Editing Herzing Issues: Proctoring and Testing (section)

=== HU-179: Following the June 5, 2026 CARES case denial documented in HU-155 and the reporting student's stated intent to file an OCR complaint, Dr. Nicole Franklin issued a written approval confirming Dr. Black approved a retake of the NSG521 RN Fundamentals NGN Final Exam based on ProctorU's admission of fault ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
! style="width:14em" | Severity
| High
! style="width:14em" | Status
| CONFIRMED as to the content of the approval letter and the ProctorU fault admission it quotes; the exact date of the letter and its chronological relationship to the June 5, 2026 denial documented in {{HU|HU-155}} has not been independently confirmed and is flagged as an open item rather than assumed
|-
! Issue type
| Retake Denial Apparently Reversed After Internal Escalation and OCR Complaint Threat; Vendor Fault Admission
! Date added
| 2026-07-17
|-
! Owner
| colspan="3" | Dr. Nicole Franklin (Senior Director of Academic Operations) / Dr. Stephanie Black RN DNP (Dean of Prelicensure Nursing) / ProctorU / Meazure Learning
|}
'''Finding.''' Dr. Nicole Franklin wrote to the reporting student with what she described as a positive update on his Spring 2026 NSG521 RN Fundamentals NGN Final Exam appeal. She stated that Herzing had been contacted by ProctorU, which acknowledged that the technical issues during the exam were its responsibility, and quoted ProctorU as stating that Meazure Learning recognized the reporting student's testing experience was unsatisfactory due to a delayed start, required troubleshooting for a technical issue, and distracting noise that occurred at one point during the exam. Based on this, Dr. Franklin stated that Dr. Black, Dean of Prelicensure Nursing, approved a retake of the NSG521 final exam, to be completed by Sunday, July 12, with the reporting student given the opportunity to choose his own four day testing window, to be communicated to Dr. Franklin by 5 PM on Tuesday, June 30, after which a ProctorU scheduling link would follow. This approval directly concerns the same NSG521 RN Fundamentals NGN Final Exam retake request that {{HU|HU-155}} documents as having been reviewed by Dr. Black and not approved, per Dr. Franklin's June 5, 2026 CARES case follow-up email, and that the reporting student responded to the same day by stating he would file an OCR complaint and request separate Kansas and Wisconsin Board of Nursing investigations if no further internal appeal steps existed. Whether this approval letter was issued before the June 5 denial, as a renewed request after it, or as a reversal prompted by the reporting student's escalation has not been confirmed from the documents reviewed, and the exact date of this letter is not stated in the material provided; this should be verified against the original email header before treating the sequence as a confirmed reversal.

'''Evidence.''' Email, Dr. Nicole Franklin to the reporting student (cc Danielle Laban), subject Spring 2026 NSG521 Final Exam appeal: statement that ProctorU contacted Herzing acknowledging responsibility for the technical issues, quoting Meazure Learning's statement, and confirming Dr. Black's approval of a retake with a stated testing window and response deadlines. Compare against Dr. Nicole Franklin's CARES Case Follow-up email, June 5, 2026, 8:36 AM (documented in {{HU|HU-155}}), and the reporting student's June 5, 2026, 3:28 PM email stating his intent to file an OCR complaint and request Kansas and Wisconsin Board of Nursing investigations if no further internal appeal steps existed.

'''Reported statement.'''
<blockquote>Meazure Learning recognizes the reporting student's testing experience was unsatisfactory due to the delayed start and required troubleshooting for a technical issue, as well as the distracting noise that occurred at one point during his exam.</blockquote>

'''Standards.''' 34 C.F.R. Section 668.14 (administrative capability, including consistent and adequately explained decision making) and HLC Criterion 2.A (institutional integrity, including consistency in communications to students). This entry does not allege retaliation or a confirmed policy violation; it documents that a stated denial and a subsequent approval concern the same exam retake request, and flags the timing relative to the reporting student's internal escalation and stated intent to seek external review as a fact worth verifying rather than a proven causal link. Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. Section 12131 et seq., and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. Section 794, remain relevant given the reporting student's documented testing accommodations and the vendor's admitted role in the exam disruption, consistent with the framing already used in {{HU|HU-155}}.

'''Impact.''' If the retake was in fact denied on June 5 and then approved shortly after the reporting student raised the prospect of an OCR complaint and state board investigations, the sequence is worth documenting and monitoring for institutional consistency purposes, without this entry concluding that the approval was caused by the escalation. Positively, the eventual approval and completion of the retake did allow the reporting student's grade to be corrected, as reflected in {{HU|HU-180}} below. The unresolved question of whether {{HU|HU-155}}'s denial and this approval concern the identical request or two separate requests affects how the overall NSG521 exam dispute timeline should be read.

'''Notes.''' Recommend confirming the exact send date of the Spring 2026 NSG521 Final Exam appeal approval letter and reconciling it against the June 5, 2026 CARES case follow-up denial documented in {{HU|HU-155}}, to establish whether this is a reversal of that same denial or a response to a separate, later request.

Student: The reporting student.

Source Group: Email, Dr. Nicole Franklin (cc Danielle Laban) to the reporting student, subject Spring 2026 NSG521 Final Exam appeal; compared against the June 5, 2026 CARES Case Follow-up email from Dr. Franklin (documented in {{HU|HU-155}}) and the reporting student's June 5, 2026, 3:28 PM reply stating his intent to file an OCR complaint and to ask the Kansas and Wisconsin Boards of Nursing to open investigations; provided by the reporting student.

Cross-References: {{HU|HU-155}} (June 5, 2026 denial of the same NSG521 final exam retake request), {{HU|HU-157}} (CARES case closure and legal hold request), {{HU|HU-159}} (NSG521 grade change from A to B and the open question of who authorized it, same course), {{HU|HU-180}} (instructor of record not notified of the resulting grade change).

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