The computerization committee met over a two-year period. Vernon Temple,DC, and Jerry Blanchard,DC, served as co-chairmen. Other committee members included Drs. Peter Ferguson; Frank Hideg; James Badge; and Kenneth Padgett. Advisors to the committee were Drs. Gerard Clum, president and CEO of Life Chiropractic College-West, and Cynthia Vaughn, president of the Texas State Board of Chiropractic Examiners. Dynamic Chiropractic Editor/Publisher Don Petersen participated as an observer.
The computerization study included a full review of the current testing procedures. The committee examined the impact of testing on the state boards; trends in chiropractic college enrollment; future cost projections; and test designs of paper and pencil exams vs. computerized exams. The committee concluded:
- Conversion to a computer-based testing (CBT) format would result in more costly exams, possibly increasing student fees by as much as 100 percent.
- A sample of 1,116 students indicated by a margin of 3 to 1 that the expected increase in expense is not considered worth the perceived benefit of switching to CBT.
- The level of security the NBCE currently maintains cannot be matched by existing third-party testing centers, thereby jeopardizing the integrity of NBCE's written examinations.
As cost was one of the primary considerations, information on how computerization has affected the cost of licensing exams in other professions was assembled and presented:
The NBCE asserts it will maintain open lines of communication with all constituencies. The computerization committee, noting that circumstances may change, said that computerized testing would be reconsidered in the future.
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