Grades and Assessments

Grades are due one week after the final exam, after which outstanding marks will impact the student's ability to progress in their program. 

Instructors can and should assign grades they believe to be accurate assessments of student performance in a course; however, it might be worth reconsidering assigning final grades of 48% or 49% in courses (assuming 50% is the passing grade), especially if subjective assessments were used to any degree. A decisively, legitimately failed course with a grade of 46 is less likely than a grade of 48 or 49 to result in a formal re-assessment challenge (i.e., 70C Notice of Re-assessment).  Instructors may want to consider whether grades of 48 or 49 should be revised to 50% (pass) or 46% (fail).  

Instructors are discouraged from allowing students to complete additional course work not specified in the course syllabus as a mechanism for passing a course.  This ‘credit recovery’ approach is unfair to students who passed the course but are not offered an opportunity to improve their grade with extra course work.

Instructors contemplating an extraordinary accommodation (e.g., allowing a student to re-take a test) should discuss the situation first with the Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) in order to fully consider the implications.

Instructors must not initially submit INC or NMR grades to meet the deadline. This strategy requires manual grade revisions and leads to the same consequences as missing grades.

More information about grade submission can be found on the RO website. See the Quest website for information on how to upload final grades.

Optical Marks Recognition (OMR) scanning reads answer sheets and saves the accumulated data to file. See the IST website for more information about exam and survey processing.

Crowdmark is an online, collaborative marking system available to instructors and students. Please visit the Crowdmark website for more information.

Odyssey is the exam management system UWaterloo uses to collect exam scheduling information, create seat assignments, and print exams. Please visit the Odyssey website for more information.

The final examination schedule and important information about final examinations can be found on the Registrar’s Office website.

Instructors should keep the following in mind, related to preparation, reproduction, and storage of tests:

1. Only on-campus facilities, managed by the Registrar’s Office, should be used to copy tests. This supports exam integrity. Departmental/school printers can be used if strict security is available.
2. Some on-campus copy locations have students working in the area; these should be avoided.  Only full-time staff work in the W Print  General Services Complex location.
3. Instructors can use Odyssey for printing and to connect AccessAbility Services with any needed exams. Within Odyssey, assigned seating for exams should be considered, as a way to minimize potential cheating opportunities.  

Concerns about students tampering with exams: If instructors have concerns that students are tampering with term exams and then submitting them for re-grading, claiming grading errors, instructors are recommended to upload tests into Crowdmark.

MarkBox and Akindi can be used to randomize multiple choice question order in tests. For more information about assessment technologies, go to the CTE Final Exams site. 

If the department/school is reproducing the exam (rather than the Registrar), a copy of the exam should be left in the department’s/school’s office 48 hours ahead of the exam writing time. If the instructors or proctors are to bring the exams to the exam room, yet become unable to deliver the papers due to an unforeseen reason (e.g., illness, family emergency), it should still be possible, with only a minor delay, to administer the exam with minimal inconvenience to the students.

Non-numeric grade types possible at UW are described in the Grades section of the Undergraduate Calendar.

INC (incomplete)

An INC grade is appropriate when:

• At least one course element is incomplete (e.g., assignment, report, test, examination);
• Credible documentation has been submitted to explain missed work; and             
• Course elements were completed well enough that a passing grade is achievable

Other factors to consider:

• If completed course work is limited or failing, instructors may wish to encourage students to petition for a WD if  warranted appropriate based on circumstances that can be discussed with an Academic Advisor.
• Instructors are discouraged from submitting an INC grade when the missing course work during the formal lecture period involves multiple course elements and/or notable grade weight.
• If completing the remaining course work will not produce a passing course grade, then there may be limited value to completing the course element(s).  In such cases, the grade submitted should normally be the earned grade or DNW (did not write examination).         
• Earned grades that are below 32 and DNW grades are calculated as 32 in appropriate averages. Students may ask to write a missed test that will lead to a failing grade, if they think they can obtain a final grade above 32.

When assigning an INC grade, instructors must complete the online INC grade form, available in the Registrar Resources website; instructions accompany the online form.

