This message to all students has been approved by Dr. Sally McRorie, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Robert Fuselier, Director of the Office of Distance Learning.

As Florida State University moves to remote learning Monday, March 23, we understand there will be questions as students and faculty transition to a different type of educational delivery system.

The university is leaning on a variety of technological resources to ensure that FSU students have the best experience possible as they continue their academic journeys and that includes alternatives to in-person proctored testing. Due to nationwide travel restrictions and social distancing protocols, most testing centers are closed or no longer accepting appointments. Your instructor may use a variety of assessment strategies in your courses, and one of those may be online proctored testing.

Honorlock, an online proctoring service, is being offered at no cost to all FSU students, local or remote, and provides a way of assessing students remotely. Student exam sessions are recorded and flagged for review when potential academic misconduct is detected.

We understand that some students and their families may have privacy concerns with Honorlock.

Please note that FSU’s agreement with Honorlock was approved by the university’s Information Security & Privacy Office and contains specific legal requirements for the privacy and security of student information. FSU’s agreement with Honorlock supersedes the company’s general terms of service, and it is not the same agreement some students have been reviewing online.

Students should be aware that:

Honorlock does not sell student information to third parties.

Honorlock does not scan home networks or monitor data from any device on the network other than the one used for testing.

Secondary devices, such as phones, can be detected by Honorlock, but this is not accomplished by network-snooping.

In partnership with the ITS Information Security & Privacy Office, the Office of Distance Learning has created an FAQ webpage that addresses many of the questions that administrators have been receiving regarding Honorlock’s Privacy and Security.

For more information, students can visit FSU’s Honorlock Resources for Students page. Students should also watch for communication from their instructors about proctored testing requirements.

Please know that ODL’s support services to the FSU community are fully operational during this time. For more information, visit ODL’s Proctored Testing page.