Note: Answers to common paper-based grading (FGRs) questions are available, too.
The launch of Web GradeBook has been publicized to the UW community through many avenues. Some of these include UWeek, OIM's Highlights newsletter, the adviser's e-mail listserv, Catalyst's users e-mail listserv, a coversheet distributed with printed FGRs and at the front desk of OUR offices, and the OUR blog.
Web grading became available at the end of Winter Quarter 2009. Faculty can now submit grades online through the Catalyst GradeBook tool without using the traditional paper-based Faculty Grade Reports (FGRs), affectionately known as "bubble sheets."
To get started, log in to the Catalyst GradeBook here and click "Create a grade book." The system automatically knows the courses you are teaching and the list of registered students, so this data does not need to be entered manually. Once you have created a grade book, you can begin entering grades there immediately, or export it to Excel. The Excel file can then be imported back into GradeBook to submit grades into the web grading system at the end of the quarter.
Either an Excel (.xls) or comma-separated value (.csv) file may be imported into a grade book. The initial file with the correct fields is available for download from the Catalyst GradeBook as described above.
The following two links will explain where to find the Catalyst GradeBook and detailed information for help submit grades online.
Email the Catalyst Help Desk at catalysthelp@u.washington.edu.
For several more grade submission periods, the Data Services office will continue to prepare paper Faculty Grade Reports (FGRs). However, faculty can use web grading for grade submission immediately.
You can submit grades via Catalyst GradeBook even if you have not used it to track grades throughout the quarter. Catalyst provides help on getting started with online grade submission.
If you use online grade submission, please shred your paper Faculty Grade Reports. Note, however, that you should NOT shred the paper-based FGRs until you are sure that you have successfully submitted your grades online! If you miss the online submission deadline, or are unable to use the online system, these paper forms will be the only convenient way to submit grades.
No. Grades can only be submitted once, either through web grading or through paper Faculty Grade Reports. If you submit via web grading and then submit the paper-based FGRs, your FGRs will be rejected. If you submit FGRs and then try to submit the same grades through web grading, the web grading system will not display a "submit" button.
Grades for off-calendar courses cannot be submitted through Web GradeBook at this time. Please use the paper-based process as before. (More information about that process is available here.) Enabling web-based submission for these courses is under review.
Web grading is actually turned off seven hours after the deadline for paper-based grading, allowing instructors additional submission time once the deadline had passed. (See deadlines for online grade submission.) Instructors should be aware that late grade submission can have severe negative effects upon students. (See "Why is the grade deadline so early?")
The deadline for grade online submission is
This deadline is posted in a number of places, including the University's Academic Calendar, the Faculty Resource on Grading, the instructions sent out with the paper-based Faculty Grade Reports, and within Catalyst Gradebook.
There are a number of processes that rely upon student grade information, including Low Scholarship cancellation, Honors calculations, student financial aid eligibility, prerequisite cancellation, and conferral of degrees.
Some of these processes (such as prerequisite cancellation) occur right after the grade-submission deadline so timely grade submission is important. Other of these processes occur soon after the grade submission deadline (within the week) and students and faculty need time to see their grades and correct any submission errors before the processes are run. Failure to submit grades by the deadline can result in a number of severe problems for students.
No. Please see the following question for instructions on submitting late grades.
After the grade-submission deadline, online submission of grades is no longer possible. Instead, you must fill out and submit the paper-based Faculty Grade Report (FGR or "bubble sheets").
If you no longer have access to those, then the Graduation and Academic Records Office will accept a printout of your grade roster with student ID numbers and grades. Each page of the printout must include your name, your signature, and your contact information. Because these grades are late and must be entered manually, please expect at least a two- or three-business-day wait until the grades appear on the students' transcripts.
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