Classroom Seating Specific CFA test sites are kept in strict confidence to prevent potential cheating schemes. Test venues around the world range from very large exhibition centers to universities, smaller-scale conference centers, hotels, and banquet halls. CFA creates a separate Event Specification Guide for each test center.


The planning and logistics of exam day are


overseen by Winters, with the help of a 10-person team. Additionally, about 20 more staff from CFA’s exam administration and business solutions unit provide support with personnel training and security. CFA contracts with test organizations to hire an exam supervisor for each test center; that supervisor then hires and trains local testing personnel, using CFA-provided training materi- als. At the largest test sites, 600 proctors may be administering the test and patrolling the aisles. All told, according to Guilford, it takes nearly 10,000 contracted personnel to conduct the June exam. The seven event specialists on CFA’s test-center planning team manage 25 to 30 test centers each, overseeing all contracting, vendor relationships, and trouble-shooting for those sites. To accom- modate the growing number of Asian candidates, CFA recently added two Hong Kong–based event


88 PCMA CONVENE AUGUST 2013


specialists. “There are a number of time-zone challenges when coordinating with Asia,” Winters said, “and there are also cultural nuances and differences that we wanted to get a handle on and hopefully prepare better for all our exams.” On test day, CFA operates a command center at its Charlottesville headquarters, with specially trained staff available to answer last-minute ques- tions from candidates and problem-solve issues for test personnel. With exam sites in almost every time zone on the planet, the command center is staffed around-the-clock for nearly 24 hours. Although security concerns prevent CFA from naming specific test sites (the fear being that people could somehow infiltrate those sites and figure out a way to cheat — so difficult is the exam and so coveted the charter), Winters will say that venues range from very large exhibition centers to universities, smaller-scale conference centers,


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