UWG News Item
Contact: UWG Public Relations Office
Phone (678) 839-6464, FAX (678) 839-6645
ucm@westga.edu
Testing director named president of NCTA
September 12, 2005
CARROLLTON, GA - Francesca B. Taylor, director of learning support and testing at the University of West Georgia, recently became president of the National College Testing Association. Taylor received the honor at the NCTA annual conference in August.
The association, founded in 2000, sets national standards for testing centers and administrators. Taylor said most people don’t realize the complexities of test administration.
“Testing is so much more than handing a candidate a No. 2 pencil and starting a timer,” said Taylor, who was nominated to the NCTA governing board in 2001. “NCTA membership provides a source of support and a base of knowledge I’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else.”
Computers have changed the testing landscape, Taylor said. Security is more of an issue than it was several decades ago. The NCTA gives support to members on testing issues that range from distance learning and security guidelines to accommodating test takers with physical and learning disabilities.
Taylor began at UWG in 1977 as an English instructor and accepted a position at Southwire as training coordinator and technical writer in 1983. Four years later, she returned to UWG as the assistant to the director of learning support and coordinator of testing.
Taylor has served as the president of UWG’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society and the Southeastern Testing Association.
For information on Learning Support and Testing, contact the department at 678-839-6435 or go to www.ncta-testing.org.
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