feasibility study on bringing an ets testing center to university park-final

5/16/2018 Feasibility Study on Bringing an ETS Testing Center to University Park-FINAL - ...

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/feasibility-study-on-bringing-an-ets-testing-center-to-univer

Feasibility Study on Bringing an ETS Testing Center to University Park, Pennsylvania

Prepared for: Sue Sherburne, Career Services

Prepared by: Jennifer Moore, Student

Monica Endy, Student

April 11, 2012



i

Abstract

ETS is an organization that produces and administers tests required for furthering

education and/or receiving certification. Many undergraduates in the Penn State community are

required or desire to further their education. One issue that many of these students encounter is

that the closest ETS test center is nearly 1 hour and 45 minutes away. This inconvenience mayelicit transportation issues, missed classes, and planning stressors. In response to this void in the

Penn State community, we have proposed that Penn State University brings an ETS testing

center to campus. To determine the feasibility of our proposition we evaluated the following

criteria: cost and time required, convenience for students, and technical feasibility. After

researching and evaluating the criteria, we found that bringing an ETS testing center to the PSU

campus was certainly feasible.



Table of Contents

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 1

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 2

Evaluation of Criteria ............................................................................................................. 3 Cost and Time Required ..................................................................................................................3

Convenience for Students ...............................................................................................................4

Technical Feasibility .......................................................................................................................6

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 7

Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 8

References ............................................................................................................................ 9

Appendix A .......................................................................................................................... 10

Appendix B .......................................................................................................................... 11

Appendix C .......................................................................................................................... 12



1

Executive Summary

Every college student that desires to enroll in further education must take an entry exam such as

the GRE (Graduate Record’s Examination). Other exams for special areas of study include theMCAT, LSAT, and PRAXIS. The ETS (Educational Testing Services) is responsible for

administering these exams at various locations in the United States.

Surprisingly, Penn State University does not have its own ETS testing center. The closest testingcenter where these critical exams are taken is in Harrisburg, which is about two hours from

University Park campus. For full time students this is very inconvenient and forces students to

miss class to take these entry exams. Also, not all students have means of transportation allowing

them to get to this destination. Some students are even required to take entry exams while homeover breaks or summer.

We researched options for Penn State to develop it’s own ETS testing center by examining howmany students are effected by this inconvenience and what other Universities have done about

this issue. With about 17,000 graduates and approximately 20% going on to further education it

is both necessary and desirable for Penn State University to have their own ETS testing centerwhere graduate exams can be taken. Many other schools within the Big 10 have a University

associated ETS testing center or at least one within close proximity. Penn State should be

looking to these “Peer Institutes” for ways to improve the University. Other schools in the Big 10

are Penn State’s main competitors and with the addition of an ETS testing center Penn State will

show that they are doing their best to help student’s achieve their goals in continuing education.

After analyzing our three main criteria: Managerial, Social, and Technically Feasible werecommend that the existing Pollock testing center on campus be renovated to meet ETS testing

requirements. The needed renovations are minor and will not require a large cost or significant

time. With this additional resource there will be a positive impact on both the students and theUniversity. Students will be able to avoid the stress of traveling and missing class and Penn State

will be able to match its “Peer Institutes”.



2

Introduction

On April 4, 2012, we received an assignment by the Penn State Career Services Center to findoptions for developing a closer ETS testing center to accommodate Penn State students. This

report presents the findings of our study. We researched the number of students enrolling in

further education, the closest testing center to University Park, and comparing Penn State toother Big 10 Universities. The options for creating a closer ETS testing center were researched

and concluded it would be best to use on campus facilities already used for class exams to

administer graduate exams such as the GRE. The Pollock testing center is a new technologicallyadvanced building that could easily suffice as an ETS testing center. Following this decision we

researched three main forms of criteria: Technical feasibility, Managerial, and Social.

