The Test Center will close on Thursday mornings from 8 a.m. until 10 a.m. starting in the spring 2015 semester. Linda Little, testing and assessment director, said the extra hours will allow the Test Center to do things they cannot do when students are testing.

Chores like cleaning the computers, installing updates to the technology, and even changing a light bulb are not easily done in the Test Center, Little said.

“We can’t change light bulbs when there are people in there trying to take tests, and so it even becomes an issue of when are we going to get this done… the monitors get really dirty. They don’t get wiped down often enough and things like that, because again, there’s always somebody in there,” Little said.

The decision to close was carefully considered, but Little said Thursday mornings are one of the slowest times. With only around 10 to 20 students testing on an average Thursday morning between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., it should not cause too big of an inconvenience for students. Little does not anticipate any problems other than a few students forgetting the Test Center is closed.

“We’ve sent out an all-student email, and an all-faculty email. We’ve put up signs, we’ve put notices in the faculty folders, but I’m sure there will still be a few people that somehow miss that and show up.”

While the hours may change, two things remain constant — students must have an ID to take an academic test, and they must arrive an hour before closing to take a test.

“Especially new students and online students don’t realize that they still have to have an ID to take a test,” Little said.

The new Test Center hours are Monday through Wednesday from 8:30 am. until 9:30 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

For more information, visit www.occc.edu/acs/testingcenter.html or call 405-682-7321.