The timely submission of grade rosters is particularly crucial in the spring semester before Commencement, for any course that has students who anticipate graduating at that time. All grades need to be filed no later than the Friday prior to Commencement day. Grades must be recorded by the registrar, majors must be certified by departments and programs, and graduation requirements must be certified by the School, all in the short span of time after the submission of the final grades. Departments and programs should inform instructors of the crucial of and reasons for the deadlines in these cases.
Student complaints about grades are treated in the University Policies and Procedures section of the New Brunswick Undergraduate Catalog, in Student Complaints About Grades. It reads as follows:
Students wishing to file a complaint about a course grade, or a grade received for a particular piece of work in a course, should first attempt to resolve the matter through discussion with the instructor. If the issue cannot be satisfactorily resolved between student and instructor, the student may specify in writing the basis for the complaint and request a review by the departmental chairperson. A written complaint about a grade for work completed while the course is in progress must be submitted to the departmental chairperson no later than two weeks after notification of the grade. A student must submit a written complaint about a final course grade to the departmental chairperson no later than four weeks after the end of the exam period for that term.
A student who wishes to appeal the decision of the department should appeal in writing to the office of the dean of the faculty offering the course. Written notification of the action taken by either the chairperson or by the dean will be sent to the student within four weeks of the filing of the appeal, excluding those weeks in which classes are not in regular session.
If a student in an SAS course has followed the grade appeal procedure through the steps of discussion with the instructor and with the department or program, and still wishes to appeal to the office of the Dean of the Faculty, the student should be directed to fill out the following form. Students who contact the Dean's office before following the procedure of contacting the instructor and then the department will be referred back to the instructor or department, where the most informed resolution of such matters is typically available.
Once a final grade roster has been submitted at the end of the semester, course grades can only be changed by submitting a Change of Grade form through the SIMS online system.
Grade changes must be initiated by the course instructor, who provides the information on the student, the original grade, the new grade, and a reason for the change.
*The original grade may not be lowered* - it is the responsibility of the course instructor to file an accurate grade when the roster is submitted. (The Instructional Dean will allow the lowering of a grade in only the most exceptional circumstances, such as a mis-assignment of a grade due to having more than one student with the same name on the class roster.) This restriction applies to temporary grades as well, the finalized grade cannot be lower than the assigned temporary grade.
Here is an explanation of the acceptable grades:http://nbregistrar.rutgers.edu/facstaff/grades.htm
If an instructor leaves the University, grading materials including final exams and/or grade books should whenever possible be retained by the department or program offering the course for at least one year after the end of the course.
Students will occasionally question grade assignments years after the original course. For instance, students may look at their transcripts closely for the first time a few months before a hoped-for graduation and discover that a course they thought they had completed successfully lists a failing grade, that in fact was placed there because some sort of registration problem prevented the actual grade from being entered at the time of the course. Faculty members and departments who retain their grade records for a number of years can help out the students in these circumstances.
Practical steps for using the web roster application:
In your web browser, go to
https://sims.rutgers.edu/rosters/
You will be taken to the login page (this is the security feature). Enter your Net ID (or follow the Net ID Query link
https://identityservices.rutgers.edu/netidquery/
if you do not know it) and your rci password. Click on "submit". Important: you must use your rci password, not a password for a local server.
If you have a "Controller" or "Manager" role, you will be able to choose among the options "View Rosters," "Upload Course," "View Status," "Grant/Revoke Privileges." Those who have a "Grader" or "Read Only" role will choose between "View" and "Upload Course." The "Help" feature in the upper right hand corner provides greater detail on what I describe here.
"View Rosters:"
In order to view a roster to which one already has access, on the view card enter the course number as indicated. If the course has more than one section of a single course, all sections to which you have access can be called up at once; moreover, an alphabetical list for the whole course (not just the section) can be obtained. You can also follow the "Drill Down" instructions to choose among the courses to which you have access.
The online roster will appear momentarily. You can download it to a spreadsheet file by clicking appropriately. The downloaded version includes student numbers and email addresses. If you have "Controller" or "Grader" access, you will also be able to click on the box to obtain a grade roster to be submitted.
"Upload Course:"
If you have Controller or Grader privileges, you can use this feature to upload an appropriate spreadsheet including grades. If you have a large course it is likely you will be interested in submitting grades in this fashion; for smaller courses it is generally easier to just enter grades directly onto the online grade rosters.
"Grant/Revoke Privileges:"
This card allows those with a "Controller" or "Manager" role to grant and revoke privileges to others. You can only grant or revoke privileges for courses to which you have privileges. Enter the SSN or name of the person to whom you wish to grant/revoke privileges; and click on the correct name found by the search. Existing privileges for that person will be listed. Choose the role to grant and the course, again by number or via "Drill Down. "All" courses or "all" sections of a given course are options. Submit the request, and then continue with the next granting.
"View Status:"
This card allows those with an "Controller" or "Manager" role to check to see whether final grade rosters have been filed with the Registrar, either online or on paper.