Unexpected Problems Organising University Examinations
My "real" job involves organising final examinations for students at a university. We have approximately 25,000 students, collectively sitting approximately 38,000 exams. Yeah, it keeps us busy! Exams start next week!
Recently another university was talking with us about how they had issues with snow falls, and how it complicates their lives - up to 75% of their exam supervisors can be stuck at home unable to get to the venue because of snowfalls.
My boss laughed and said:
We do have to worry about snow, floods, pestilence, civil war and erupting vulcanoes! We haven't had tsunamis, or earthquakes yet!
Indeed. We have extramural students, people studying through distance learning. We offer dozens of venues in New Zealand. So these leave us exposed to the elements (pun intended): snow in the South Island last year meant students & supervisors unable to get to exams. Flooding in the North Island last week caused worries - a truck containing critical examination papers was delayed 24 hours. More floods could conceivably disrupt exams starting next week.
As for pestilence, well, there were many students quarantined away when the H1N1 virus was breaking out. And then there are more mondane but quite "effective" bugs such as Norovirus that occasionaly decimate our students (decimate - hitting one tenth of the students).
Our students sitting exams in Thailand have to go to the New Zealand embassy, which until recently was in the middle of a "war zone". We weren't sure we could rely on that venue, nor that it would be safe for students to get to it!
Another question has been "will the DHL planes be able to deliver the exam scripts to the UK and Europe?" considering the volcano eruption and occasional ash belching still occuring.
These are things that are not immediately obvious when one thinks about organising examinations for students at a university. Hmmm, makes one think...
