THE DAILY ILLINI
MONDAY October 12, 2020
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
Vol. 150 Issue 15
Students petition to ban Proctorio BY AMRITA BHATTACHARYYA STAFF WRITER
A petition with over 700 signatures is circulating to call upon the University to stop using Proctorio, an AI-based online proctoring system that analyzes trends to prevent students from cheating during tests. Downloaded through Google Chrome, Proctorio requires the webcam and microphone to be turned on during testing, so it can track eye and head movements to look for signs of cheating. The platform can also view and capture content from the student’s screen, in addition to accessing the student’s downloads and privacyrelated settings. Sameer Khan, junior in LAS, created the petition on Sept. 30, advocating for the University to stop using Proctorio. This all started after Khan realized his midterm for ECON 203: Economics Statistics II would be proctored. “I had heard some negative things about Proctorio, so I jumped down a rabbit hole of researching Proctorio, and to my dismay, I found that they pulled a lot of data from one’s computer,” Khan said. For his midterm, Khan used a spare laptop because he didn’t feel comfortable using his own. Khan suggests alternative proctoring methods to monitor cheating, such as using Zoom, to make sure students are not collaborating on tests. Khan also suggested changing the structure of
exams to make them more conceptual and run on the honor system. “I think more exams should move in that direction, where we’re not forced to memorize redundant facts,” Khan said. “But they should in fact be more conceptual and more handson so that what we’re doing in exams is more practical, and we’re truly testing our knowledge.” Kevin Pitts, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, agrees that the University wants to try and assess what students have learned rather than just assess their memory. However, “there is no one size fits all when it comes to assessments,” Pitts said. The move by the University to use Proctorio was an attempt to prevent students from gaming the system and instead level the playing field, according to Pitts. Because the University moved very quickly to remote instruction in March, they needed some kind of proctoring mechanism relatively fast. “It was always meant to be kind of a short term thing,” Pitts said. According to Pitts, the University explored several online proctoring services before ultimately settling on Proctorio, which the University could act on quickly. “These are the kinds of things that normally take months and months of contractual negotiations,” Pitts said. Because Proctorio is an AI-based company, Proco-
UI testing capacity sits far lower than advertised
Proctorio Browser Policy Settings and Permissions
BY WILLIE CUI CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Read and change data on the websites you visit
Display notifications
Modify data you copy and paste
Capture content of your screen
Manage your downloads
Identify and eject storage devices
Manage apps, extensions, and themes
Change your privacy-related settings
Proctorio does not use all of these settings or permissions to run most of the exams
Members of the University’s SHIELD testing initiative said that the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, where the University processes COVID tests, was only designed to handle 10,000 tests per day, despite the University advertising its capacity for 20,000 tests in a day. “I don’t know where that number is from,” said Dr. Leyi Wang, a professor and virologist who oversees the processing of COVID tests at the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. “Before we started, the leading scientist (Dr. Robin Holland) predicted that we do around 10,000.” Dr. Timothy Fan, a member of the SHIELD team and professor of veterinary clinical medicine, said the laboratory was set up with the understanding that the University would be testing people once per week. “What drives the number of tests is often the modeling,” Fan said. “The initial purchase of machines was really designed for 10,000 tests per day, and that was under the original target of testing people once per week.” However, epidemiologists and disease modelers felt that testing twice a week would be much more impactful in controlling the pandemic. “That shifted the onetime-a-week planning to two-time-a-week planning, and that essentially doubled the number of samples that we would actually have to process,” Fan said. In the first two weeks of classes, the University processed nearly 15,000 tests a day. This resulted in the laboratory being unable to process all the samples they received in an appropriate time, which “defeated the purpose” of the testing program. “The purpose is to get the results out fast,” said Fan. “We can do that quite well if we’re dealing with about 10,000 samples a day.” Since then, the laboratory has somewhat expanded its capacity. “Before we started the lab or scaled up the testing,” said Wang. “We did an estimation and predicted around 10,000. Now we can do 11-12,000, and that’s pretty good.” However, Fan said that in order for the laboratory to
Source: Proctorio Website JONAH OZER THE DAILY ILLINI
torio would be able to meet the University’s level of demand, as opposed to other platforms such as ProctorU, in which humans monitor students in real-time. According to Pitts, the University did a “full vetting” of Proctorio, working with Technology Services to make sure they were happy with how Proctorio was handling data. “We’ve been keenly aware of (privacy issues) for some
time because we’ve been using online proctoring in our fully online courses for some time,” Pitts said, referring to the use of other platforms such as ProctorU and Computer-Based Testing Facility. The University has a contract with Proctorio which includes what the company is allowed to do with the data, such as who can have access to it and under what circumstances.
