We prove that the smallest value of $a$ is 16. Note that the expression for $N$ can be rewritten as $k(2a+k-1)/2$, so that $2N = k(2a+k-1)$. In this expression, $k>1$ by requirement; $k < 2a+k-1$ because $a>1$; and obviously $k$ and $2a+k-1$ have opposite parity. Conversely, for any factorization $2N = mn$ with $1<m<n$ and $m,n$ of opposite parity, we obtain an expression of $N$ in the desired form by taking $k = m$, $a = (n+1-m)/2$. We now note that $2017$ is prime. (On the exam, solvers would have had to verify this by hand. Since $2017 < 45^2$, this can be done by trial division by the primes up to 43.) For $2N = 2017(2a+2016)$ not to have another expression of the specified form, it must be the case that $2a+2016$ has no odd divisor greater than 1; that is, $2a+2016$ must be a power of 2. This first occurs for $2a+2016=2048$, yielding the claimed result.