• The INC forms stipulates to the student, the instructor, and the Registrar's Office (RO) when and what needs to be completed and the consequences of not completing the work         
• Instructors must indicate the ‘earned grade’, i.e., the mark the student has earned in the absence of the missed course element(s). DNW can be entered as the ‘earned grade’, if applicable.         
• If missed course elements are required to pass the course, the instructor assigns the lesser of the earned grade to date or the grade four percent below the minimum passing grade (e.g., 50-4 = 46).                         
• INC grades will automatically lapse to the ‘earned grade’ after one year from the official grade date if coursework is not completed. After one year, the grade can only change through a policy process (Policy 70, Policy 71, or Policy 72).

Instructors can schedule make-up exams the next time the course is offered, at an RO final examination make-up session, or at the instructor’s discretion.

• A long delay between the course and writing the final exam normally negatively impacts the final grade. Instructors should use their discretion to balance this factor against the time commitment involved in setting make-up exams.
• When an RO make-up session is used, student information must be entered into Odyssey by the course instructor/coordinator (or Exam Representative) and exams must be uploaded and approved by the RO print deadlines. Instructions on how to enter student information and create instructor make-up exam sessions in Odyssey can be found online at Registrar’s Office Final Examination Makeup Sessions.

Within two weeks of receipt of completed work instructors should submit the revised grade to the UG coordinator/program manager in their unit or submit a support request.

If course instructors will not be available to oversee the completion of the course (e.g., leaves, retirements, sessional assignments), the unit head will determine the process.

 DNW (Did Not Write Examination)

• A DNW is assigned to students who have not written the final exam (or an arranged make-up final exam). These students may have attended all, just initial or no course lectures and labs.
• A DNW counts as 32% in appropriate average calculations.

NMR (No Mark Reported)

• The student did not attend classes and no term work was submitted.
• An NMR counts as 32% in average calculations

IP (In Progress)

• The grade, IP, indicates that the course is in progress as a result of course design or delivery rather than student performance (e.g., honours thesis courses, extended duration courses).
• A final grade replaces the IP grade(s) when the coursework has been completed.

If you would like a student who has missed a final due to a submitted VIF to be able to attend the proctored makeup session run by the RO. Instructors enter a student for a RO scheduled makeup date through Odyssey. These dates will run in January. You can also schedule your own makeups to clear an absence.

These Registrar's Office (RO) make-up exam sessions are not mandatory. Instructors have the option to accommodate students outside of these dates and times.

The RO has also created a video with instructions to upload your final exam to Odyssey

Instructors should familiarize themselves with the following Undergraduate Calendar for all official information about assignments, tests, and final exams:

• The Formal Lecture Period
• The Final Examination Period
• Scheduled Pauses in the Academic Term
• Guidelines on Tests During the Formal Lecture Period
• Rules for Test Conduct
• Additional Rules for Final Examinations 
• Accommodations            
• Student Access to Final Examination Papers

Some key points about these University regulations:

• Major term tests (i.e., course weight >25%) may not be held in the last five teaching days of the Formal Lecture Period.
• Final lab examinations may be scheduled during the latter part of the Formal Lecture Period if needed.   
• Courses with final exams may not have other course assignments due during the final examination period.                
• Courses without a final exam may have an assignment equivalent in scope and value to a final exam due during the final examination period.
• No assignments are to be due during the period between the end of lectures and the beginning of examinations (i.e., during ‘Study Days’).
• Instructors are not permitted to administer tests or lectures during Reading Week. (See Important Dates). Connect with Pharmacy and Optometry advisors for exceptions.
• If instructors hold a test outside of the normal course meeting times that creates a legitimate conflict for students, the regularly scheduled event takes precedence, and the instructors must provide an alternative, mutually agreeable time for the student to write the test.
• Saturday tests during the Formal Lecture Period are permissible only in the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Mathematics, for large, multiple-section courses, if those tests are approved by the corresponding Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies (Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning, in Science), scheduled using test slots, and announced to students during the first week of classes via published course outlines.
• In instances where students have adjacent tests or when students have more than two tests in a given day (during the formal lecture period), these students may request accommodation from instructors within one week of the notification that caused the conflict.
• If students complete an examination, even though they are ill, the grade obtained in the course will normally stand.
• Students should not have to miss a test due to a co-op interview. Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE) has mechanisms in place to assist students with these conflicts (https://uwaterloo.ca/co-operative-education/find-your-co-op-job/find-job-waterlooworks/interview/interview-conflicts).
• Instructors are obliged to let students see their final exams, even if that means they will be looking at an MCQ answer card. Instructors may choose to do this in a controlled manner so exams are not stolen or photographed. Students should not be left alone to review their exams.

