Over the last five years, UEPCC has discussed faculty concerns with the collegiate recommendations for undergraduate grading. Primarily, instructors are sometimes confused regarding the use of a prescribed distribution of final course grades. In addition, students have also expressed concerns about not always understanding the grading scheme for a course and/or not having a good sense of their current grade in a course (sometimes until late in the semester, past the course drop deadline). We know that concerns around grades and grading schemes are one of the most common reasons for student stress and anxiety.

As a college, CLAS currently does not support the use of grading schemes that create strong student competition in courses (i.e., prescribed distributions). In addition, an increasing number of faculty and instructors in CLAS use grading strategies that are equitable alternatives to a distribution grading scheme and are helping students have a better understanding of their course grade throughout the semester.

Therefore, Associate Dean Lang charged UEPCC with a revision of the CLAS undergraduate grading policies, guidelines, and information presented on the CLAS website. Over several meetings, UEPCC made revisions and in April 2023 voted to approve the updated language and guidance for instructors of undergraduate courses. These revisions were also shared at CLAS Faculty Assembly for awareness in April 2023.

This updated information now appears on the CLAS Grading Policies and Guidelines webpage, and a summary is provided here:

Grading in Undergraduate Courses

Policies

• Instructors are obligated to evaluate each student's work fairly and without bias and to assign grades based on valid academic criteria that have been well defined for students.
• Grades should accurately reflect the level of the student’s mastery of the course content and related skills regardless of the performance of other students in the course.
• The grading scheme should be described in the syllabus and reviewed with students throughout the course. Once the semester begins, a grading scheme may be modified to benefit students; however, it may not be adjusted to lower students’ grades.
• The college does not support grading schemes that use pre-determined quotas of students receiving each letter grade. Every student should have the opportunity to be successful.
• Instructors must use ICON to record and share student grades unless the DEO of the course’s administrative home approves an exception.
• Students from other colleges taking courses administered by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are subject to CLAS policies. CLAS students taking courses offered by other UI colleges are subject to the grading policies of those colleges.

Strongly Recommended Procedures

• Grades should be entered in the ICON grade book as soon as possible so that students know their standing in the course. They should be provided with enough information to understand grades earned on various assignments, quizzes, and exams and how those points are related to their final semester grade.
• By the mid-point of the course, students should have a clear understanding of their current course grade.
• CLAS recommends the use of +/- grading since it helps to distinguish students' performance. Include on the syllabus information related to the use of plus/minus grades, including whether an A+ will be used and explicit criteria for earning an A+.

Grading Schemes and Strategies

• CLAS does not require instructors to use any particular scheme for grading students. Some instructors, in fact, may use elements that are drawn from different schemes.
• The college supports instructors’ use of grading schemes and strategies that promote intrinsic student motivation toward learning and equitable assessment outcomes.
• Instructors should choose a grading strategy appropriate to the course level and role in the departmental/program/GE CLAS Core curriculum.
• Faculty in departments and programs are encouraged to discuss grading schemes and expectations with all instructors (including visiting, adjunct, and graduate student instructors) on a regular basis. Some departments may have grading guidelines, which should also be reviewed and discussed regularly.
• Additionally, instructors are encouraged to consult with the Center for Teaching for resources related to best practices in assessment.

Revisions to some content and guidance were also made to the following undergraduate grading procedures:

• Assignment of Grading Roles
• Submitting Grades
  • Please note that DEOs should have primary responsibility for review and submission of all departmental final course grades.
• Changing a Previously Submitted Grade
  • Please note that the course instructor should enter the grade change and provide a complete rationale.  
• Grading Marks Not Included in GPA
  • This section includes guidance on Incompletes.