Assessing Students and Giving Feedback

As an instructor, you are expected to give thoughtful and timely feedback to students throughout the semester. Good feedback should not only provide students with transparency regarding grading justification, but it should also pedagogically guide students toward the course outcomes. In other words, you should offer feedback that ranges from formative to summative.

Grading Timeline

When you are assigned ONE course for composition, you are expected to grade and return thoughtful feedback on major writing assignments no later than one week after the original due date.

When you are assigned TWO composition courses, you are expected to grade and return thoughtful feedback on major writing assignments no later than two weeks after the original due date.

You are expected to grade other minor assignments no later than 3-4 working days after the original due date. These assignments may not require extensive feedback.

Whole-Class Feedback and Displaying Student Work

We encourage you, especially when grading minor assignments, to be conscientious of your time. Instead of writing detailed feedback for every assignment, prioritize major vs. minor assignments. When assessing minor assignments, look over student work broadly and consider different strategies for providing whole-class feedback based on trends and patterns you are observing overall. Of course, you still want to pay attention and respond individually to any student that may need extra support.

In the event that you see pedagogical benefits to sharing student work with the whole class as part of your feedback, please request permission from individual students before putting their work on display. We also encourage you to balance any discussion of student work with both positive and constructive criticism. The goal of sharing student work should be to discuss common trends and to model strong rhetorical moves, not to nitpick a student’s work publicly.

Equitable Grading Practices

When grading, always consider the policies outlined in your syllabus as well as the assignment expectations and rubric criteria. Having clear expectations and adhering to those expectations yourself helps to ensure that you are treating each student fairly and equitably. It is not appropriate to grade one student’s work differently than other students unless they have official accommodations required by either the DRC or Office of Equity. Of course, human nature and biases will always be present, but you can develop strategies to limit the effect these have on grading. You might consider the following approaches (among others) to grading:

• Develop clear expectations and criteria for assessments. Even if you don’t like using Canvas grading rubrics, make sure that you outline key criteria or expectations for the assignment before students submit the assignment. Make sure these expectations are 1) transparent to students and 2) that they make clear sense to you as you are grading.
• Read over all assignment submissions before grading individual submissions. As you do, record trends and patterns you are observing. Review your assessment criteria. If happen to notice a widespread failure to meet certain criteria, consider the effectiveness of OR gaps in your pedagogical approaches to instruction. Ask whether you can fairly assess students using your current criteria or whether students need further instruction. Note: When using this strategy avoid comparing student work against your strongest submission.
• Grade essays in a different order for each assessment (e.g., grading in reverse alphabetical order (Z-A) if you typically grade A-Z). This prevents students at the end of your typically grading order from constantly being graded after grading fatigue sets in.
• Limit the number of assessments you grade each day. When instructors attempt to grade too many essays in a day, it is easy for fatigue to set in. Once fatigue sets in, it is difficult to assess student work thoughtfully, adequately, and fairly.

If you do encounter a situation in which you feel you should legitimately grade one student differently than other students in your course, please contact the DOC or ADOC. Depending on their advice, it may be appropriate to consult with the DRC or Office of Equity to determine the best course of action. However, keep in mind that students need to be the one to request accommodations and that instructors should not suggest a diagnosis or guarantee that accommodations will be provided.

Colleague Collaboration and FERPA

While grading, it may feel natural to want to discuss your questions and concerns with your peers. In fact, we encourage you to collaborate with peers and explore strategies for giving feedback. This is a good pedagogical practice. However, you must consider your FERPA training when doing so. It is NOT appropriate to share specific student information or discuss student grades with other colleagues. Doing so is a violation of FERPA law.

Submitting Final Grades

Grades can be entered directly through Banner OR transferred to Banner from Canvas. The Banner Faculty Grade Entry tutorial goes into depth of various features and important tools to make it easier. Grade submissions are typically due one week after the last day of finals. Once submitted, the only way to change a grade is by completing the change of grade form. You can also read the university’s documented grading policy.

A grade must be entered for each student on your list prior to the grade submission deadline. In the scenario a student has chosen the Pass (P) D+,D, F option, the original grade still needs to be entered and will automatically be converted on the student’s transcript. If there is an error submitting a grade through Canvas, please make the submission directly through Banner. (information adapted from the Registrar’s webpage)

Failing (F) and Non-Participation (NF) Grades

If a student did not complete your course and earned a failing grade, an “F” grade should be assigned. Do not leave blanks. When entering an “F” grade, you must enter the “Last Attend Date.” According to the Registrar’s Office, this date is defined as the last date a student participates in any academically related activity, such as submitting assignments, taking exams or quizzes, attending labs, study sessions, or tutorials. Because the composition courses you teach entail a high level of participation, the last date attended for your course will most likely be the last day they attended your class. The university needs this date because students who stop attending or participating before 60 percent of the semester is complete may be required to repay federal financial aid.

