In the exam period for the third quartile, sixteen TU/e students chose to opt-out. In this period 92 exams were administered using online proctoring. What the Examination Committees of the programs involved have offered the sixteen students as an alternative is not, says TU/e spokesperson Ivo Jongsma, being recorded centrally. “You'll have to find that out for each of the sixteen students. But you can assume that the majority of these students will be able to sit their exam at a later date, once 'on-campus' becomes an option again,” says Jongsma.

For the exam period for the fourth quartile, says Jongsma, the restrictions imposed by government regarding access to the campus have been relaxed a little. “We can now offer a maximum of fifty opt-out students the opportunity to take an exam on campus,” says Jongsma. “Provided, that is, that for the exam in question this is considered feasible by the Examination Committee and the lecturer involved. This arrangement is intended strictly for students with insurmountable objections.”

According to Jongsma, criteria against which a student's objections will be tested have not been prepared. “Only the student can determine whether he or she has insurmountable objections.”

Maximum

In view of the number of students who made use of an opt-out in the previous exam period, Jongsma says that the maximum of fifty students for the whole of the coming exam period is expected to be sufficient. “If more apply, we regret that we won't be able to offer the opt-out. So we hope that students use this option wisely and sparingly. The opt-out students will be able to sit their exam at a later opportunity, on campus. A student's number of opportunities to sit their exam won't be diminished by an opt-out.”

In the corona update of Friday June 5th, university secretary Susanne van Weelden observed that the university is not allowed to stipulate who can and can't make use of the opt-out. Like Jongsma, Van Weelden makes an urgent appeal to students ‘to choose the opt-out only in very serious cases, and to think carefully about how your choice affects your fellow students’.

Before June 13th students wishing to make use of the opt-out, must submit their application using the online form. Students must state on the form the number of exams involved. The nature of the applicant's objection(s) to online proctoring need not be mentioned.