Illustration by Esteban Cortez / The Collegian
Professors of 65 classes did not make the January due date
Typical Fresno State-issued syllabi outline what to expect from the course. They may also address university-wide policies, turn-in dates and rules for the class.
But, despite the premises each professor’s syllabus lays forth, a handful of students in the fall were alarmed to find that their grades weren’t posted by the set due date in January.
By Jan. 3 teachers were expected to have submitted grades online, and by Jan. 4 the Admissions, Records and Evaluations Office at Fresno State deemed them late.
“We run a report that tells all the classes that are still ungraded,” said Tina Beddall of the Admissions, Records and Evaluations Office.
Once the report is printed it is sent to the Academic Personnel Office, from there it is distributed to the different deans and their departments to notify the teacher that they haven’t received grades.
And while only 65 class sections out of the 4,296 offered this fall didn’t make the deadline, some organizations are affected by the delay.
Fraternities and sororities are among the various organizations that are dependent on knowing the grades of their members.
“For many of the fraternities and sororities, being in good academic standing is part of the criteria for being a member in good standing,” said Eddie Dominguez, coordinator of student involvement. “So if there are students who fall behind on their GPA, that’s how it can affect them.”
Dominguez reports the grades for fraternities and sororities and has the responsibility of looking up each member of Fresno State’s 42 combined fraternities and sororities at the start of each semester.
“That alone takes a couple weeks to do just with the staff in our office. But we are working on a process right now that were hoping we can implement for future semesters is OrgSync ”” which all students organizations are apart of.”
OrgSync is run through the university’s PeopleSoft application where students can access their own grades and class schedules.
“We’re hoping that will address the time it takes us as an office to generate that report,” Dominguez said. “But, again, we are reliant on all the instructors to get their grades in.”
But with continuing budget cuts and reduction in classes, teachers have had to take on more students with fewer resources.
Thomas-Witt Ellis, a drama professor at Fresno State, is one of the many professors that has the duty of turning in grades and believes having time to examine a student’s grade is important.
“I could use more time to more thoroughly consider all aspects of each student’s progress and skill development,” Ellis said.
Ellis also points out that the registrar has made it easier for professors to turn in grades.
“The biggest change with final grades was a technical one put into place by the university about eight years ago, which allows us to file final grades online,” said Ellis. “This grants faculty the flexibility to calculate and file grades from any location with computer access.”
The registrar also modernized the filing of incomplete grades and grade changes.
“This reduction of formal paperwork, which could only be filed during business hours, is a major step away from an inefficient bureaucratic morass,” Ellis said.
However, even with a more efficient process, several professors were not able to make the deadline. Fresno State doesn’t issue a penalty for late grades, but Ellis believes the sooner grades are turned in, the better for both students and professors.
“It does finish the academic process for the semester,” Ellis said. “Students have grades and faculty are released from duties for a short time ”” closure.”