Adopted by Academic Policies and Curriculum Committee 10/8/18
Adopted by Faculty Senate 11/8/18
Adopted by the President 11/8/18
Rationale
In fall 2017, Michigan State University noted in The Conversation that it is critical to put students at the “center” to increase retention and reduce probation and withdrawals. Many institutions require midterm grades and, although there is not always a correlation between midterm grades and success in a course, midterm grades provide an early alert to students who may be at risk for failure.
EGSC is committed to student success and to implementing a wide array of early alert and intervention procedures. This policy supports the EGSC Early Alert policy, which established alert reporting in Grades First for two or more absences from class and notification to the EGSC retention team. This policy expands on the early alert policy by establishing a required reporting schedule for midterm grades and Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory progress reports at punctuated points in the term for all courses, as outlined below, to keep students informed about their progress at key points in the semester so as to ensure success.
This policy applies to all full-term, mini-term, and summer term courses on all EGSC campuses and off-campus instructional sites. It replaces the former process for entering “midterm grades” or “5-week grades” in Banner Web, outlined in the faculty handbook from 2017.
Graded Assignments
Faculty are required to administer graded assignments prior to the progress report and midterm grades reports for each term that are sufficient to be able to enter a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grade for progress reports prior to the midterm (on the schedule outlined below) and a letter grade for the midterm grade (on the schedule outlined below).
Gradebook in D2L
In order to foster student success, it is crucial that students have a place where they can see their up-to-date grades posted. Towards that end, faculty are required to post up-to-date grades regularly in the college’s learner management system, D2L, or in an integrated learning tool, such as My Math Lab, using a combination of both formative and summative assessments so that students may track their progress. This enables students to better track their progress and works to support the intended outcome of midterm grades and progress reports.
The Associate Dean for eLearning provides training in D2L. All new faculty will be required to attend at least one training for D2L. Specific training for the D2L gradebook functions will be available for all faculty members via video and in-person workshops.
Progress Reports and Midterm Grades
All faculty will enter progress report and midterm grades in GradesFirst, as outlined below, for every course offered on any EGSC campus/off-campus instructional site.
Progress reports will be entered for all students in all core curriculum courses. Progress reports are optional for students in 3000 and 4000 level courses.
Midterm grades will be entered for all students.
Procedures for Sixteen-Week Terms
Four-Week Progress Report: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
By week four of a full-length term, faculty members must indicate whether a student is currently performing at a satisfactory or unsatisfactory level. This will be done by entering an “S” (Satisfactory/Successful) or “U” (Unsatisfactory/Unsuccessful) for all students via a link generated in GradesFirst by the associate dean of eLearning. The link will be delivered to the faculty members via official EGSC email.
After entering the level of performance, faculty members can also indicate in each of their courses whether the student appears to be at risk to fail (or not), and select from a variety of reasons why the student may be unsuccessful (i.e. attendance, lack of participation, etc.). Using the “S” and “U” system eliminates the need to have an exact grade at this point in the 16-week semester, but still lets the student have an idea of his/her progress. The link will arrive via email approximately 5-7 days before the due date for the “S/U” alerts. Generally, a “U” indicates that a student is performing at a level lower than a C.
Faculty members must ensure that sufficient graded work has been administrated in the class with feedback provided to the student to allow for the calculation of and submission of progress reports.
Seven-Week Midterm Grades: Letter Grade
By week 7 of the full 16-week semester, faculty members will assign midterm grades in the form of a letter grade for all students. Responses will be made via a link generated in GradesFirst by the associate dean of eLearning. The link will be delivered to the faculty members via EGA email. When responding to the link, faculty members can indicate in each of their courses whether the student appears to be at risk to fail (or not), and select from a variety of reasons why the student may be unsuccessful (i.e. attendance, lack of participation, etc.).
By this point in the sixteen-week semester, faculty members should have several assessments from which to derive a letter grade to assign to the student. The link will arrive approximately 5-7 days before the due date for the seven-week midterm alerts, which will be due approximately 3 days before last day to withdraw without penalty.
Faculty members must ensure that sufficient graded work has been administrated in the class with feedback provided to the student to allow for the calculation of and submission of midterm reports.
