Dear colleagues,

As fall semester ends next week, this email is to remind you of a few end-of-semester expectations:

Please remind students to register for spring semester 2022

Please encourage your students to register for spring semester classes before fall semester ends. If students have not yet met with their academic advisor to discuss spring registration, they can look up their advisor in Navigate, Cyberbear, or visit the Advising Directory to see a list of advising contacts by major department. 

Fall semester grades are due by Tuesday, December 21.

When grades are submitted late, that can

• affect a student’s financial aid, including veteran’s benefits;
• delay a student’s ability to graduate on time;
• affect NCAA eligibility for student-athletes;
• cause students to be inadvertently, unknowingly dropped from spring semester courses for which they have registered; and
• delay the determination of a student’s academic standing, thus delaying notifying students of their status (good academic standing, placed on probation, or placed on suspension).

Delays like this can have a snowball effect; the later a student finds out they are on academic probation or suspension, the less likely they are to seek help and get back on track. (And students in good standing won’t be recognized on the dean’s list!)

We all want UM students to reach their full potential, stay at UM, and complete their degrees. Turning your grades in before the deadline is one way that you can help. Below you will find additional information about submitting fall semester grades.

Thanks for all that you do to support our students’ success,

Reed Humphrey, Acting Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Maria Mangold, Registrar

Instructions from the Registrar's Office on Grade Submission

Important Dates

Final grading opens for regular term courses opens Friday, December 10 in CyberBear and closes at 11:59 p.m., Tuesday, December 21.

Please note that you do not have to enter all grades at the same time, but you do have to enter them between December 10 and December 21. For directions on how to enter grades in CyberBear, please visit the Registrar’s Office grading information website.

Note: Final grading is already open for courses specifically set up to end earlier than the regular term. This includes courses scheduled during the first and second 5-week, first 6-week, first 8-week, and special sessions.

Instructors of record must submit grades via CyberBear

Grades may only be submitted by an instructor assigned to the course. Instructor assignments can be viewed in the CyberBear dynamic class schedule. To make changes to instructor assignments, please notify the room scheduler and include the CRN, SUBJ, CRSE #, & SECT # of the course and the 790# of the new instructor.

The U.S. Department of Education requires last dates of attendance (LDA) to be entered for grades of F, RF, NCR, and I. LDA can be determined based on missing assignments, quizzes, tests, etc.

• If you choose to use the upload feature in CyberBear, enter LDA dates in your spreadsheet and the LDA will autofill.
• If you choose to enter grades individually, as in the past, please follow these instructions:
  • Enter all final grades except F, RF, NCR or I.
  • Click save.
  • Enter F, RF, NCR and I grades with the Last Date of Attendance for each student in the format MM/DD/YYYY or click on the calendar and select a day.
  • Click save.
  • Double-check that all grades and the last dates of attendance were successfully saved and are accurate.
  • Refresh your browser to see the most current Grading Status indicators. If you are finished, they will switch to “Complete.” If some grades are still needed, it will show “In Progress.”
    • The “Rolled” column is not the responsibility of the faculty member.

Not sure whether to assign an “N” or “I” grade?

As described in the UM course catalog, an "I" grade is appropriate for unfinished work and an “N” grade is appropriate for internships, thesis credits, practicums, etc.

• An “I” grade will eventually convert to a failing grade if the work remains incomplete after one calendar year. While “I” grades are unfavorable for future terms of Financial Aid eligibility, they are appropriately assigned in most courses.
• “N” grades are much less common and nuanced; the Registrar’s Office does not recommend their widespread use, except in courses in which the work is designed to span more than one semester (e.g. thesis credits).

Questions? Need help?

Check out the Registrar’s Office video tutorials on grade entry or call us at (406) 243-5600.

This message was sent by the Office of the Provost to all UM faculty and staff.