The VHMA Certification Board is committed to the integrity and security of its examination process. Applicants, Candidates and Certificants have a duty to maintain strict confidentiality with respect to the content of the examinations and to comply with all examination security policies and procedures.
Any breach of confidentiality that may compromise the security of exam content (including giving information about the examination to another person or receiving information about the examination from another person before, during, or after the examination) will be grounds for disciplinary action, including but not limited to denial or revocation of certification, by the Certification Board. Likewise, any act, either intentional or unintentional, that violates examination rules will be grounds for disciplinary action by the Certification Board. Proctors are responsible for reporting to the Certification Board any candidates who (1) may have caused a disruption or interruption during the exam period, or (2) violated procedural rules during the exam, or (3) appeared to engage in a method of cheating or seeking unfair advantage either before or during the exam. The Certification Board will review these reports and apply appropriate disciplinary sanctions. Strict adherence to examination policies and procedures is enforced without exception.
Violations of examination policies include but are not limited to the following actions:
- Starting the exam before the proctor allows and/or not stopping work when the proctor says the exam is finished.
- Talking with anyone, except the proctors, inside or outside the examination room during the examination period.
- Giving information about the examination to another person before, during or after the examination. This includes, but is not limited to, memorizing sections of the examination for use by others, reproducing examination questions or discussing examination questions, orally, written in any form.
- Phone calls or communication by electronic or other means with anyone or anything inside or outside of the examination room during the examination period.
- Copying or attempting to copy another candidate’s exam or answer sheet. Glancing over or leaning toward another person’s examination is considered an attempt to copy.
- Passing or attempting to pass information of any type to another candidate during the exam.
- Possessing any of the following items during the examination period: books, paper (excluding paper provided by the proctor for use during the examination), notes, note cards, post-it notes, dictionaries (electronic or printed), personal digital assistants (PDAs), beepers, cell phones, cameras, calculators (excluding calculators provided by the proctor for use during the examination) and other non-approved electronic devices.
- Writing on any part of your body or your clothes before or during the examination period.
- Communicating with anyone other than a proctor in the case of a site irregularity in which you must exit the examination room (e.g., fire drill, power outage, medical emergency, etc.), except communications as required because of the emergency. This includes communicating with other candidates while waiting to re-enter the test site, looking at notes or books, and/or re-entering the test site without the expressed permission of the proctors.
- Taking any part of the examination book or answer sheet out of the examination room for any reason.
- Accessing notes, cell phones, PDAs, beepers, other electronic devices or individuals from any location either inside or outside the examination room including bathrooms, cars, snack areas, etc.
- Leaving the examination room, unsupervised or without permission, for any reason.
- Writing on the desk, table or other furniture in the examination room before or during the examination.
- Allowing visitors into unauthorized areas of the examination site.
- Impersonating, or attempting to impersonate another candidate, or allowing another person to take the examination on your behalf.
- Failure to report any exam irregularities, cheating, or other inappropriate behavior. You must report cheating of any kind of which you are aware that has taken place before, during or after the examination. It is your responsibility to report to the Certification Board any site irregularities or testing violations before, during or after the examination takes place.