Students applying to out-of-state graduate schools may not have to travel to take entrance exams, but they do have to pay, according to Bobby Matthews, director of the Office of Testing and Evaluation.
Employees of the Office of Testing and Evaluation charge for entrance exams by the length of time they take. Employees serving as proctors commonly charge $40 for two hours, with a subsequent $20 fee for each additional hour, Matthews said.
However, the service is not offered during the University’s operating hours. The Testing Center restricts all proctoring services to after 4:30 p.m.
Matthews and Sandi Guillot, business manager and assistant to the director of the Office of Testing and Evaluation, both firmly believe University resources should not be used to perform this service because it is unrelated to LSU.
Students applying to the LSU Graduate School, on the other hand, do not have to pay additional proctoring fees, according to Matthews. They can also take their tests during business hours.
“What proctors do with their time is their business,” Matthews said. “I am not going to force them to stay after hours without pay.”
Although University employees are paid independently for proctoring tests, both Matthews and Guillot confirmed that the Himes Testing Center has been used for proctoring.
“For as long as I have been here, we have been offering this service to students,” Matthews said. “It is available to individuals who need to have a non-LSU test proctored by a testing professional.”
Guillot said despite the fees, the service is necessary because some students cannot travel to take tests.
“We are willing to provide proctoring for virtually any kind of test,” Guillot said. “It is better and cheaper than having to pay for a test at an independent testing center.”
 
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Contact Joshua Bergeron at [email protected]