Sam Houston State University has a dual point process in place to confirm the identity of distance education learners, to ensure that the student registering for a course is the same person who subsequently engages in participation in the course, as well as ultimately receiving appropriate academic credit for the same.
Principally, the student verification process is initiated through the use of a secure login and password, which is provided to all registered students of the university. Beyond the secure login and password protocol, all Sam Houston State University online courses are equipped with facial recognition and voice recognition software through the technological implementation of third party software applications in the learning management system, which is utilized to deliver distance courses at the institution.
Secure Login and Pass Code
Sam Houston State University assigns each student a secure network account with a unique username and password at the point of acceptance into the university. Prior to any point of access to the student information system (Banner) or the learning management system (Blackboard), the student must authenticate, via Centralized Authentication Service (CAS) on the MySam portal, to gain access to resources in these systems.
Password management is supported by the User Accounts Password Policy:IT-02 which provides regulatory expectations around account holder responsibilities, as well as length and complexity of passwords, which are required to be reset every 3 months.
Click here for additional information on the Login and Password Process.
Respondus Monitor and Student Verification
Sam Houston State University has licensed Respondus Monitor, a companion application for LockDown Browser® that uses webcam and video technology to prevent cheating during online exams, as well as providing Student Identity Verification at no cost to the learner.
At this time Respondus Monitor can be used with:
Identity Verification Software and ADA Compliance
The Respondus Monitor identity verification software is a component of Respondus Lockdown Browser that layers on top of web pages and learning management system operations, making it accessible to, and tested with, the Freedom Scientific JAWS screen reader. The applications can be managed, installed and operated using only a keyboard, and without the influence or use of a mouse.