Procedures for Eight-Week Terms
Two-Week Progress Report: Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory
By week two of an eight-week semester, faculty members will respond with an “S” (Satisfactory/Successful) or “U” (Unsatisfactory/Unsuccessful) for all students via a link generated in GradesFirst by the associate dean of eLearning. The link will be delivered to the faculty members via EGSC official email. When responding to the link, faculty members can indicate in each of their courses whether the student appears to be at risk to fail (or not), and select from a variety of reasons why the student may be unsuccessful (i.e. attendance, lack of participation, etc.). Using the “S” and “U” system eliminates the need to have an exact grade at this point in the 8-week semester.
The link will arrive approximately 3 days before the due date for the “S/U” alerts with a clear “due” date for submission.
Faculty members must ensure that sufficient graded work has been administrated in the class with feedback provided to the student to allow for the calculation of and submission of progress reports.
Four-Week Midterm Grades: Letter Grade
By week four of an eight-week semester, faculty members will respond with a letter grade for all students via a link generated in GradesFirst by the associate dean of eLearning. The link will be delivered to faculty members via official EGSC email. When responding to the link, faculty members can also indicate in each of their courses whether the student appears to be at risk to fail (or not), and select from a variety of reasons why the student may be unsuccessful (i.e. attendance, lack of participation, etc.).
The link will arrive approximately 5-7 days before the due date for the four-week “midterm” grades, which will be due approximately 3 days before last day to withdraw without penalty.
Faculty members must ensure that sufficient graded work has been administrated in the class with feedback provided to the student to allow for the calculation of and submission of midterm grade reports.
Four-Week Terms
Six-day Progress Report: Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory
The four-week semester compacts a considerable amount of teaching and learning into a short period of time. Usually, the midpoint of a four-week semester is day eight or nine of the course, with the entire course being completed in approximately seventeen- eighteen days (depending on holidays and exam dates).
For this reason, faculty members will respond by day six of the course with an “S” (Satisfactory/Successful) or “U” (Unsatisfactory/Unsuccessful) for all students via a link generated in GradesFirst by the associate dean of eLearning. The link will be delivered to the faculty members via official EGSC email. When responding to the link, faculty members can also indicate in each of their courses whether the student appears to be at risk to fail (or not), and select from a variety of reasons why the student may be unsuccessful (i.e. attendance, lack of participation, etc.). Using the “S” and “U” system eliminates the need to have an exact grade in such a short period of time.
The link will arrive approximately 3 days before the due date for the “S/U” alerts.
Faculty members must ensure that sufficient graded work has been administrated in the class with feedback provided to the student to allow for the calculation of and submission of progress reports.
Midterm Grades: Letter Grade
By week two of a four-week semester, faculty members will respond with a letter grade for all students via a link generated in GradesFirst by the associate dean of eLearning.
The link will be delivered to faculty members via official EGSC email. When responding to the link, faculty members can also indicate in each of their courses whether the student appears to be at risk to fail (or not), and select from a variety of reasons why the student may be unsuccessful (i.e. attendance, lack of participation, etc.).
The link will arrive approximately 5-7 days before the due date for the two-week midterm grades, which will be due approximately 3 days before last day to withdraw without penalty.
Faculty members must ensure that sufficient graded work has been administrated in the class with feedback provided to the student to allow for the calculation of and submission of midterm grade reports.
Retention Alerts
Alerts will be sent to the retention team and the student’s advisor for any student who receives an Unsatisfactory indicator on a progress report and/or a midterm grade below a C. Advisors and retention specialists will make a legitimate effort to contact the student to address any issues that may be barriers to success.
Responsibility for Supervision
Faculty members who are unable to complete the above grade alerts should speak with their deans and/or direct supervisors as soon as possible. Ultimately, responsibility for tracking completion of grade alerts by faculty rests with the faculty member’s direct supervisor.
Supervisors should gather a list of all faculty in their areas who failed to report midterm and progress reports and send this to the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs. Such failures to report may factor into the annual evaluation of the faculty member by their supervisor.
Calendar for Midterm Grades and Progress Reports
The Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs will send the schedule for midterm grades and progress reports listing specific dates. This calendar will be distributed via email and sent to all faculty members during the preceding semester when registration begins so that they may plan assessments accordingly. The calendar will also be posted to the EGSC web site for quick reference.
GradesFirst Training for Faculty
A GradesFirst training course is available for all faculty members; new faculty members are required to attend a GradesFirst training and should alert their dean or the associate dean for eLearning to be added to the training course.
