Though today marks the official start of the spring semester, a handful of students are starting their new courses without knowing their grades for the fall. As of Wednesday, a day after the deadline for professors to turn in grades, over 450 classes were not submitted to the Office of the Registrar. Professors had a deadline, some of them didn’t respect that and, as a result, students bear the brunt of this delay.

Many students need to receive grades and should be able to provide completed transcripts by this time of the year. Students who depend on scholarships and financial aid are required to submit their fall course grades, and not having grades can mar the process. Additionally, some students may need to know how they performed in one course so as to determine whether or not they can proceed to the next level, or if they have fulfilled a requirement. And while many students are capable of keeping track of their marks in a class, scores on finals weigh heavy on the overall grade for the class.

Simply put, professors need to respect the deadline the University sets for submitting grades.

Professors need to be realistic about their own time constraints around the holiday season and throughout the winter break. They should be practical when allotting enough time to finish grading papers and tests. The University sets a grade submission deadline at the start of the semester, and some professors need to realize that occasionally, grading multiple, lengthy final papers may decrease the chances of having grades completed in time. We appreciate that there are professors who turned in grades on time or even early, but too many professors did not adhere to this policy, and this affects students.

Additionally, the University has a responsibility to ensure that professors keep to the grade deadline. Deadlines are non-negotiable, and the Office of the Registrar needs to better enforce this idea. And while administrators have a responsibility to oversee this process, professors ultimately have a responsibility to their students. We hope that this is not a problem next semester.

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