Packets of rosters and grading sheets will no longer be carried around campus. All faculty at Ohio State will be required to access their rosters and post grades electronically starting autumn quarter.
Faculty will be able to get rosters anytime and post grades immediately after exams through the Web site. This electronic system was introduced over a year ago, and approximately one-third of faculty have been using the system.
“For the most part, we have positive impact because it is a faster process, more efficient process and more cost effective process,” said Brad A. Myers, university registrar of the Office of the University Registrar.
Under the current system, the University Registrar distributes the class rosters, a listing of the students enrolled and dropped, and the grade rosters.
George Michael, associate registrar for public support of University Registrar, said the electronic system greatly saves in cost and time of printing and handling transportation. It also eliminates the loss of documents. He said it also gives faculty more flexibility in terms of control over their time because they can post grades from anywhere as long as they have access to the Web site. Faculty do not have to be on campus to file grading sheets any more, he said.
The faster process of the electronic system can be a step toward eliminating early senior finals even though it will be a long time until it is discontinued, Myers said. OSU has early senior finals because diplomas are traditionally handed out at commencement. He said most institutions do not do this or there is lag time between finals and commencement.
“In order to keep the tradition, the processing time is needed,” Myers said. Most students do not like early senior finals because taking classes and exams at the same time is a heavy load of work. Moreover, he said, seniors do not finish all the course materials.
“That would be good, I think, because students will get an extra week of time to learn more,” Kristen Stigler, a junior in biology, said. “They also have chance to attend a review session to get along with the rest of the class.”
One of the reasons for the change has to do with financial aid, Michael said. Federal financial aid regulations require institutions to report at least within the week when a student withdraws from a class. He said the paper rosters can not provide a weekly record of student’s enrollment.
Michael said one major institution that did not follow the federal regulations was fined millions of dollars by the federal government.
The College of Dentistry has been encouraging its faculty to use the electronic roster system since spring quarter. Cheryl H. DeVore, associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Dentistry said half of its faculty uses the electronic system and all faculty will be able to use it by the end of this quarter.
“We just try to be very pro-active in doing that,” DeVore said. “I think faculty will realize that this would make things more efficient for them and for students because they have immediate access to grades.”
The electronic system enables students to view their grades immediately after the exam. DeVore said students no longer have to look for their grades on the sheet posted in the classroom or send an e-mail to the instructor about their grades because they will be posted on the Web site instantly.
Patricia Huckabee Gardner, assistant director for academic studies in the College of Dentistry, said many students say they would appreciate having grades early.
“If there was an error or if students get the grades and they don’t think it’s right, as soon as they know it, the faster they can react to it,” Gardner said.
She said some faculty would be away from school by the time students received the grades.
Rickne C. Scheid, associate professor in the College of Dentistry, said he likes the electronic system because it is easy. He said there was no major trouble during the transitional period from printing to electric format.
In order to make the transition as smooth as possible, Myers said there will be training sessions for faculty and departments that have never used the electronic system.