Pitts said Proctorio’s allowed use of the data is “extremely limited” because Proctorio adheres to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. This is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The University is evaluating Proctorio through feedback received from professors and students. abhatt52@dailyillini.com
Peoria Charter fears closure BY ETHAN SIMMONS NEWS EDITOR
The owner of Peoria Charter Coach, one of the largest bus companies in Illinois, said he’ll close down the business in November without adequate federal and state aid. There’s a $90,000 bus license bill for the company’s 58 buses that’s been sitting on owner Bill Winkler’s desk since April. The governor has delayed the bill twice, now until the end of October. “I don’t know if he’s gonna postpone it again, but postponing doesn’t help anything. I still owe it,” Winkler said. Peoria Charter Coach is a major player for University transportation and the state as a whole, having driven 280,000 passengers between the Chicagoland area and central Illinois in 2019. “The pandemic is the worst thing that could ever happen to the motorcoach industry,” Winkler said. “Because until the public feels safe indoors in a group
for an extended period of time, my company and my industry will continue to suffer.” COVID-19 has brought a series of misfortunes to Winkler’s company and industry from the very beginning. Spring break, when the University and nation instituted a wave of COVID-19 restrictions, is typically the “Super Bowl of chartering work.” A wave of cancellations hamstrung Peoria Charter for months to come, bringing revenue down by 94%. Winkler laid off 90% of his 130-person workforce on March 17. When the $1.2 million Payment Protection Program loan rolled in on April 15, he brought back 60 of his employees. But their return was painfully short-lived. The $5 million in cancellations and $500,000 in returned deposits were overwhelming, while revenue barely budged. On July 15, Winkler sat in his office, unable to tell the same 60 employees they’d have to go on unem-
ployment for the second time in four months. He sent his vice president to share the news. A few minutes later, Winkler walked outside to face his workforce and was met with a humbling response. “I came outside and all my employees start clapping for me,” he said. “Saying, ‘We love our jobs, we want to come back, keep fighting for us, we’re fighting for you.’ That meant the world to me.” Winkler is “emotionally shot” at the moment. He tries to keep in touch with his employees whenever possible. “Can you imagine what that does to your staff?” he said. “It just breaks my CAMERON KRASUCKI THE DAILY ILLINI heart that I have to do this A University coronavirus testing site worker pulls empty vials for them. But they have been out of a plastic bag on Thursday. All but one COVID-19 testing so loyal, they can’t wait to site will be moving inside starting Monday. come back.” Winkler feels taunted by adjacent states that have lifted COVID restrictions, like Indiana and Missouri that have both moved to Phase 5 of reopening. Without a
Testing sites move indoors due to cold
SEE PEORIA | 3A BY VIVIAN LA
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PHOTO COURTESY OF PEORIA CHARTER’S FACEBOOK
Customers board a Peoria Charter bus on Aug. 6. Peoria Charter is concerned it may be forced to close in November should they not receive federal or state aid.
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All but one COVID-19 testing site moved to indoor locations on Monday, Oct. 12, in preparation for colder weather. One of the University’s concerns with the cooler weather is the flu. “We are encouraging all members of the community to get their flu shot to maximize the health and safety of everyone,” Executive Associate Provost for Capital Planning Matthew Tomaszewski said in an email. As well as encouraging flu shots, Tomaszewski and his team will continue their communication and educational messages to students. Campus Wellness Ambassadors have been “terrific advocates for ensuring others are aware of the key practices,” he said. “The University contin-
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ues to monitor our cases on a daily basis, and we will be watching for any spread and making any necessary adjustments to our testing program,” Tomaszewski said. The process of moving outdoor testing sites indoors happened all at once on Oct. 12. Mariah Sims, an employee who worked at the outdoor South Quad tent, said moving indoors is good for the lines and encouraging more testing. Most outdoor locations will be moving to a nearby indoor site. For example, the Alice Campbell Alumni Center tent is now in the lobby. Outdoor tents had signs and directions to point to a nearby indoor testing location, according to Director of Special Events Laura Wilhelm-Barr.
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