York serves up alternate exam location

Sameen Amjad
Staff writer
If a new York initiative goes according to plan, by April 2011 you could be writing your finals where tennis champ Roger Federer served one up.
The registrar’s office stated in an interview with Excalibur that they are aiming to make the Rexall Centre the primary venue for future exams.

Joanne Duklas, assistant vice-president enrolment management & university registrar, revealed that the fall semester exams held at the Rexall Centre Dec. 2010 were a test run in anticipation of future exams at that location.
“I was very happy with the test run,” stated Duklas, “There were no large issues.”
The issue of the change in venue was discussed at a senate meeting in fall 2010, where the exam disruption task force recommended creating an official examination centre on or near Keele campus to minimize disruptions.
Costs, however, may be of some concern.
“This will be a legitimate cost because it is related to academic integrity,” said Duklas. “My hope is that this will influence the community in a positive way.”
The new initiatives follow the recent slew of exam disruptions that took place on Keele campus during December exams. Vanessa Hunt, vice-president campus life for the York Federation of Students (YFS), sees this as a step forward.
“Anything that helps students ensure that they can do their exams without any hassle is a good thing,” said Hunt.
The university is planning to hold some of the final exams for the 2011 winter semester and fall 2011 terms in the venue, with the long-term goal of making the Rexall Centre a permanent venue for all exams by February 2011.
“Our goal is to continue to move more exams to this centre and have more and more professors get used to the venue,” said Duklas.