At the Faculty of Medical Sciences, concerns are growing over server capacity for digital exams. Students sometimes have to wait up to twenty minutes before they can start.
Earlier this year, around 1,400 people logged in simultaneously during the selection process for the medical programme. The system became overloaded, preventing many students from starting on time, which means some had less time for their tests, leading to an uneven selection process.
This system overload is also an issue during exams. Students sometimes have to wait several minutes before they can log in. Milan Bredewold, a student member of the faculty council, calls this ‘extremely concerning’.
Other programmes affected
The issue has not only affected medical exams but has also disrupted exams in other programmes. ‘This happens when more than a thousand students log in at once’, explains Louwarnoud van der Duim. ‘During some exam periods, this happens several times, while in others, it doesn’t happen at all.’
Van der Duim, as head of Educational Support and Innovation (ESI), is responsible for the exam systems at the University of Groningen (UG). The problem is caused by the server capacity available at any given moment, he explains. The university does not have its own servers but rents capacity ‘in the cloud’, which automatically scales up or down with the number of users.
A few minutes delay
‘During off-peak times, we use a limited number of servers. If a large number of people suddenly log in, it takes a few minutes for enough servers to come online to handle the load’, says Van der Duim. ‘This happens outside of exams too, but it’s more urgent when it happens during an exam.’
Thhe medical selection process took place on a Saturday, which only added to the problem. ‘There is little system usage on Saturdays, so there are fewer active servers’, Van der Duim notes.
Moreover, when students couldn’t log in, many repeatedly pressed F5 to refresh the page, creating a flood of server requests and further slowing down the system.
Costs
Providing enough server capacity to prevent all wait times isn’t as straightforward as it seems. ‘It’s a matter of cost. You can add endless amounts of computer hardware to ensure enough capacity, but that is extremely expensive.’
Instead, an agreement has been made with the faculties to extend exam time in the event of delays, says Van der Duim. This process, however, doesn’t always go smoothly. ‘Extensions are granted, but it’s often chaotic’, says Lizayra Dassen, vice chair of the UMCG’s faculty council. ‘Some students receive extra time, while others do not.’
Accepted
The Faculty of Medical Sciences has been informed of the situation and has accepted the university’s explanation and approach, says Van der Duim.
However, according to the faculty council, a solution to the capacity problems is not yet in sight, and there is no active communication between the medical sciences programme management and ESI. ‘The vice dean will investigate further, and we expect a solution in the foreseeable future’, says Bredewold.