Grading Instructions – University Registrar

Participation & Grading Instructions

Faculty instructions for tracking participation, enrollment, and submitting grades. Web Grading Instructions for Faculty

Wolf Web for the class roster and web grading.

If you need assistance logging in, please contact University Computing Service at 503-838-8154.

Participation Roster Reporting

Effective Summer 2024 forward, under the university course registration policy and drop for nonparticipation regulation, faculty will track student registration, attendance, and participation in their classes through the first two* weeks of the term. Students not registered for a class are barred from continued attendance and participation after the second week. If a registered student doesn’t show up to or participate in a class at least once during that time, they will be reported to the Office of the Registrar and administratively dropped from the class. Participation includes acts such as physically attending a class, communicating with an instructor regarding course materials, posting in an online course, or engaging in learning activities during the first two weeks of the term.

To do this:

  1. Check your participation roster during the first two* weeks of the term and keep a record of who is enrolled and who is attending/participating.
    1. The participation roster is available through Wolf Web and reflects real-time enrollment of students in your class.
    2. You may wish to use the Attendance tracking tool in Canvas. Even if you do not use Canvas to deliver content your class does have a shell that you can use for tracking attendance/participation.
    3. Whatever method you use for tracking, a good practice is to require some type of activity during the first two weeks to verify attendance and/or participation (e.g. a discussion, a post, introductions, etc…).
  2. It is recommended you review your participation roster and check for attendance/participation at each class meeting during this time, however, once initial participation has been established for a student you no longer need to track their attendance/participation.
  3. At the last class meeting of the first two weeks (Friday of that week for online asynchronous classes):
    1. Check your participation roster to ensure that all students are now enrolled and that you have a complete record of student registration and attendance/participation information for your class.
    2. Inform any unenrolled students that have been attending or participating that they must register by the last day to add classes, or they will be barred from further involvement in the class from that day forward.
  4. Participation roster reporting will be accessible as of Friday of week two. Complete the participation roster(s) no later than 10 AM on Monday of week three*.
  5. Upon receipt of the participation roster response, barring any student withdrawals, your roster is set for the term.

*Comparable timeline for summer sessions; see the academic calendar for specific dates.

How to complete your participation roster in Wolf Web
Helpful Resources

The Office of the Registrar and the Center for Teaching and Learning have teamed up to simplify nonparticipation tracking and reporting for both faculty and students.

Further Guidance on Canvas Features: Contact the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at ctl@wou.edu for assistance.

Tracking Participation in Your Canvas Course

Canvas offers a variety of tools to track student participation and engagement:

  • Syllabus Quizzes: Create quizzes using “syllabus quiz” to help students become familiar with course structure and policies.
  • Discussion Boards: Foster student interaction and participation by creating a “discussion board” for introductions. Offer a small portion of course credit for participation in this activity.
  • Assignments: Create “assignments” in Canvas that require student submissions.

What Counts as Class Participation

  • Attendance: Attending class fulfills the participation requirement. Record attendance during the first two weeks to capture participation. A student only needs to attend one class session to be considered a participant.
  • Communicating with the instructor about the subject matter of the class
  • Posting or engaging in an online discussion in an online course
  • Engaging in learning activities

What Doesn’t Count as Academic Participation

  • Living in on-campus housing
  • Participating in the meal plan
  • Logging into an online class without participation
  • Academic counseling or advisement

Student Responsibility

Students are responsible for notifying their instructor within the first two weeks of any situation that might prevent them from participating in class. Notifying you that they cannot participate is not participation in and of itself, but it is an opportunity to find an alternative assignment the student could participate in to stay in the class.

Keeping Students Informed About the Administrative Drop Process

  • Canvas Announcements: Utilize the Canvas announcements feature to inform students about the administrative drop process.
  • Additional Messages: Incorporate a brief mention of the administrative drop process in your communications with students during the first two weeks of the term.

Reporting Participation Timeframe

  • Participation roster reports must be submitted between Friday of the second week and 10 AM on Monday of the third week.

Missing Participation Roster Reports

  • If you don’t submit your participation roster by the deadline, your division chair will contact you.

Correcting Reporting Errors

For errors discovered after the deadline, immediately complete the Notification of Roster Reporting Error form available until 5 PM on Friday of week 4.

Late Registration and Refunds

  • Late Registration: Students who haven’t attended by the end of the second week cannot submit a late registration petition.
  • Refunds: Students contact Accounting & Business Services at 503-838-8201 or BusinessOffice@wou.edu for refund inquiries.
Important Deadlines and Notifications

Week 1 (Monday): Instructors receive their first participation roster reporting notice.

