BYU Testing Center
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The BYU Testing Center, the largest college testing center in the nation, is located in the Heber J. Grant Building at Brigham Young University. It serves the purpose of administering tests to students. Tests are often administered in the Testing Center instead of during class time. By doing this, instructors allow students to take as much time as they need for the test, do not waste class time on testing, and allow students to take tests at their convenience.
The main portion of the Testing Center is a large main testing room, which originally served as BYU's library, and now is filled with approximately 650 desks. Students enter through the center's administration area. Tests are generally free - however, many departments make the last day the test is available a late day. A fee is assessed for the privilege of taking the test on the late day. Generally, enough students procrastinate to the "late day," to subsidize the center's entire operational costs. The center also has a few smaller rooms with even more desks (one of which, the music room, has soft classical music playing through wall-mounted speakers), study hall rooms downstairs for test preparation, and faculty offices. When students exit the testing center, they can see their scores immediately on TV screens on the bottom floor (for multiple-choice tests). Earlier, those taking multiple-choice tests waited for a moment or two in the administration area to receive a printout of their results, which usually resulted in the exit area being crowded.
In September 2005, the Testing Center administered more than 5,500 tests in one day, a record for the center.
The BYU Testing Center has developed software for administering tests that is used by many other universities across the country.
In order to avoid long lines during Finals, the testing center opens remote locations around campus. Generally the Wilkinson Student Center (WSC) serves all religion finals while the Joseph Smith Building (JSB) Auditorium is used for larger classes such as American Heritage. Though this seems to cut down the lines for finals taking tests as early as possible is still recommended. Lines are usually shortest before 11:00 AM, in the early afternoon, and after 8:00 PM.
Incidentally, the Testing Center serves as BYU's main method of enforcing its dress and grooming standards. While students are required to have their bishops or other ecclesiastical authorities sign off on their compliance with the BYU Honor Code, including the dress and grooming standards, only once a year, the Testing Center will not admit a student in to take a test if the student is not in compliance with the dress and grooming standards, and so enforces the dress and grooming standards every time a student must take a test.
