Forum Post
At the October 17, 2024 Faculty Senate meeting, a constituent concern was raised regarding midterm grades. A faculty member was suggesting that submission be in the 9th week of the semester (currently it is in the 8th), allowing this faculty member to include results from the first exam in the course in midterm grades.
With midterm grades, we need to keep in mind that our goal should be to maximize student success and that timely and meaningful information about student performance can play an important role in their success. Given that, I wish to make two points (which expand on what I mentioned during the Oct. 17 meeting in response to this concern). First, given that the submission of midterm grades is an Academic Regulation, i.e., a requirement, the rate of compliance with the requirement is disappointing low. Second, when it comes to the timing of feedback, I think it is important to seek the input of those who often rely on these grades, such as our academic advisors (some of whom have hundreds of advisees).
Expanding on the first point, I have obtained the data for midterm grade submissions for all course in the WSU system for the past five semesters (F’22, S’23, F’23, S’24, F’24). (These data can be obtained via “MyWsu > Main Menu > OBIEE Reporting > Open > Grades – Mid-Term.” Admittedly, I don’t know if all have access to these data. My access may be a consequence of a former administrative role I held.) Of the 19,490 courses that were offered, midterm grades were not submitted in 5,775 courses. This represents non-compliance of approximately 29.6%, i.e., nearly one in three courses does not adhere to this “requirement.”
As poor as this WSU-wide rate of compliance is, it is actually better than I thought it was based on my own experience. Before meeting with my mentees, I always check midterm grades. For students in programs in my School, I would estimate the rate of non-compliance is between 40 an 60% (i.e., for students taking 5 courses, I typically see they have midterm grades posted in only 2 or 3 courses).
This brings me to my second point. Before getting the actual data from OBIEE, I checked with one of the advisors in my College who works with hundreds of students. I asked him what he thought about moving back the due-date for submission to the 9th week. Specifically I asked him if he thought a delay of one week would improved compliance and/or benefit the students. He replied:
“While the senator’s comment [about delaying submission] would likely increase the accuracy of the mid-term grades submitted, I doubt that it would noticeably change the submission rate. Additionally it further defeats the purpose of mid-term grades since it reduces the amount of time advisors, and various departments who utilize this information, have to reach out and assist students in identifying support resources and try to right the ship.
I don’t think this [proposal to delay submission] would get much support from the advising community.”
To summarize, I think we would do students a disservice to delay the submission of midterm grades to the 9th week. I further think administers in certain units should be encouraged to consider who is and isn’t submitting grades and see if they can take steps to increase compliance.
~ John Schneider, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Response
The Faculty Senate Executive Officers have been notified of this forum post and will respond back once more information becomes available.
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