CanadaEducation2017 – ongoingUniversity of British Columbia
Algorithmic remote exam invigilation with Proctorio
UBC Vancouver restricted algorithmic exam monitoring to accreditation requirements
Problem
UBC used Proctorio to supervise online assessments. The system recorded exam sessions and flagged behaviour for instructors to review.
Approach
A court filing placed the start of UBC's Proctorio licence in approximately March 2017. Students later raised privacy, accessibility and discrimination concerns; in January 2021, UBC acknowledged that its existing principles had not sufficiently addressed concerns about the software. On 17 March 2021, the Vancouver Senate voted to stop automated recording and algorithmic analysis for remote invigilation, except where external accreditation bodies required remote proctoring software. The restriction took effect immediately, and UBC said it would support instructors in changing assessments and invigilation methods.
Results
No published figures
Takeaway
UBC's published principles did not settle concerns about algorithmic invigilation. The Senate subsequently imposed a narrower institutional boundary with an accreditation exception.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Education
- Business function
- Production and quality
- Innovation type
- Process innovation
- AI technology
- Computer vision
- Adoption
- Vendor solution
- Goal
- Quality and risk
- Evidence
- Company's own claim
Sources
Source summaries
UBC acknowledged continuing concerns despite its published principles. It described consultations, changes to guidance and a temporary licence extension while institutional reviews proceeded.
The student society reported faculty commitments to discontinue algorithmic proctoring. It attributed its opposition to privacy, accessibility and discrimination concerns, while noting that other faculties cited accreditation requirements.
The university confirmed the Vancouver Senate's immediately effective restriction and accreditation exception. It described support for instructors whose planned final assessments were affected.
Full details are in the original sources.
