Instructor Grading Deadlines

There is not currently a formally established grading deadline policy at UWM. The current practice is to maintain a priority grading deadline that is two business days following the last day of the final exam period, followed by a calendar week before the final deadline that was originally designed to allow for administrative processing of grades when submitted via paper forms. Now that instructors submit grades directly within the student information system, the additional calendar week for administrative processing is no longer necessary. As such, a formal grading deadline policy is being sought. A grading deadline policy will provide instructors and students with consistency and clarity on when final grades are expected following each semester. A deadline of four business days following the final examination period will provide sufficient time for grading in the majority of classes while not unreasonably delaying end-of-term processing like academic standing and degree posting or negatively impacting student enrollment in subsequent semesters based on prerequisites that rely on prior term grades. At present, roughly 9 in 10 grade rosters are approved by instructors by the deadline created by this policy. Given weekend days and holidays, a four business day deadline will typically land roughly one calendar week after the last day in the final exam period, which is generally a day after the last final examination is given since the last day of the period is held for emergency purposes. In addition, a four business day deadline puts UWM in line with other UW campuses that maintain a deadline between two and five days following the last day of the final exam period.

Instructors shall record course grades in the official student information system for all enrolled students by the established grading deadline for each term.

The grading deadline shall be four business days after the last day of the approved final examination period for the fall and spring semesters. The Registrar’s Office shall publish the date of the grading deadline for each semester, including UWinteriM and summer terms.

Grades that are not recorded by the published grading deadline shall be marked as Not Reported (“NR”).