Maryland Exam Information

[knight1fox3]

Huh. It's not there today. 

I hope everyone that wasn't removed is safe. Seems like NCEES would release a statement, even if it is to the effect of "this is what happened, under investigation, blah, blah, blah." 

LOL, Or did they release it and realize "OH $HIT, remove that now!  That's not the wording we want to use."

 

[Evaz]

looks photoshopped

 

[Andrew2288]

looks photoshopped

LOL, agree. Where did we get the screenshot from?

 

[matt267 PE]

looks photoshopped

Something like that would never happen around here.

 

[RBHeadge PE]

oh man..that sucks! 

When I took mine in 2013, they made a big deal on the pencil writing or marking on your notes/or books. The proctor actually go around and check people note during exam.

I saw a few guys got kicked out and their book taken away

Yeah, I remember they sprung that requirement on us with less than a months notice before the exam. I actually left a few (essential) books home because of it.

In the year in between I bought a large eraser and went through hundreds of pages in several books to make sure that there weren't any pencil written notes in my books. What's worse is that the "no pencil markings in reference materials" rule was gone for the October 2014 exam. Several hours wasted, oh well. 

 

[RBHeadge PE]

My 2 cents

Part of the engineering and the responsibility of an engineer is to follow the guidelines and standards and personal responsibility. Yes suck to be kicked out at the last minutes, You can't assumed they saw it at the beginning of the exam or assuming the proctors knows what is a fitbit. Educated assumption isa  ok but wild assumption will get you in trouble just like you assuming the the ground is clear to dig without any locate

I agree. A big part of my job is reading, re-reading, and walking through requirements and procedures to ensure the desired outcome. I re-read the exam requirements (NCEES and Maryland), and the examinees manual twice in the week before the exam to make sure I didn't miss anything. Any assumptions on my part were conservative, and I figured that ambiguities would work against me. Blame it on OCD or just a experience in the nuclear industry, but it worked.

 

[ChewChew]

Interesting they have since added the candidate agreement to their website as its own PDF so that you can get to it without having to go through the exam guide AND so that when you click the link in the exam guide for the candidate agreement it will actually take you to the candidate agreement.  Before it just took you to the page with exam day policies that had that video and didn't mention fitness trackers and no link to the candidate agreement.  SUPER helpful now......

 

[mudpuppy]

I wouldn't expect NCEES to lift a finger to make this right. They are a bureaucracy that's accountable to no one. I would suggest those who got kicked out to file a suit  in small claims court. Seems that's the only way you'll get them to take notice.

 

[Mac87]

Well, got notification a couple of days ago that my fitbit is being sent back, so they've finished the investigation on at least some of them. Hopefully I hear from the state board that I have clearance to re-register soon. Nothing from NCEES about what they might do, though. 

I was informed that sending a message through the website qualifies as an appeal. What I've been doing is documenting every enforcement discrepancy I've heard about (and there's a lot of them.) I had maybe a dozen coworkers testing in WA and CA the same day so I keep hearing about how things were handled at different test sites (and sounds like at some sites examinees were simply asked to remove items and put them in their bags.) The person responding to me has been extremely patient and responsive, but who knows if this is indicative of a stance NCEES will decide to take. 

 

[jijir83]

Man! This sucks!

In my test in CA, nothing was said about Fitbit. They announced over and over at the start to not have cellphones or any watch that beeps. Sure enough, 2 hours into the test, something beeped. The person didn't get kicked out though. All of our proctors seemed to be sweet substitute grandmas though (except for the two that insisted on gossiping right next to my table). Maybe being grandmas, they were more understanding.

 

[kmc]

I was also one of the many dismissed in the MD exam. As Mac87 is documenting every discrepancy I'm trying to do the same through a Facebook page because the only out of state information I've found is through this board and I didn't know anything about this until someone messaged me through Facebook after seeing my post on the NCEES Facebook page.

I would like to collect first hand experiences so that solid information can be used to try to fight the inconsistencies and at least have our tests graded. 

It's an open group that anyone can join. I'd like to help spread information through that page. If you can, please search fb for it and join it may help someone that is not aware of this forum. The group name is - NCEES Fitbit Dismissal 

Thanks.

 

[jnuengr]

Well, got notification a couple of days ago that my fitbit is being sent back, so they've finished the investigation on at least some of them.

Can you imagine what the "investigation" consisted of? 

I envision senior citizens with a pile of fitbits on a table yelling at each other "I don't know, Harriet! It looks like a damn watch to me!"

 

[snickerd3]

Can you imagine what the "investigation" consisted of? 

I envision senior citizens with a pile of fitbits on a table yelling at each other "I don't know, Harriet! It None of them look like a damn watch to me!"

fixt

 

[Andrew2288]

I was also one of the many dismissed in the MD exam. As Mac87 is documenting every discrepancy I'm trying to do the same through a Facebook page because the only out of state information I've found is through this board and I didn't know anything about this until someone messaged me through Facebook after seeing my post on the NCEES Facebook page.

I would like to collect first hand experiences so that solid information can be used to try to fight the inconsistencies and at least have our tests graded. 

It's an open group that anyone can join. I'd like to help spread information through that page. If you can, please search fb for it and join it may help someone that is not aware of this forum. The group name is - NCEES Fitbit Dismissal 

Thanks.

Thanks for the info kmc! If you're nearby, attend the State Board Meeting on May 12th. Many of us have already received the standard reply from NCEES invalidating our exams. My thoughts are that the State Board is our last hope of reversing NCEES' decision... 

 

[Cinnamon]

Man! This sucks!

In my test in CA, nothing was said about Fitbit. They announced over and over at the start to not have cellphones or any watch that beeps. Sure enough, 2 hours into the test, something beeped. The person didn't get kicked out though. All of our proctors seemed to be sweet substitute grandmas though (except for the two that insisted on gossiping right next to my table). Maybe being grandmas, they were more understanding.

Which testing site were you at.   

 

[jijir83]

Which testing site were you at.   

At Cal Expo in Sacramento.

I didn't really know what a Fitbit was until all these threads though. I don't even remember them saying anything about digital watches. I've always had an analogue one so I may not have given second thought to the digital watch announcement but I think that analogue/digital was in the rule book. I just had a friend show me her Fitbit so I guess it could count as a digital watch with grounds for disqualification. 

 

[kmc]

Has anyone had any luck of getting an answer different than "its on page 27 of the agreement you signed" ?

Anyone thinking of trying arbitration?

 

[humner]

Scary how many people bring the wrong calculators or have cell phones or pens in their pockets.

 

[Cinnamon]

At Cal Expo in Sacramento.

I didn't really know what a Fitbit was until all these threads though. I don't even remember them saying anything about digital watches. I've always had an analogue one so I may not have given second thought to the digital watch announcement but I think that analogue/digital was in the rule book. I just had a friend show me her Fitbit so I guess it could count as a digital watch with grounds for disqualification. 

i was in Visalia and Fitbits were called out as contraband. Very non- uniform application of the rules.

 

[RBHeadge PE]

 My thoughts are that the State Board is our last hope of reversing NCEES' decision... 

Has anyone ever heard of a State Board overturning an NCEES decision? It is my understanding that it has never happened when it came towards giving a liscence when someone failed an exam. But I don't know if its happened for other reasons?