IT News
IT Takes Steps to Ensure Lab Users Receive Emergency Alerts
March 13, 2023
Respondus Lockdown Browser is a common application on college campuses for assisting students with exams and preventing academic dishonesty. Using this Browser, all running applications on the computer are blocked except for the content within the exam. During a recent event on a university campus, a student was taking an exam using the Respondus Lockdown Browser in one of the on-campus computer labs. When messages about the event were sent out using the emergency notification system (called Alertus), Respondus blocked them from displaying on the computer.
Patrick Kemp, an IT Systems Engineer at Grand Valley, heard about the Respondus Lockdown Browser issue. He was particularly interested in the information because GVSU, like many other colleges and universities, also uses Respondus and Alertus. GVSU's Alertus system, known as GVSU Alert, updates desktops and digital signage with notifications as needed.
“Knowing we did have this same software at GV prompted me to put the wheels in motion, so to speak,” said Kemp. Kemp reached out to Katie Clark, Systems Analyst who regularly monitors the Respondus system. Early testing revealed that Alertus notifications were indeed blocked by the Respondus LockDown Browser on Windows computers in our lab environment. “The alert would be sent and received but it would not take over the screen on Windows computers,” said Clark. The alerts would, however, show up on MacOS.
With this knowledge, Clark reached out to Respondus to begin the process of addressing this issue. Katie and Patrick worked with GVSU's Vince St. Germain, Justin Melick, and Landon Nalepinksi along with the Respondus vendor to test and implement the solution. Upon completion of the team's work, an updated version of Respondus was available.
“Following testing with the fixed software, we redeployed an enhanced version of Respondus LockDown Browser that allows alerts to be received on Windows computers in GVSU’s physical computer labs,” said Kemp. The update to the Respondus Windows application was published publicly to allow other institutions using the software to have the same benefits as GVSU. As a result of the teamwork and attention to detail displayed by those involved in this project, GVSU as well as other colleges and universities now have greater security protections.
To learn about the various ways in which GVSU Alert communicates in case of an emergency, click here. To contact IT, email [email protected] or call (616) 331-2101.