{"id":125467,"date":"2021-04-14T14:52:08","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T12:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=125467"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:33","slug":"conflict-over-proctoring-court-case-divides-university-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/04\/14\/conflict-over-proctoring-court-case-divides-university-council\/","title":{"rendered":"Conflict over proctoring court case divides University Council"},"content":{"rendered":"

The debate about remote proctoring finds several of the students on the University Council in a strong disagreement with staff council members. While these student members still hope to resolve the dispute through negotiations, they\u2019re nevertheless considering taking EUR\u2019s Executive Board to court over the use of a second camera during proctored exams. To this end, they have already sought professional legal aid. A number of staff members on the Council are entirely against possible legal proceedings. And some student representatives don\u2019t favour \u2018lawyering up\u2019 either.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEsther Dijkstra<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The debate about remote proctoring finds several of the students on the University Council in a strong disagreement with staff council members. While these student members still hope to resolve the dispute through negotiations, they\u2019re nevertheless considering taking EUR\u2019s Executive Board to court over the use of a second camera during proctored exams. To this end, they have already sought professional legal aid. A number of staff members on the Council are entirely against possible legal proceedings. And some student representatives don\u2019t favour \u2018lawyering up\u2019 either.<\/p>\n

Fits and starts<\/h2>\n\t
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\n\t\t\u2018It\u2019s not entirely clear to me which rights the Executive Board would be violating in this case.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAna Uribe Sandoval\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Heesen emphasises that the decision to go this route wasn\u2019t taken lightly. \u201cThe objective of our negotiations with the Board is to develop a framework comparable with other universities. A kind of guideline in which proctoring is discouraged as a standard measure, but also becomes acceptable to students as a policy in the sense that it needs to satisfy far more requirements before implementation than is presently the case. For example, a lecturer will need to justify why a specific examination requires proctoring.\u201d The negotiations are proceeding \u2018in fits and starts\u2019 according to Heesen, which is why the students have kept open the option of a court case. \u201cBut we absolutely prefer arriving at a solution via internal processes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several staff members on the Council say that they were caught unawares by the \u2013 in their opinion \u2013 \u2018dramatic\u2019 step of getting lawyers involved. According to council member and ESHCC lecturer Ana Uribe Sandoval, the other council members still aren\u2019t sure which specific matters the students want to bring before the court. \u201cThe University Council can take legal action when the rights of the Council have been violated. But it\u2019s not entirely clear to me which rights the Executive Board would be violating in this case,\u201d she says. If students want to initiate proceedings in a personal capacity, they won\u2019t be entitled to funding for legal support from the university\u2019s budget, according to Uribe Sandoval.<\/p>\n

In Heesen\u2019s view, this matter does involve a violation of the rights of both the University Council and EUR\u2019s student body \u2013 although pending the court case, he does not want to go into details. \u201cWe want to inform the Council about these aspects first before a more public announcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emotions running high<\/h2>

Emotions ran high during the past few council meetings. A number of staff representatives are deeply unhappy with the prospect of a court case. In their view, this would put pressure on the Council\u2019s constructive relationship with the Executive Board. Uribe Sandoval emphasises that like most of the members of the University Council, she is hardly enamoured with online proctoring either. But for the moment, there\u2019s no viable alternative, in her perspective. If the university were to do away with proctoring, this would put an intolerable burden on the lecturers. \u2018Regular\u2019 examinations would have to be converted into open book or essay exams \u2013 which may be a lot harder to cheat on, but also cost far more time to check. And simply organising multiple-choice exams without proctoring could impair the validity of the university\u2019s diplomas.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018Erasmus University is the only institution that uses a second camera. And in the cases of Delft, Eindhoven and, as of next year, Nijmegen, they don\u2019t use any kind of proctoring at all.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBram Heesen\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

This argument has failed to convince the students, however. Bram Heesen: \u201cErasmus University is the only institution that uses a second camera. And in the cases of Delft, Eindhoven and, as of next year, Nijmegen, they don\u2019t use any kind of proctoring at all.\u201d In his view, there are more than enough alternatives to counter cheating. \u201cFor example, you could also set up a big database with multiple-choice questions and present students with a random selection during the exam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not every EUR faculty relies on remote proctoring either. Rotterdam School of Management is the odd one out: they don\u2019t use this technology at RSM. Despite several reports on cheating during examinations<\/a>\u00a0and the fact that some lecturers are\u00a0very unhappy with RSM\u2019s eschewal of anti-cheating software<\/a>, so far the faculty has stayed its course. Uribe Sandoval is unable to explain how RSM can make do without proctoring. \u201cI don\u2019t know to which extent they\u2019ve adapted the exams at that faculty, but it\u2019s an illusion to think you can do away with proctoring without saddling the lecturers with a heavier workload. It\u2019s one or the other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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