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Assignments, Grades & Grading Policies

Course Assignments

Faculty are responsible for collecting all course assignments including paper assignments, midterms, and final exams, from their students. The Ethnic Studies staff will neither collect nor date stamp materials submitted on or before the due date to faculty, and undergraduate students are not allowed in the department mailroom for any purpose. Faculty who are concerned about the security of course submissions should arrange for student in-class submission or student hand delivery to faculty during their scheduled office hours. The department does not provide bluebooks.

Midterm and Final Exams/Final Papers

Faculty are encouraged to give a midterm before the end of the fifth week so that students may evaluate their progress in the course, and they are obliged to have printed in the Schedule of Classes the date and time of any midterm which is to be given outside of the regularly scheduled class hours. Additionally, any midterm given outside of regular class hours must be announced in the course syllabus that is distributed at the beginning of the quarter.

Instructors will be notified of their Final Exam day/time/room individually by e-mail. Adjustments to final exam classroom locations are posted by Week 7. A link to the final exam schedule (day, time, and room) is posted at the beginning of each quarter’s enrollment period on: http://blink.ucsd.edu/instructors/index.html .

This “Blink” web page also includes links to resources for instructors, advisors, and others who support instruction and matriculation. If an instructor will not need to use the classroom space for the final exam (for instance, if they are assigning a take home final) please notify Daisy so the Registrar can relinquish the space. Classroom space for the final exam is only assigned to courses that list an in-class exam as their final evaluation method in the course approval. Courses with variable finals (final paper, project, presentation) are not assigned a classroom space for the final exam. Please notify Daisy if you will need a classroom scheduled for your variable final, requests must be submitted before students enroll in the course.

Instructors should be mindful of the policies governing final exams. University policy states that students may not be given a final exam nor will final papers be due prior to the date on which the final exam is scheduled by the Registrar’s Office. Any alternative final exam date/time needs CEP (Committee on Education Policy) approval (Please check with Daisy as soon as possible if you need to request approval). Any student who cannot take the final exam on the rescheduled day must be given an opportunity to take the final exam on the date appearing in the Schedule of Classes and a proctor needs to be arranged by the instructor.

This Academic Senate Committee on Education Policy (CEP) Educational Policies and Procedures link (http://senate.ucsd.edu/operating-procedures/educational-policies/courses/) details CEP Policies and Resources, including regulations about midterm and final exams, policies on scheduling, who may proctor an exam, and accommodations for exams, etc.

Returning Final Exams

Final exams will only be accepted in the front office if the following conditions are met:

  1. Faculty should remind students to sign the Buckley Waiver. The Buckley Waiver is emailed to instructors at the start of every quarter and is also included in the back page of exam blue books. See Daisy if you have any questions.
  2. Put the grade for each exam and the final course grade on the exam itself (not on the front page).
  3. Sort the exams according to whether students have signed the Buckley Waiver, and alphabetize the signed exams by last name; these exams can be placed in a publicly available area.
  4. Those exams without the Buckley Waiver signed will be returned to the faculty member.

Finals that have waivers will be available for students to pick up as soon as the professor returns the graded finals to the Ethnic Studies Department Office. Those students who have completed the release form can come to the department and retrieve their own finals from the lateral 2-drawer file cabinet in the reception area of SSB201. Students who do not agree to waive their privacy rights need to arrange with the instructor to pick up papers. The best way for students to ensure receipt of final exams is to provide the instructor with a self-addressed, stamped envelope with postage to cover mailing.

* The text of the Buckley Waiver is as follows:
“I hereby authorize the UCSD Ethnic Studies Department to return my graded final examination/research paper by placing the examination/research paper in a location accessible to all students in the course. I understand that the return of my examination/research paper as described above may result in the disclosure of personally identifiable information, that is not public information as defined in UCSD PPM 160-2, and I hereby consent to the disclosure of such information.”

Final papers that have not been picked up will be returned to instructors during the tenth week of the following quarter. The Undergraduate Office suggests that instructors retain final papers and exams for at least one year. Retention of finals may be essential in dealing with instances of grade disputes or plagiarism.

Make-Up Exams and Student Accommodations through OSD

Faculty who are administering a make-up exam are responsible for proctoring the exam or finding an appropriate proctor and for reserving appropriate space. (SSB 103 or SSB 253 are available with a reservation.) Department administrative space is not suitable for make-up exams, particularly for students who need special accommodations. Students who are eligible for accommodations (such as more time on an exam, in-class note-takers, interpreters, etc.) should notify their instructor and make arrangements through the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) http://disabilities.ucsd.edu/about/index.html  for appropriate accommodations and facilities in a timely fashion. Information about OSD is available at: http://osd.ucsd.edu

NOTE: Students who need more than four hours to complete an exam should contact OSD in a timely fashion in order to be accommodated in their exam space.

Submitting course grades via online tool – eGrades

Grades must be submitted through eGrades by11:59 p.m. on the Tuesday after the last final is given. 

Please refer to Academic Senate educational policies, regulations, and procedures for grades, grade points, the Incomplete and NP and W (withdrawal) grade, and regulations and procedures for changing grades: http://senate.ucsd.edu/Operating-Procedures/Senate-Manual/Regulations/500

Only the Instructor of Record, an Authorized Grader designated by the Instructor of Record, or the Department Chair can submit grades through eGrades.