There are immediate changes taking place to the Prometric's Certified Professional Food Manager (CPFM) program. These changes will impact your ability to continue to proctor the CPFM exams. This message will provide you with information about compliance measures we are putting in place surrounding proctor behavior, required paperwork and operational changes in the program.
Prometric's CPFM program has always adhered to standards set out by the Conference for Food Protection. We rely heavily on our proctors to maintain compliance with these standards, as well as those defined in the Prometric Food Safety Proctor Policy and Procedures Manual. Compliance with these standards helps to protect the content of the exams and creates a fair and meaningful test experience for all candidates.
Prometric continues to work with the Conference for Food Protection and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to provide a structure to the program that promotes these standards. As a result, we must identify and remove from our proctor rosters any proctor that puts our compliance to the standards at risk by failing to meet the requirements and responsibilities to which they agreed by signing the (NDA) non-disclosure agreement during the proctor application process.
To remind our proctors of the regulations to which proctors must adhere, we will require you to sign, electronically, an NDA every two years.
Every two years, you can expect to receive an e-mail notification from Prometric advising you of the requirement to re-sign the NDA. This year, this e-mail will be sent during February. The e-mail will contain instructions about how to complete and submit the NDA electronically. Please follow carefully the directions provided in the e-mail you receive. All proctors who have signed an NDA and been approved prior to January 1, 2010 will be required to complete an updated NDA before this April 1, 2011.
Every exam booklet will be stamped with a date by which that booklet must be received by Prometric. This includes both used and unused booklets. (Please click here for a copy of the "Important Notice" included in every exam order.)
All exam booklets, both used and unused, that were ordered prior to January 1, 2011 must be received by Prometric by no later than April 1, 2011. Should Prometric not receive used or unused exams by April 1, 2011, your proctor number will placed as "inactive" in our system until we receive all of your outstanding exams. Any exams ordered prior to January 1, 2011 and returned for scoring AFTER April 1, 2011 will NOT be scored and fees will NOT be refunded. In this case it will be the proctor's responsibility to contact the candidates to retake the exam and to submit the additional fees that will be required.
Beginning this year (2011) every exam administration that is returned for scoring will be audited for 100% operational compliance BEFORE the exams will be scored.
If any of the required paperwork is missing it will be considered a proctor infraction and will be recorded accordingly. Prometric will allow each proctor only three infractions before the privilege of being a Prometric proctor is invalidated permanently.
All the required items that need to be returned with every exam administration for the exams to be scored are listed in the Proctor Acknowledgement Form. You are required to read and sign the Proctor Acknowledgement Form and submit it with every paper based exam test administration. The Proctor Acknowledgement Form lists all items you need to return with your shipment to avoid any infractions. If an infraction occurs, meaning that a proctor has returned an exam administration without all of the required materials and paperwork, that proctor will be notified by e-mail. The e-mail will clearly state whether the infraction is the proctor's first or second. If the infraction is the third and final for the proctor, the proctor will be notified by e-mail of his/her termination.
In addition to not returning all required paperwork, there exist other violations that will count as infractions. Listed below are other behaviors that may lead to infractions:
Any exams submitted that violate a proctor procedure or policy will not be scored and fees will not be refunded. It will be the responsibility of the proctor to contact the candidates, administer another exam and submit additional fees.
If a proctor commits a security violation, Prometric will launch an internal investigation into the suspected violation. Should Prometric find that a security violation has occurred, the proctor will be notified that his/ her proctor responsibilities have been terminated and the proctor will be listed as "inactive" in our system. No further exam administrations will be allowed. Listed below are examples, though not exhaustive, of security violations:
Security Violations
Purchase Orders will no longer be accepted except by school districts, universities, military branches or health departments. All of the above organizations must submit an order of a minimum of 10 exams to use a purchase order. All purchase orders must be paid within 30 days (net 30). Any organization who has not paid within 30 days and who maintains an outstanding balance past 30 days will immediately be prohibited from submitting payment by purchase order. All purchase orders must include all the required information as listed on Prometric's CPFM website: www.prometric.com/foodsafety/buy+exams
Clients will only be able to place orders for a minimum of 10 vouchers. No orders for less than 10 vouchers will be processed. In addition, all vouchers will now expire within three months of the issue date. (For example, vouchers purchased 1/25/2011 will expire 4/25/2011)
All CPFM exams, regardless of how they are delivered, will now include a short survey at the end. These survey questions are intended to gather feedback from the candidates. They will not be scored and are not included in the two hour time frame provided to take the exam.
Prometric appreciates your business and the commitment you show in helping us to deliver secure, accurate and fair exams for all candidates. You are providing the first line of defense in protecting the general public in our schools, universities, hospitals, military institutions, government offices, hotels, restaurants and many other places from health and safety dangers.
Please remember to visit www.prometric.com/foodsafety for all your food safety information including current forms and the Prometric Proctor Policy and Procedural Manual.
