Would-be MBA students getting ready to take the GMAT might be in for a little surprise when they show up at the testing center. In addition to all the usual security measures—including video monitoring and the computer adaptive test itself—test takers will soon be asked to submit to a new one: a biometric device that uses an infared light to capture the test-taker’s unique “palm vein pattern.”

Pearson VUE, the company that administers the GMAT for the Graduate Management Admission Council, plans to announce the new security effort tomorrow, but BusinessWeek got a sneak peak at it today.

The Fujitsu “PalmSecure” device will be rolled out next month at 16 testing centers in India and Korea for GMAT candidates. It goes live in the U.S. this fall, and when fully deployed will be used in 400 facilities in 107 countries by May 2009.

The announcement comes as the b-school world is embroiled in a cheating scandal involving the GMAT–users of a now-defunct test prep Web site, Scoretop.com, have been accused by GMAC of using it to post and access live test questions, and GMAC has said it will cancel the test scores of anyone who violated its rules.

But the new security measure is designed to stop a different kind of cheating–the use of professional test takers, or proxies, to take the exam on behalf of someone else. GMAC’s been burned by this type of cheater before. Back in 2003, it busted a half dozen people who took the GMAT for others for about $5,000 a pop. GMAC canceled 166 scores as a result, and five of the six imposters ended up at Rikers.

More : businessweek.com

An investigation is underway into alleged online cheating by prospective and current MBA students. Thousands are accused of looking at current questions on their entrance exams. The publisher of the test has shut down the domain and is looking into who used it to cheat. Those scores could be thrown out. A federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, ordered Scoretop.com to pay the Graduate Management Admission Council 2.35 million dollars and to turn over a computer hard drive containing payment information and user IDs. The council has sued Scoretop’s operator for copyright infringement. It alleges the site offered current questions from the Graduate Management Admission Test as well as other private material.

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Prospective and current graduate business students who used a Web site to cheat on entrance examinations over the last five years could have their scores thrown out.

The exam’s publisher, the Graduate Management Admission Council, is tracking down users of Scoretop.com after winning a lawsuit to shut down the site and seize a computer hard drive containing payment information and user identifications.

Scoretop sold VIP access for $30 a month, giving users previews to current questions on the latest Graduate Management Admission Test. Some were posted by users after taking the exam.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema also ordered site operator Lei Shi to pay $2.35 million plus legal costs in a June 20 ruling in the copyright infringement lawsuit.

In court documents, GMAC cited a posting by a user who said the information offered on the site was “inestimable,” saying that he saw 10 to 12 “word by word” items and “many of the other questions felt very familiar.”

About 6,000 GMAT scores from when the Web site started in 2003 to the present are in question, GMAC spokeswoman Judy Phair said Wednesday. It’s unclear how many test-takers are involved, because they can take the test several times a year.

“We have an ethical responsibility to schools and students to say this is a secure and fair test,” Phair said. “Obviously, you’re not being fair if you have an unfair advantage.”

The council plans to match data with test-takers and cancel the scores of anyone it determines knowingly used Scoretop to cheat on the GMAT. It will also notify the schools receiving scores, and perhaps prevent them from retaking the test. Phair said she can’t offer a timetable on the process.

Shi wasn’t represented by an attorney, according to court documents. McLean, Va.-based GMAC said Shi has returned to his native China and couldn’t be reached.

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Raj Soin College of Business’ Master of Business Administration (MBA) Weekend Program is expanding MBA offerings off-campus in the fall to become more aggressive in recruiting students for graduate programs.

The new Mason MBA Weekend Program will begin a cohort September 12 and 13 through a partnership with Sinclair Community College, who built the campus in Warren County.

These types of programs make obtaining a master’s degree more accessible to those working in industry, said Robert Premus, Ph.D., Professor of Economics and Coordinator of South Dayton Programs.

Currently, there are two cohorts at the Mound Advanced Technology Center, through a partnership with the City of Miamisburg. A forth cohort is at Lake Campus.

A cohort is a group of about 30 students who begin and end the program at the same time. The students take two classes a quarter, taught by WSU faculty, every other weekend for two years.

“It really creates a strong bond between the students and networking,” said Premus.

Premus also said the program accepts any major with a good undergraduate record, about three to five years job experience and a good Graduate Management Admission Test score. There is an information session June 13, 5 p.m. - 7 p.m., at Courseview Campus Center, at Sinclair Community College.

Tuition and fees are about $355 per credit hour. The program has 48 credit hours and 12 credit hours of prerequisites, so total costs range from about $16,080 to $21,400.

Applications are due July 1st. If applicants didn’t take the four prerequisite classes in statistics, accounting, economics and finance as undergrads, the program offers these at additional times throughout the quarter.

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BANGALORE: No need to bite if your nails CAT examination did not go well. It is the IIM.

Unhappy with the quality of students, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B), has decided to speak with students from other avenues entry into the B-school. CAT is no longer the sole entry test to determine doctoral students. This year, IIM-B, only eight doctoral students.

Beginning in 2006, he became admitted, students, because of their Graduate Record Exam (GRE), Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) and the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) for its programme of Fellow of the management. The move is to combat the shortage of candidates who meet the requirements for the authorization to place on FPM is the equivalent of a doctorate from a traditional university.

Although FPM IIM-B offers in eight areas, there is not a single student in Production and Operations Management and Marketing programme.

“We have always over 500 applicants each year and the final number of students, the qualification is low. While we accept GMAT Review of NRI and foreign students, practically no one has ever qualified. We decided to open because we receive other channels most qualified students, “L Prasad, president (FPM), IIM-B, told TNN.

DUBAI: The Asian School of Business (ASB), less than one year, the Kerala of Trustees of the Institute, a pair of seats allocated exclusively to non-resident Indians (NRIs), and abroad for post-graduate students in the programme of the Directorate (PGPM).

The selection process for the course, which has 60 seats in all has already begun.

The SBA has been encouraged by the prominent Oman-NRI George M. Thomas, and launched the operation of a temporary facility in the Technology Park in Thiruvananthapuram July last year. It plans to create its own set-up to the year 2007.

A report in the online edition of the newspaper The Times of Oman quoted Thomas in those terms that the two-year full-time PGPM Of course, the flagship of the SBA.

“All 30 students in the first part of stage were paid for by business leaders in India and abroad. Now, we are so that the second batch of 60 students for the PGPM and the selection process is already underway, “Says Thomas. 1

For candidates from abroad, he said, GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) is the basis of an initial short list.

Thomas added that the Institute would be a “Fast-Track, a year (part-time) PGPM, especially for computer professionals.