View Bill 13-14-35
Senate Bill 13-14-35
| Bill ID: | 13-14-35 |
| Name: | Proposal to Mandate the Use of ELMS and Reporting of Mid-Semester Grades of all Instructors and Teaching Professors |
| Proposed: | 03/28/2014 |
| Sponsor: | Mithili Mandadi |
| Proposal: | Currently university policy does not mandate that professors use ELMS (or prior to 2013, the grading system on my.umd.edu). Also, university policy apparently only mandates the reporting of mid-semester grades in 100- and 200- level courses. While this may be the university policy, in my experience as a junior who has taken over a 100 credits, that many professors/instructors refrain from posting mid-semester grades. In fact, even in my freshman and sophomore years when I was taking 100- and 200-level classes, it was common for at least one or two instructors to abstain from reporting mid-semester grades. In addition, professors who refuse to use ELMS to help us keep abreast of our performance in their classes often offer no alternative. Both of these practices decrease clarity in students' understanding of their academic performance and thus may prevent a student from seeking the guidance or aid necessary to improve their grades. As academic success is something students, faculty, and the whole university community should be working towards, I opine that these policies should be remedied. I ask that professors be mandated to use ELMS and post mid-semester grades. If for some reason a professor cannot use ELMS, he must be required to offer an alternate to his students. Although it is already mandatory (According to the English department) for professors to post mid-semester grades for 100- and 200- level courses, this is not being enforced. In addition, this policy should be amended to all undergraduate courses from 100- to 400-. The infrastructure for using ELMS is already in place. In addition, most professors have an array of TAs and graders provided by the department to use for just this purpose. For adherence, the individual departments as well as the university should enforce these practices. The university has already transitioned to reporting final grades online eliminating the costs associated with mailing final grade reports. This is another step along that road. I understand that not all assignments can be graded with immediacy, but professors still have the option of a S or U aside from the traditional A through F grading system. The priviledge to evaluate us is well-deserved by these eminent professionals. That said, they must wield this power responsibly because it affects us now and even more after we graduate. And by osfuscating their evaluations of us, they harm our ability to improve ourself. |
| Active? | No |
Status
| Status: | Completed |
| Completed On: | 05/06/2014 |
History
| Reviewed By: | Mithili Mandadi, Proposer |
| Received: | 05/06/2014 |
| Decision: | The proposer received a letter from the SEC explaining its decision to reject the proposal and charge a committee with a broader review of related issues. |
| Related Files: |
| Reviewed By: | Senate Executive Committee (SEC) |
| Received: | 04/09/2014 |
| Decision Date: | 04/16/2014 |
| Decision: | The SEC voted send the proposal back to the proposer. |
| Actions: | The SEC voted to send the proposal back to the proposer, but to charge the Academic Procedures and Standards Committee (APAS) with a broader review of mid-semester and early warning grades policies and procedures. |
| Next Step: | Proposer Review |
| Related Files: |