Most schools by now have cancelled all final exams, given students the opportunity to just "pass" the course or allowed students to end the course with the grade they currently have. All, if not most, professors at WLU have chosen to continue the regular curriculum which is hard for some students because of the online nature of the content. We are all used to learning in a classroom or lecture setting and we are paying for this right. Not only are we teaching the content to ourselves now but we are also paying FULL tuition to teach everything to ourselves. We think the most the university can do is remove the Respondus lockdown + webcam feature of the final exams. 

WLU is one of the few schools that uses this to insure academic integrity of students. But during the current situation we are all facing, students are not getting proper education to do exams and they are not learning the material how they should be. Students feel unable to write exams on topic they cannot grasp. On top of all this, all student have different situations at home that are preventing them from turning on their webcam, staying still for the camera while they write exams!

Most of us are living with family members who are off from work! Some of us have families and children of our own which we need to tend to through out the day. Others have family members who require attention and care through this difficult time. Some courses are designed in a way that makes it very difficult to do online. Science and math exams require you to demonstrate certain topics on paper. writing equations and drawing our formulas, equations and diagrams which cannot be done online. 

The university AND the professors need to consider whats best for their students and during this time. We should not be required to turn on our webcams for 2+ hours and be expected to sit still all while trying to prove we are maintaining academic integrity. Many things can be mis-interpreted over a webcam and many distractions and outside noise from family members (who are all home) will occur. 

It is not a fair expectation for us to record ourselves for hours on end. It is also a privacy invasion. Being proctored in a lecture hall is different then being watched on a webcam. Every student has their own level of comfort. Most of us are accustomed to writing our exams in a large hall. 

only a FEW of us have taken online courses and only half of those courses have been online using Respondus + webcam. It is intimidating knowing someone is watching your every move and this may result in unnecessary technical conflicts which will lead to other conflicts later. 

The university needs to cancel all exams without resulting in failure of the course or they need to be more considering of what is going on in most peoples homes.

Some students have spoken out and said;

- they have family members at home with cancer, mental illnesses or small children.

- Some of us don't have large enough homes to have our own space with peace and quiet to write an exam.

- Some of us live in foster homes with many many other students who require the same needs at the same time.

- Some of us have desktop computers without a webcam, and shouldn't be asked to go buy one

- Don't have a desk in my home where I can get the quiet to write an exam

It's just not fair.. and WLU is not thinking about many many other factors that come into play or considering other ways to accommodate our education during this pandemic. 

While all universities continue assignment and presentations, all the following schools do not have Respondus, they're using alternative measures for final exams. 

Guelph University & Guelph-Humber: Current grades are final grade, no exams. 

Ryerson University: introduced optional credit/no credit grading system

University of Toronto: pass/fail system

McMaster University: no Respondus for exams.

McGill: pass/fail system

University of Alberta: pass/fail system

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