Week 2 (Monday): Instructors receive a participation roster reporting reminder.

Week 3 (Monday): Instructors who haven’t submitted receive a reminder about the 10 AM deadline.

Week 3 (Thursday & Friday): The Office of the Registrar notifies the appropriate dean of any missing participation rosters by 10 AM. Deans submit outstanding reports by 5 PM on Friday.

Week 4 (Friday): Notification of Roster Reporting Error form closes at 5 PM.

*Comparable timeline for summer sessions; see the academic calendar for specific dates.

To enter a grade change
  1. Click on “Faculty Menu.”
  2. Select “Initiate Grade Change.”
  3. Enter student’s student identification number (V#) and click “submit.”
  4. You will be given a selection of courses the student has taken from you.
  5. Choose the course you wish to change the grade for and provide the new grade.
To enter grades for courses at the conclusion of an academic term
  1. Click on the “Faculty Menu”.
  2. Select “Submit Final Grades”.
  3. Select the correct term from the pull-down menu and click “submit”.
  4. You will be given a pull-down list of the courses you are teaching this term.
  5. Choosing a CRN and clicking “submit” will provide a grading roster.
Incomplete Grade Entry
  • The system will automatically prompt you to choose a default grade whenever a grade of “I” (incomplete) is submitted. Step-by-Step Instructions
    • A grade of “I” cannot be assigned as the default grade.
  • The default grade is calculated by determining the grade the student will receive in the course if he/she does not complete any additional work in the course.
  • By default a student will have one calendar year to complete the work.
    • For “I” grades:
      • Faculty may specify a time frame of less than one year through the incomplete grade contract.
      • An extension of an additional year may be granted for a maximum of 24 months using an Extension of Incomplete Form.
        • An extension must be submitted before the incomplete has reverted to the default grade.
  • When the student completes the outstanding work the instructor submits a Grade Change to assign the appropriate grade.
  • If the grade is not changed before the incomplete time frame has lapsed OR at the time of graduation, whichever comes first, the “I” grade will automatically be reverted to the default grade.

**EFFECTIVE SUMMER 2024 FORWARD THE “RP” AND “X” GRADES ARE DISCONTINUED FOR ALL CLASSES.

Last Date of Attendance and Attendance Hour Entry
  • The student’s Last Date of Attendance and Attendance Hours must be entered when a student is assigned a grade of “NC”. Step-By-Step Instructions..
  • The system requires that the Last Date of Attendance be entered in the MM/DD/YYYY
  • If the student never attended***:
    • For the Last Date of Attendance enter the first day of the course. A date is required and only dates between the start and end of the course will be accepted by the system.
    • Please enter a “0” in the Attend Hours field if the student never attended.
    • This combination will indicate to Financial Aid that the student never attended the course
  • If the student did attend:
    • Enter the student’s Last Date of Attendance
    • Enter a “1” in the Attend Hours field if the student attended the course at all. We do not need the student’s actual # of hours attended, just a value of “1”.

*EFFECTIVE SUMMER 2024 FORWARD THE “F” GRADE IS DISCONTINUED FOR UNDERGRADUATE CLASSES.

**EFFECTIVE SUMMER 2024 FORWARD THE “X” GRADE IS DISCONTINUED FOR ALL CLASSES.

***Summer 2024 forward for all classes you should never need to report that a student never attended because mandatory attendance/participation tracking is required and students are administratively dropped for non-attendance. Responses indicating no attendance will receive follow-up.

General Grade Entry Notes
  • The primary instructor must enter the grades for courses with more than one instructor of record.
  • Choose the appropriate grade from the pull-down menu; the acceptable grades are A through D, I, or NC.
  • If you find a student’s name missing, please send an email ~ including the student’s name, course, and appropriate grade ~ to the registrar’s office and we will research the problem.
  • If you find a student’s name on your roster whom you don’t think should be on your list, a grade must still be entered. The fact that the student is still on the roster indicates that the student never properly dropped the course and is responsible for the grade earned.
  • When you are finished entering grades for a class, click the “submit” button at the bottom of the page. You can either “exit” or “return to menu” to select another class.
  • Be sure to log out [exit] and close your web browser when finished.

*EFFECTIVE SUMMER 2024 FORWARD THE “F” AND “D-” GRADES ARE DISCONTINUED FOR UNDERGRADUATE CLASSES.

**EFFECTIVE SUMMER 2024 FORWARD THE “X” GRADE IS DISCONTINUED FOR ALL CLASSES.