two-students-really-annoyed-by-the-revoked-diplomas-and-exams-i-think-its-unreasonable\/","title":{"rendered":"Students really annoyed by the revoked diplomas and exams: \u2018I think it\u2019s unreasonable\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two students whose examinations or diplomas were revoked told their stories to EM<\/em>. It was announced on Thursday that the Erasmus School of Law (ESL) Examination Board has revoked multiple diplomas and almost a hundred examinations due to technical problems with the proctoring software. \u201cWe\u2019re being treated unfairly,\u201d stated the students.<\/p>\n

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Conversations with those affected revealed that several students are so dissatisfied about the way things have gone that they have engaged a lawyer to appeal to the Central Examination Appeals Board (CBE, a university appeal body, ed.) against the decision. The Examination Board is also thinks the current situation is very unfortunate and hopes to find a solution in discussion with the students.<\/p>\n

Wenda Sleijpen (21), Criminology student: \u2018We\u2019d already opened the Prosecco\u2019<\/h2>
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They\u2019d popped the cork on the bottle of Prosecco in the Sleijpen household when Wenda (21) suddenly heard that the criminology degree certificate she\u2019d already celebrated was invalid. \u201cIt was such a huge disappointment,\u201d she sighed. \u201cAnd stressful. I only heard halfway through August and needed to retake the exam \u2018preferably within a week and a half\u2019. And that was while I was wanting to start my minor.\u201d<\/p>\n

What went wrong? The Erasmus School of Law (ESL) Examination Board announced that there were problems with the proctoring images. The Examination Board explained in an e-mail that \u2018unfortunately\u2019 her Formal Criminal Law examination could not be assessed: \u201cFrom the proctoring images it appears that from 3:51 minutes after you logged onto ProctorExam and before you started the examination, the screen you shared failed. This meant that it was impossible for the examiner and\/or the ESL Examination Board to check your examination for fraud.\u201d They wrote that they also find the situation unfortunate.<\/p>\n

Resit on Chromebook with proctoring<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI was really shocked,\u201d stated Wenda. \u201cI\u2019d already had my marks for a few weeks, so I thought everything was fine. It was the last mark I needed for my Criminology bachelor, which meant it was in the bag. Or so I thought. But then I received this e-mail on 17 August. The preference was that I would do the exam again on 27 August and that was to help me. I had until 10.00 pm to register, so I rushed to do that and then I had to start delving into my books again during my holidays.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Wenda did the resit, she wanted to do it without proctoring. \u201cI\u2019d realised during the last exam that something had gone wrong, but when I asked the helpdesk that was set up specifically for this, they said that the problem had been resolved. Afterwards, this proved not to be the case. The Examination Board informed me that I could do the resit without proctoring, but I\u2019d have to sit the exam at the university. Once I was there, the invigilator stated that we had to do the exam on a Chromebook with proctoring. That stressed me out again. In the end, the invigilator came again after fifteen minutes to say that it wasn\u2019t necessary after all. I left it switched on, just in case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophie Boeringa (22), Law student: \u2018As a student you\u2019re 1-0 behind these days\u2019<\/h2>

\u201cI can understand that the university needs to devise something to enable examinations to take place as usual. But it\u2019s clear that the current proctoring system no longer works,\u201d stated Sophie Boeringa, a third-year Law student whose exams in Law of Civil Procedure and Law of Criminal Procedure were both rejected due to the proctoring images. She feels unfairly treated. \u201cAs a student you\u2019re 1-0 behind these days if errors occur.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why? \u201cWell, it\u2019s because the burden of proof against fraud is suddenly on us. Normally the invigilators check whether we\u2019re cheating, but now we need to prove with our webcams that we\u2019re not cheating. And it\u2019s already been a considerable intrusion into my personal life: I\u2019m revealing my personal life via the webcam, I\u2019ve got to ask my flatmates to be quiet, and I click on the correct links. I did the compulsory check a few days beforehand. And now, we\u2019re the victims because the program that the university itself selected has problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two-month wait<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

During the examinations, Boeringa hadn\u2019t noticed the technical problems in one of the two exams that led to her examinations later being rejected. \u201cThe webcam lamp was on the whole time and I could see that my screen was being shared. And yet, I received an e-mail that some matters had been rejected and, what\u2019s more, that took over a month. I did notice something during the other exam, but I thought that this was resolved because I followed all the necessary steps. It\u2019s really difficult: you get your marks fifteen days after the exam, but you\u2019re still not sure whether you\u2019ve passed or not, because it takes so long for the proctoring images to be viewed. I know students who have had to wait for two months, only to then hear that their exam was rejected. People are facing study delay because of this and need to resit their exams.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s unreasonable. The university also has a responsibility here: they chose this program and if there are technical problems that are out of my control, they need to find a solution for this. But now, as students, we\u2019re the victims.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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