The problem we studied is that, based on data from 2008-2009 graduates 20% of students desiredto enter into further education after graduation and based on research the closest testing center to

complete required entry exams is about 2 hours away. The distance is an inconvenience for all

students especially for those without a car on campus. From an informal interview of a student it

was concluded that many students are forced to take these graduate exams at home due to thisproblem (See Appendix B for full interview). The distance is not only troubling because of

inconvenience but also may be keeping students from reaching their goals of entering graduate

school if an alternative for taking these exams cannot be made.

Considering this problem, we researched options for creating a closer ETS testing center where

all entry exams could be taken by PSU students willing to go on to further education programs.

The conclusion was to make any necessary renovations to the already present building on PSUcampus such as the Pollock Testing Center. This would provide a great benefit for students while

not being too costly for the University.

We conclude that Penn State should accommodate students willing to continue on to further

education by making the Pollock Testing Center accessible to ETS exams. It is a feasible action

that has been taken by many other Big 10 schools. We therefore recommend a furtherinvestigation of how to successfully offer ETS exams and what programs will be needed and any

additional cost this may have. We also recommend a future study in seeing how effective the

additional services by ETS have had in helping students in achieve further education goals.



3

Evaluation of Criteria

Cost and Time Required

First managerial criteria such as cost and time were evaluated. These circumstances areimportant and must be considered when proposing our idea to Career Services. Due to recentbudget cuts we believe proving that the development of the ETS center will be cost effective is

crucial to its success. We also want to propose a way to develop this center in the most timely

manner.

To be the most cost effective a testing center already on campus could be used for ETS exams.

The cost of the needed renovations to an existing building such as Pollock Testing Center would

not be a large expense. The Pollock testing center is a newly renovated building with almost allof the security requirements by ETS. The only additional materials needed include: an electronic

fingerprint or palm vein, image capture and metal detector wand. The arrangement and

construction of Penn State’s existing testing center is very similar to an existing ETS approvedcenter at Ohio State (See Figure 1 and 2). The ETS computer program is not complex and wouldwork on any computer we already have on campus. The only other cost would be employees that

would run the tests.

Figure 1: Pollock Testing Center Figure 2: ETS Testing Center

Penn State Ohio State

There will be a slight time requirement for training employees and proctoring the exams. Due toother functions of the already existing testing centers such as Pollock we recommend that ETS

exams be given on the weekends. This way the time required to take the exam, approximately

4.5 hour will not interfere with other exams taken place for Penn State classes. Training will notbe difficult if employees that already give tests during the week are the ones administering theETS exams on the weekends. Also further education exams such as the GRE may not be taken

more than one time within 60 days. From this we decided that offering the test every Saturday

would be an adequate amount for students.



4

When analyzing the cost and time required for the development of an ETS center it was

concluded that renovating the existing Pollock testing center is the best option. Both the time andcost required is minimal and doable.

Convenience for Students

Testing centers are crucial to continuing education, as most graduate schools require somevariation of a standardized test for consideration of a student. Currently, Penn State students are

travelling 1 hour and 45 minutes (1.75 hrs) or more to access the testing centers providing the

tests (See Table 1 and Appendix A). By bringing a testing center to the Penn State campus,

students will have more convenient access to the mandatory graduate level exams.

Table 1: Testing Centers in Pennsylvania & Travel Time

City Travel time (hours)

Harrisburg 1.75

Indiana 1.83

York 2.17

Lancaster 2.42

Slippery Rock 2.58

South Abington Township 2.67

Pittsburgh 2.67

Allentown 3.00

Philadelphia 3.50

Conshohoken 3.50

Erie 3.67

In recent statistics posted on the PSU Career Services website, 18.4% of the 2008-2009graduating class had plans to further their education (See Figure 3). With nearly 20% of the

student body taking an exam for graduate school (after their bachelor’s degree), many students

were forced to make plans months in advance to take the exam at home, granted a testing centerwas within a reasonable distance (See Figure 4). If students are unable to travel to a test center at

home and at school, they are left unable to access a center.


