ATLANTA, GA. – Troy University and Software Secure may have met a Congressional mandate today to authenticate online test takers when it unveiled a product that eliminates the need for monitored examinations by students who take courses over the internet.

Dr. Susan Aldridge, vice chancellor of TROY’s University College, which oversees the University’s distance-learning eCampus, said the Securexam Remote Proctor™ addresses a long-standing Department of Education issue raised last month at a conference of distance-learning educators.

“This product directly answers one of the major problems for accreditation agencies by ensuring the security of the online testing site,” Aldridge said. “It meets, I believe, the congressional intent of protecting the integrity of university examinations.”

Securexam Remote Proctor™ will authenticate the identity of the student taking a test, ensure that student is unable to use the computer to cheat during an exam and provide real-time audio and video of the room where the test is taken. The SRP was developed by Software Secure in consultation with the University, which is the nation’s second-largest public provider of distance-learning higher education.

The unveiling came today during the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools meeting in Atlanta. The Commission on Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is the regional academic accrediting body for 11 U.S. states.

Last month, Assistant Secretary for Post Secondary Education Sally L. Stroup told the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications that the need to authenticate online test takers could be included in the Higher Education Reauthorization Act. Stroup serves on the Commission for the Future of Higher Education, an Education initiative aimed at assessing the nation’s needs in postsecondary education.

Dedicated to Troy University’s mission of  “quality education one student at a time” and to setting the standard in quality academic programs and courses, the Securexam Remote Proctor will effectively eliminate TROY’s current policy of requiring distance learning students to engage human proctors to ensure test integrity and to verify student identification. This new application will also mean that computers can be used for testing in situations in which human proctors are not feasible, Aldridge said.

“Securexam Remote Proctor is an outstanding solution that enables us to make our online testing more efficient through this revolutionary technology tool,” she said. “The Remote Proctor tool is a convenient and affordable solution for our highly valued students allowing them the freedom of completing their online classes and degree programs from any location worldwide.  The Securexam Remote Proctor will allow Troy University to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity and fairness.”

The University has scheduled its initial use of Securexam Remote Proctor for this spring, with the intention of a wide-scale deployment at the start of the 2006-2007 academic year.

The patent-pending Securexam Remote Proctor integrates computer software and hardware to both prevent and monitor inappropriate student conduct during a test. Building on its existing Securexam® software tools that “lock-down” computers so they can be used by students to take tests while prohibiting access to any unauthorized materials, Software Secure has incorporated video, audio and biometrics tools to both authenticate the identity of the test-taker and ensure exam-room conditions.

“This was the logical next step in the development of Software Secure’s suite of products,” said Douglas Winneg, Software Secure president. “Our software tools have been used by schools and testing organizations for years to provide students the benefits of computer-based testing without the negative effects of electronic cheating; now that benefit can be applied to distance learning programs and for students any time, anywhere.”

Securexam Remote Proctor was designed to integrate with the testing tools contained in the Blackboard Course Management system the University currently uses, eliminating the need to train faculty on new processes.

 “Our work with Software Secure and use of SRP represents Troy’s continued emphasis on quality education, quality academic standards, and quality student services. By creating computer-based accountability, Troy University will set the standard in online academic quality while making our excellent online programs and courses available to people world-wide, without sacrificing academic integrity,” said Dr. Sallie Johnson, the University’s dean of distance learning.