uniTEST
Putting cooperation to the test – SDU passes with flying colours
One of the usual clichés in job postings is that you have to be ‘adaptable’. This year’s completion of the test-based admission process, uniTEST, has proven that SDU’s employees are just that.
- It’s a tale of how crazy we are, but at the same time also a tale of what we can accomplish together.
This is how Annette Lund, Head of Studies at SDU, describes the process of conducting the online uniTEST; a process that she and several hundred colleagues have been through – and they’re still in full swing.
48 hours to respond
Let’s turn back the clock a month and a bit to mid-March. SDU was about to take the first step in the test-based admission process for new students, who via a quota 2 application and subsequent tests are given the opportunity to show how much they have to offer.
Naturally, the corona pandemic means that the first part of the process – the 95-question uniTEST – will be conducted online, which makes it necessary to monitor the applicants to ensure that the test is taken on equal terms, without any cheating.
The IT provider that was hired to take care of that part had trouble making it work flawlessly. There were a number of technical challenges. All this meant that just two days before the tests began, a decision was made to cease the collaboration, making SDU itself responsible for the monitoring.
‘It cannot be done’
The so-called TBA team (Test-Based Admission team – ed.) and a number of logistics experts quickly joined forces, and they set out to find employees who could help monitor the test.
- Initially, those who are used to working with this told us ‘it cannot be done’. But pretty quickly, that sentiment changed to ‘well, we’ve got to make this work a treat as best we can.’
- And when we asked for help across the organisation, people put everything aside to pitch in, says Annette Lund.
Approximately 450 employees and student assistants from SDU volunteered as supervisors. We were joined by staff members from HK and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations, academic staff, IT staff, student assistants as well as managers from both the faculties and the Central Administration who also took on this task – in addition to their normal working hours.
Upon being instructed how to ensure the test ran smoothly, they have so far spent more than a month between 9 am – 8 pm supporting a number of applicants taking the test. Three hours are allocated per person. They will continue monitoring the tests until mid-May, when all 7,500 registered applicants have taken it.
Bitter experiences from 2020
Some knowledge had been gained from last year’s execution of the online uniTEST. Annette Lund and her team certainly new what NOT to do. For the 2020 test, many applicants were left with a bad experience with the test monitoring and very long waiting times. This resulted in several persons not completing the test and that SDU received many complaints.
At the time of writing, no one has begun taking the test without completing it. Annette Lund also explains that in general, things have been much calmer in the virtual meeting rooms, where the applicant and the supervisor meet up. We’ve also received praise from applicants because they have felt heard or received support.
- A university is a hugely complex thing, where we have many disciplines that rarely experience having a concrete, common task. This has been one such task, and it’s been wonderful that so many have come together to make it all play out beautifully. It shows that we can accomplish an incredible lot together, and that SDU and the students matter to the University’s staff. I think our test participants have noticed that, too.
The subject-specific exams have been cancelled this year, and therefore it is the uniTEST results that determine which applicants from quota 2 will commence their studies in September.