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/feasibility-study-on-bringing-an-ets-testing-center-to-univer5

Figure 3: Penn State University Class of 2008-2009 — Post Degree Plans

Post Graduation Activities of Penn State Graduates By Degree and Year

Post-graduation Plans

Employment Further Education Personal Goals

Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent

Degree Received Associate 166 74.1% 44 19.6% 14 6.2%

Bachelor 2837 76.9% 679 18.4% 174 4.7%

Master 432 85.9% 48 9.5% 23 4.6%

Doctoral 234 89.7% 7 2.7% 20 7.7%

Figure 4: 20% of 2008-2009 graduates plan on further education

In the 2011-2012 academic year, ETS released a new form of the GRE test. The old test wasdistributed until August 1st when the new test was released. During the first three months of

distribution, scores were unable to be released because the new exam did not have enough results

to generate standard scores and percentages. As a result, students were required to wait 3 monthsuntil scores were unveiled. In the past, test takers were informed of their scores immediately to

allow time for decision-making about future attempts. When November of 2011 approached,

many students were frantic as scores were finally reported. Those who received poor scores were

needed to then retake the exam in a very short period of time (See Appendix B for full


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/feasibility-study-on-bringing-an-ets-testing-center-to-univer6

interview). As a result, their only options were to miss a day of class to travel about 1 hour and

45 minutes to Harrisburg for the four-hour exam (for a total of ~8 hours spent) or plan a weekendto travel home and take the exam at the closest location (for a total of ~48 hours spent). As one

may see, an outstanding amount of time is spent on both options. In addition, any classes missed

may result in jeopardizing a student’s education.

By bringing testing centers to the Penn State campus, time spent on travelling to the closest

testing center will be greatly decreased. Also, students that were once unable to easily access atesting center would be able to simply walk on campus to access the facilities. Without the

burden of travel arrangements, students would be able to conveniently get one step closer to

furthering their education.

Technical Feasibility

At first glance, bringing a testing center to the Penn State campus appears to be a time

consuming and expensive task; but, after extensive research, we have found that a universityaffiliated ETS testing center is certainly realistic and even common.To begin, we searched the ETS website for the test center locations in each state housing a Big

10 school. We then matched the city of the university to the testing locations. Often times we

found that a testing center would be labeled:

Michigan State University

207 Student Services Bldg.Counseling/Testing Office

United States Of America

48824

Addresses such as the example above indicated that the ETS center was located on school

property. After locating testing centers within close proximity to each of the Big 10 schools, we

found that five out of the twelve schools have an ETS center affiliated with the school, such asthe address above (See Appendix C). In addition, we found that nine out of the twelve schools

have an ETS center located in the same city as the school. Therefore, if the ETS center was not

on the university’s campus, there was a test center within the university’s city boundaries for

most of the Big 10 schools.

Seeing that most universities within the Big 10 are able to provide a testing center for their

students, it is a wonder why Penn State has not kept up with this pace. These Big 10 schools are

top competitors with Penn State. Falling behind by neglecting to provide essential testing

services for further education may hurt Penn State. Providing a testing center on campus will

encourage students to continue their education.

http://etsis4.ets.org/tcenter/tcenter.jsp





http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/feasibility-study-on-bringing-an-ets-testing-center-to-univers

7

Conclusion

After extensive research on facilities available, on potential costs, and on the convenience for

students, we have concluded that bringing an ETS testing center to PSU is feasible. We

recommend that ETS be located at the Pollock testing center as it has outstanding security,updated technology, and sufficient staffing. In addition, the Pollock testing center was created to

be a high-technology testing center. Naturally, the center would account for almost all

necessities required to operate an ETS testing center. Very few renovations will be needed.

Located on East campus and easily accessible to all students, Pollock testing center is a prime

location for an ETS testing center. We found that by bringing the testing center to the Penn State

campus, we can cut more than 4 hours from students’ travel and planning time. Students

struggling to access a testing center due to lack of transportation would be relieved of the travel

stressors.

Costs necessary to provide a convenient testing center for Penn State students will be at a

minimum. By using the Pollock testing center, a center that has been recently renovated to

include surveillance, an ID swipe system for entrance/exit, and tens of computers equipped with

barricades, Penn State would be only further utilizing their facilities. The only conspicuous costs

attached to opening an ETS testing center at Pollock would be the purchase of a metal detector

wand and of the testing programs.

