Memo
FROM
Department Heads, Chairs of Undergraduate Studies,
Departmental Administrators, CDS Instructors
Katie Phillips, Faculty of Arts and Science
DATE
7 June 2013
TO
SUBJECT
Submitting Final Grades for Summer Term 2013
FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCE
Mackintosh-Corry Hall, Room F200
Queen’s University
Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6
Tel 613 533-2470
Fax 613 533-2467
http://www.queensu.ca/artsci
This document outlines the grade submission process, due dates and details on the use of special grade
notations. CDS instructors are being sent this document directly. Please forward to other instructors
who are teaching courses this summer.
1. DEADLINES FOR SUBMITTING GRADES (based on 10 calendar days from end of the exam period)
2.

May-June courses
1 July 2013

May-July courses
12 August 2013

July-August courses
25 August 2013
ELECTRONIC GRADE SUBMISSION
Letter-Based Grading System
Departments in the Faculty of Arts and Science are using the letter-based grading system. Please
consult the Faculty of Arts and Science grading policy at
http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/academics/undergraduate/current/new-grading-scheme
and consult with your Undergraduate Chair on any department-specific protocols that have been
developed to support the letter-based grading scheme. Note that if you submit percentage grades to
PeopleSoft, they will be converted to letter grades automatically based on the Senate-approved
conversion scale. Best practice is to submit letter-based grades directly.
Submitting Grades through PeopleSoft
Instructors will submit final grades through the Faculty Centre in PeopleSoft. Instructors have two
options when submitting grades: they may enter them individually, student by student, or they may
upload a spreadsheet containing all the grades directly to PeopleSoft.
Approving Grades through PeopleSoft
We appreciate the critical role Department Heads play in reviewing and approving grades. Department
Heads will also use PeopleSoft to review the grades submitted by instructors in their Department, and
will approve them electronically. Once the Head has approved a set of grades, an automatic batch
process will run overnight to post the grades to the student record and they will be immediately
displayed to students in SOLUS. Therefore, we would request that you approve grades in a timely
manner so that students’ grades are available by the posted fully-graded date for the term.
See http://www.queensu.ca/registrar/facultystaff/grades.html for PeopleSoft grading and approval
instructions and contact Tricia Acton (x78577; actonp@queensu.ca) or Barbara Emorine (x74053;
barbara.emorine@queensu.ca) in the Office of the University Registrar for assistance.
Moodle
Instructors who are maintaining grades in the Moodle gradebook can take the final grades from
Moodle, download them into a spreadsheet and then upload them directly to PeopleSoft. There is a
PeopleSoft tab inside the Moodle Grader Report that allows the user to browse to the PeopleSoft grade
spreadsheet and import the grades directly into the spreadsheet. See
http://www.queensu.ca/registrar/facultystaff/grades/UploadingGradesfromMoodle.pdf for
instructions.
Instructors who are submitting percentage grades into Moodle for individual assignments should note
that percentage grades are being automatically converted to letter grades on the basis of the Senateapproved grading system. To avoid errors, best practice is to submit letter-based grades directly.
3. NON-EVALUATIVE GRADES
A final grade must be submitted for every student; there can be no “blank” grades. Do not submit a
grade of DR (dropped) because you think a student has dropped the course. If the student is on the
grade roster the course has not been dropped and a grade must be submitted.
If a final grade cannot be determined at this time, instructors may use one of the following:
IN (Incomplete): Indicates that the student has not completed all the work in the course (this may
include the final exam) and if the incomplete work is not submitted, the student will fail the course.
The IN grade will automatically revert to “F” at the beginning of the next term, unless the student
completes the outstanding work, at which point the instructor will submit a change of grade.
If the student has not completed all the work in the course but will pass the course if the
incomplete work is not submitted, the instructor should submit a final grade based on the work
completed to date. Again, if the instructor agrees to accept the outstanding work, the student has
until the end of the next term to complete this work and receive a change of grade. Extensions
beyond one term are allowed only upon successful appeal to the Associate Dean (Studies).
Instructors are highly encouraged to have the student sign an Incomplete Grade form. Both the
Change of Grade form and the Incomplete Grade form can be found at the following link:
http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/faculty-staff/grade-information-for-instructors
GD (Grade Deferred): Indicates that the final grade in the course is not available. This designation
is usually used if there is an outstanding academic integrity investigation. If it is used for some
other purpose, it must be accompanied by an explanation from the instructor.
Other Non-Evaluative grades: PeopleSoft will not accept any non-evaluative grade other than IN or
GD. Grades of ED (Exam Deferred) and NW (Not Written) are no longer being used.
AG (Aegrotat) and CR (Credit) grades are assigned only by the Associate Dean (Studies) upon successful
appeal by the student. If a student is appealing for AG or CR status, the instructor should submit a final
grade based on the work submitted to date.
4. TRANSCRIPT NOTES
Transcript notes are not to be entered by instructors, Heads or Administrative Assistants during the
grade submission process. Any notes that are entered display on the student’s official transcript, and
would require Senate approval. Therefore please do not use this field.
5. OFFICIAL GRADE CHANGES
Once official grades have been approved, all changes must be submitted on either the current form
from the Faculty of Arts and Science or the current form from the Office of the University Registrar (see
links below). Completed forms should be sent to the Faculty office, F200 Mackintosh-Corry Hall.
http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/faculty-staff/grading-information-for-instructors
http://www.queensu.ca/registrar/aboutus/forms/official_grade_change_form_April_2013.pdf
 If a form is missing student details, course details, and/or signatures from both the instructor and
the Department Head, it may be returned to the instructor/Department for correction.
 As of May 2011, all grades should be submitted as letter grades. If you have assessed students using
percentage conversion, please indicate the associated letter grade.
 The term code is an abbreviated version of the year and term in which the course is offered. For
example, the term code for Winter 2013 courses is 2131 to indicate the millennium (2), last two
digits of the year (13) and first month of the term (1 for January). If you are uncertain about the
term code, please clearly indicate the year and term. The code can be added by the Faculty office.
 If the student’s grade is being lowered, the student must be notified by the department. Please
indicate that this has been done.
 If there are more than 5 changes for a particular course for the same reason (ie. Moodle error),
please submit the Change of Grade form as a cover sheet and attach a spreadsheet to indicate the
student names, student numbers and updated grade information.
Please contact Katie Phillips (x79584; f2deans@queensu.ca) in the Faculty office for assistance.
5. RELEVANT WEB LINKS
http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/faculty-staff/exam-information-for-instructors/exam-disruptions/policyon-exam-disruptions
http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/faculty-staff/exam-information-for-instructors/examdisruptions/assessing-the-impact-of-exam-disruption-on-students-grades
http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/faculty-staff/forms-guidelines/academic-forms-student-related-forinstructors