Proctor instructions (and detailed fire alarm evacuation procedures for test room evacuation) can be found on the Registrar Resources website.]

Posting course grades, returning graded papers, and other privacy issues

FIPPA (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act) is available on Waterloo’s Information and Privacy website. Universities must abide with this act. It requires that identifying information, such as names or student identification numbers, not be readily available to unauthorized personnel, including other students.

Posting Grades

Policy 46 (Information Management) states clearly that posting of student grades is permitted, as long as certain conditions are met: "Provided the identity of individual students is protected, an instructor may convey information about student academic performance (e.g., grades on assignments, mid-term, or final examinations) by posting results in a public place such as an office door, bulletin board or course website. Final examination and final course grades shall not be posted before the final examination period ends."

It should be noted that Policy 46 also stipulates that final examination and final course grades should be posted only after the final examination period ends – students can view their unofficial grades on Quest beginning the day after the final exam period ends, so posting grades is unnecessary.

Returning Graded Papers

Ideally, graded material should be returned individually to students during class, labs, or office hours (unless written permission has been provided by the student for someone else to pick-up the material); the papers should not be left in a public space.  The University’s Information and Privacy website (Information and Privacy - Returning assignments and posting grades) includes suggestions for returning graded material.  If none of these options are possible, graded material can be left unattended, if certain steps are taken:

• Comments and grades are not recorded on the front page;  

• The graded material is left in the specified pick-up location a maximum of two weeks; 

• The course outline specifies that graded material will be left in a specified location for up to two weeks and that alternate options will be arranged if requested by students;  

• The course outline specifies how long unclaimed assignments will be kept (a 1-year period after the end of course is recommended; however, a minimum of 1-month after the course grade becomes official is strongly advised to allow for any Policy 72 grievances to be initiated).

Instructors should note that theft is a real issue and this needs to be considered in deciding how to return graded material.  At best, stolen student work is an inconvenience to students.  More seriously, it can jeopardize their standing in a course, if they: 1) were not able to see where they went wrong in their work, 2) required the material to study for future course assessments, or 3) had a valid reason to request a re-assessment.

Other Privacy Issues

There are a few other FIPPA-related issues that instructors should be aware of when dealing with students, their quizzes, exams and assignments, and their records.

• When responding to students via email, instructors may want to include a "disclaimer" in their e-mail signature.  A suggestion is: "The information in this message, including any attachments, is privileged and may contain confidential information intended only for the person(s) named above.  Any other distribution, copying or disclosure is strictly prohibited.  If you are not the intended recipient or have received this message in error, please notify me immediately by reply email and permanently delete the original transmission from me, including any attachments, without making a copy.  Thank you."
• When using voice mail, the only information left in the message should be the caller’s name and contact information as well as the name of the person being sought.  Detailed information should not be left on voice mail.  

• Only academic advisors and their associated staff should have access to student files.  Others requesting information (e.g., to write a reference letter) should request a copy of the transcript from the appropriate student.  

• Student records must be stored securely. Electronic student records such as those maintained on laptop computers or USB keys present a significant risk to privacy, if lost. It is the responsibility of instructors to ensure that those with access to their students’ information (e.g., teaching assistants) maintain these records in a secure manner.  Data should be encrypted if loss is possible. Consult the IST Device Encryption website for information.  

• The disposal of student information in both paper and electronic formats must also be managed securely. Hard copies cannot be discarded using regular recycle bins. The university’s approved retention schedules for student information can be found in the ’Student Management’ and ’Teaching and Learning’ sections of WatCLASS (Records Classification and Retention Schedule). Based on experience with lengthy petition and appealed grievance processes, instructors are encouraged to keep electronic student information for two years.

Within Policy 46, Appendix A provides guidance regarding access to and release of student information: within the University; with other universities with government agencies; and with the public.  

The Executive Officer (Mona Skuterud) is the Science contact for instructors and academic advisors with specific FIPPA procedural questions.