Finally, looking further into the facilities of other Big 10 schools, we found that most schools

have an ETS testing facility on campus or somewhere within the same city. Penn State’s “peer

institutes” are providing testing services for their students. With these universities as topcompetitors of Penn State, PSU must keep updated with the paths these universities are

following.

After a full evaluation of the criteria, we have decided that all were proficiently met and the ETS

testing center at Penn State is very practical. To follow-up on our research and suggestions, we

have made a few recommendations.



8

Recommendations

Complete a more comprehensive investigation of the costs

o Potential electrical costs, costs for maintenance of computers, and costs to

purchase testing programs

Make further arrangements with ETS to discuss the contribution of their services at

Pollock testing center.

Create a follow-up study

o How effective is the testing center on campus? Was there a positive correlationbetween students going to graduate school and students testing at the on-campus

testing center? Were there more people taking the test at school than at home?



9

References

"ETS Test Center List." Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <http://etsis4.ets.org/tcenter/tcenter.jsp>.

"FINRA - Test Center Security Guidelines." FINRA. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.

<http://www.finra.org/Industry/Compliance/Registration/QualificationsExams/p015104>.

"MapQuest Maps - Driving Directions - Map." MapQuest Maps. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

<http://www.mapquest.com/>.



10

Appendix A

Map of Testing Centers Found in Pennsylvania

The green dot represents University Park, Pennsylvania. Each of the pink “push pins”

represent testing centers in Pennsylvania that were listed on the ETS website.



11

Appendix B

Interview with Penn State Undergraduate, Caitlin

Interviewer: When did you take the new GRE and how long did you wait until you received

your scores?

Caitlin: I took the GRE in early August when the new test was released. I knew that I wouldn’t

be receiving my scores until I returned back to school but I needed at least one set of scores byNovember so that I could begin applying to graduate school. I heard back about my scores really

early in November.

Interviewer: You said that when you received your scores, you decided that you wanted to take

them again. How did you go about making plans to retake the test?

Caitlin: Well it was really annoying because I realized that the closest testing center was 1 hour

and 45 min away in Harrisburg. I live in Massachusetts so going home for the weekend reallywasn’t an option for me. In the end, I had to skip Friday classes and had to borrow my

roommate’s car since I don’t have my own here at school.

Interviewer: How did you feel when you had to make all of those arrangements?

Caitlin: I was really stressed and plans weren’t really finalized up until the last minute. Withsome thesis deadlines and many graduate application deadlines quickly approaching, I was

frantic. The whole experience was unpleasant and I remember the whole time I was wonderingwhy in the world there wasn’t a testing center closer to Penn State. I see it as a real problem. I

feel like so many people would use the testing center if they brought one here.



12

Appendix C

Big 10 Schools and the Nearest ETS Center

School Location ETS Center University

Association

Indiana University Bloomington, IN Bloomington - 7736 Indiana University

Yes

Michigan State

University

East Lansing, MI East Lansing - 7513 Michigan State University 207 Student Services Bldg. Counseling/Testing Office www.testingoffice.msu.edu

Yes

Northwestern

University

Evanston, IL No NA

Ohio State University Columbus, OH Columbus - 7701 Ohio State University 281 W Lane Ave. 585 Student Academic ServicesBldg

Yes

Pennsylvania State

University

University Park, PA No NA

Purdue University West Lafayette, IN Lafayette - 1810 Prometric Testing Center

No

University of Illinois Urbana &

Champaign, IL

Champaign - 3003 Prometric Testing Center University of Illinois Urbana Fred H Turner Student ServicesBldg.

Yes

University of Iowa Iowa City, IA Iowa City - 5005 University of Iowa

Yes

University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI Ann Arbor - 0057 Prometric Testing Center

No

University of

Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN No NA

University of Nebraska Lincoln, NE Lincoln - 3804 Prometric Testing Center

No

University of Wisconsin Madison, WI Madison - 5323 Prometric Testing Center

No

feasibility study on bringing an ets testing center to university park-final

Documents