Scantron machines tested

IU students won’t be the only ones preparing for finals in a \nfew weeks. \nThe staff of IU-Bloomington Evaluation Services and Testing, a department of Instructional Support Services, will schedule preventative maintenance checks for the expected onslaught of Scantron tests. They are expecting about 50,000 exam sheets during finals week.\n“Finals week is the big one,” said J. David Perry, director of Evaluation Services and Testing. “We have extended hours, and we come in on \nSaturday morning.”\nA staff of two scan all the Scantron forms taken at IU. That’s about 1 million forms annually. About 400,000 are tests, 300,000 are course evaluations and the rest are surveys and work that has been contracted with outside parties.\nThe employees of the evaluation services and testing rely on two scanning machines. The primary scanner is a 15-year-old, high-speed optical scanner rated for up to 10,000 sheets per hour. \nIt cost $85,000 and requires $15,000 for yearly upkeep. The backup scanner can process up to 5,000 sheets per hour.\n“Our workload has been going up a little bit from year to year, maybe about 10 percent,” Perry said.\nDespite its increasing workload, the department returns Scantron forms quickly.\n“We pride ourselves in being able to give quick turnaround time, somewhere between one to four hours,” Perry said. \nEven during finals week, when the staff experiences extremely heavy volume, it rarely has to extend its processing time to five or six hours.\nBut despite the steady increase in work, Perry knows that ultimately, his days are numbered. \n“Someday, virtually all tests will be taken electronically,” he said. “I think it will happen eventually, but who knows when.” \nAlthough Scantron tests will ultimately be relegated to the dusty shelf of obsolete technology, Perry and his staff continue to improve the services the department offers.\n“We’re always exploring new ways and better ways of delivering service,” he said.