Greetings Colleagues,

Happy fall semester! It is that time again- midterm grades open next week. The midterm grading period begins on Monday, September 16th, and will close on Wednesday, October 16th. While all teaching faculty are urged to use the midterm grades reporting system, only instructors teaching courses numbered 3999 and below are required to give midterm grades. Student feedback indicates that students in higher-level courses (4000 level and above) have found the alert to be helpful, so we encourage all faculty to consider utilizing this feature for all courses.

All students enrolled in courses numbered 3999 and below should receive a midterm grade. You can enter your midterm grades using the same process you use for final grading in Academica, instead using the Midterm Grades tab. The process to enter midterm grades can be found here. You will be able to upload grades from an Excel spreadsheet. Unfortunately, the grading system does not allow a direct upload from Canvas. When you enter your midterm grades, please do not enter a last date of attendance, as this can complicate financial aid processing for students! Once you have entered midterm grades in Academica, please announce this in your class and encourage students to review their grade in Academica.

Midterm grading pages are available for entry in Academica beginning Monday, September 16, 2024, through Wednesday, October 16, 2024.  Detailed information (including procedures, details of the grading system, and technical support information) is available on the Midterm Grade Program page.

In addition to midterm grading, there will be a separate request for more detailed reports for both our Student Athletes and students who are receiving additional academic support from one of our campus partners using Week 3 and Week 9 Progress Reports.  Our Academic Advisors, Athletic Coaches, and Student Success Coaches rely heavily on these progress reports to tell us more about how these students are doing in your classroom and how we can support you in teaching our students.  The Weeks 3 and 9 Progress Reports combined with midterm grades help our students not only succeed, but thrive, here at Wayne State University. Please contact progressreports@wayne.edu with any questions about the Progress Report process.

Your active participation is essential to our efforts to improve student learning, and I appreciate your efforts to support this program.  If you have any questions or want to request an exemption for any courses, contact either your college midterm grades coordinator or Marisa Henderson at hendersonm@wayne.edu for assistance.

Regards,

R. Darin Ellis, Vice Provost for Academic Programs, Assessment & Accreditation