Update from the President

Dear Colleagues,

It is an amazing honor to be elected to serve as your NCTA President. In looking at the list of people who have served before me, I am humbled to be included among the names of such giants in the testing profession. During my term, my goals include increasing membership, improving user interface systems, and elevating the profession throughout us U.S. and abroad.

Over the past few years, we have received word of colleges and universities closing test centers, restructuring to essentially dissolve their test center, or reducing staff to such low levels they cannot function at full testing capacity. Part of this was due to students who learned they could test at home and do not want to return to testing centers. Part was due to declining student enrollments, creating declining revenue which in turned created the need for personnel reduction. The ripple effect was felt within NCTA in terms of membership. Thankfully, these trends are showing signs of reversing. There are calls to return to proctored exams. Universities are opening large testing labs to accommodate academic testing. Academic integrity is being discussed at very high levels within administrations as Artificial Intelligence threatens academia as we know it.

As an organization, I want us to reach out to colleagues and encourage them to join NCTA, joining our community of practice that upholds this highest testing standards and practices. Are there colleges, universities, or professional testing centers in your area who are not NCTA members? If so, please let them know about us. We grow stronger each time we add a new member and add their knowledge to our community.

We are actively working to improve user interfaces within NCTA. You will notice a website revitalization that has been an ongoing project for some time. Designing and maintaining a website takes a lot of work and is a never-ending project. We thank you for your patience as we work to improve navigation and accessibility. Within the next few months, you will see a new and improved NCTA Proctor Network (NPN) user interface as well. The new system will allow test-takers to find centers in their area with a few simple clicks.

Finally, by working together, we strengthen the testing profession worldwide. We need to be educating about why we do what we do, reinforcing the importance of certification and licensure exam results that are both valid and reliable, and committing to standards and best practices. I want NCTA to continue to be an invaluable resource for members so we can all grow together.

Thank you for all you do. Here's to a great year!

Dr. Sally Carter
President