The grade of “NF” (Non-Participation) is given when a student’s name appears on your roster, but there is no record of attendance or other evidence of participation in the course.  The NF grade is treated as an F grade in calculating grade point averages. (information adapted from the Registrar’s webpage)

If you have any questions about entering an “F” or “NF” grade, consult a member of the CAT.

Incompletes (I) Grades

Students are expected to complete all courses for which they are registered by the end of the semester, unless they have extenuating circumstances such as illness, death in the family, job or court obligations, or emergencies approved by the instructor. A student may petition the instructor for extra time and receive an “I” (incomplete) grade, with a deadline for completion agreed between the student and instructor (maximum 12 months). Incomplete grade requests can be submitted using the form in ServiceNow. For complete information about incomplete grades, please see the official USU policy in the General Catalog. (information adapted from the Registrar’s webpage)

As a GI, you can deny a student’s request for an incomplete if you determine they do not meet the Incomplete criteria. If you think a student qualifies for an Incomplete, please speak with the DOC or ADOC before offering the student an Incomplete.

Process for Submitting an Incomplete Grade

In the event that assigning an Incomplete grade is the appropriate course of action, you will need to submit the Incomplete Grade Form through Service Now.

This form will prompt you to verify that the student meets the following criteria:

• Does the student have extenuating circumstances that would qualify them for an Incomplete grade? (Yes/No)
• Has the student completed the majority of the coursework? (Yes/No)
• Is the student passing the course? (Yes/No)

If you can answer yes to all of the questions above, then the form will allow you to proceed. You will then need to:

• Provide the student’s name and A#.
• Select the term (Semester & Year).
• Select the course to which the Incomplete grade is being assigned.
• Select the grade to be submitted if the Incomplete contract is NOT fulfilled (you’ll have to temporarily put 0s into the missing assignments in Canvas to determine what grade the student would earn if they do not do any work).
• Describe the reason for granting the Incomplete grade (you don’t have to provide extensive details here. Here’s an example: “The student had a death in their family near the end of the semester and needs additional time to complete the coursework.”).
• Describe the coursework the student must complete in order for the Incomplete grade to be removed the Incomplete grade. Please be as detailed as possible in this section. This is the contract between you and the student for completing the course. If you are waiving any small assignments and/or not permitting students to make up certain assignments, please be sure to indicate which assignments as they are titled in your Canvas course. Your goal is that, in the event that you are not able to grade the student’s work, that another teacher could understand what all needs to be completed, what assignments are not permitted to be completed (these could include earlier assignments that have a 0, but that the student didn’t complete prior to the extenuating circumstance), and which assignments in Canvas correspond to the assignments you list on this form.
• Determine the deadline by which the incomplete work must be submitted (must be within 1 year, but preferably earlier; you and the student should discuss this before you complete this form).

Additionally, once you have submitted the form, please email the DOC the following information, so they have a copy for their records:

• Provide the Student’s Name and A#
• Select the Term (Fall 2023)
• Select Course that Needs Incomplete Grade (including section number)
• Coursework to be Completed to Remove Incomplete Grade
• Deadline for Completion of Incomplete Work

Once you submit the Service Now form, the student will receive the form and have to sign it. Once they do, the Registrar’s Office manually puts the grade of I on the student’s transcript.

Submitting the Grade Change Form

Once the student completes the work, you’ll need to submit a Change of Grade form. If the student does not complete the work, the grade you provided (if the student did not fulfill the contract) automatically posts to the student’s transcript on the date you listed on the form.

Tip for Helping Students Avoid Incompletes

GIs especially should take steps to help students complete the coursework required to receive a letter grade in the course. Because you will eventually graduate and leave USU, offering an Incomplete means the labor of tracking student progress, grading completed coursework, and submitting a grade change falls to the DOC or ADOC. Please take the following measures to prevent a high frequency of Incompletes:

• Check your gradebook frequently.
• Make note of any students who are falling behind in coursework, especially those who have previously demonstrated an effort to complete coursework.
• Check in with students of concern.
• Depending on the context consider submitting either a Student Academic Achievement Alert or Student of Concern form.
• Encourage students who are struggling to submit coursework to visit with their academic advisor to discuss options (e.g., continuing with, dropping, or withdrawing from your course). Do not encourage students to drop or withdraw from your course yourself.

Grade Appeals

If students are dissatisfied with the grade that you have assigned them at the end of the semester, students can file an academic grievance to appeal their grade. However, the university will accept an academic appeal form only “after the student has been unable to informally resolve the dispute with the faculty member.” This means students should speak to you before filing a grievance.

What Happens if a Student Files an Appeal?

According to the Office of the Provost, “University administration would override an instructor’s [grade] evaluation only in an extremely limited circumstance-where the occurrence or incident relating to an academic grievance constitutes, from the student’s perspective, a failure to adhere to faculty code in Section 400 of the Utah State University Policy Manual.”