Fall semester is the first time final grades will be recorded in Workday, another milestone in the university’s implementation of the new student information system. Instructors may submit grades in Workday or the Canvas learning management system, which staff in the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) both encourage and support through training.
The office of the registrar reports that historically about 50% of grades were submitted in Canvas and the rest were submitted in AccessPlus. The staff anticipates this trend will continue as Workday replaces AccessPlus as a grade submission option.
Due to the three-day university holiday (Dec. 24-26) relative to the end of final exams, the deadline to submit fall grades is 3 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 23. Following this deadline, grades submitted in Canvas will be uploaded into Workday, where students will be able to view them the morning of Dec. 24.
What's new
The registrar's office emailed grading information to all instructors on Dec. 4, and that information will be redistributed via email next week. The team also updated its Grading at Iowa State University website, which includes helpful information, links to tutorials and Knowledge Base Articles (KBA) and several FAQs. Here are a few of the key messages to instructors:
An incomplete grade must include an alternate grade. Instructors who submit an incomplete grade should submit an "Incomplete (Alternate Grade)," which will be the lowest grade a student earns if none of the agreed-upon work is completed. The instructor and student also will complete an incomplete contract, which is available on the teaching dashboard in Workday in the Grading section (find "Request Incomplete Grade Contract".) Absent an extension of the contract, an incomplete grade converts to the alternate grade after one calendar year, with the exception of 5990 and 6990 courses.
Changing grades: Fall vs previous terms. Instructors may make changes to submitted grades up to 3 p.m. on Dec. 23. Starting on Dec. 24, grade changes for fall semester, including resolving an incomplete grade, need to be made in Workday. On the teaching dashboard in Workday, in the Grading menu, instructors can select "Change Grades for Students," click on a student's "change grade" box and scroll to identify the appropriate grade from the list of options, for example, "A* (Resolved Incomplete)."
To change a grade for any term prior to fall 2024, instructors should select the "Legacy Grade Report to the Registrar" option in the Grading section of their teaching dashboard in Workday.
A KBA, Workday Student: Change a Student's Grade, provides step-by-step instructions for fall 2024 and previous terms.
Academic standing will show Jan. 2. Students will be able to see their grades in Workday on Dec. 24. Due to the three-day holiday, students' academic standing (for example, academic warning) and additional honors -- such as Dean's List or President's List -- will be viewable in Workday on the academics dashboard on Jan. 2.
Getting help
CELT staff can help instructors who are using Canvas for final grade submission. Instructors can review CELT's Final Grade Submission guide or:
- Send an email to celt-help@iastate.edu to open a ticket
- Schedule an online consultation via CELT Help
A KBA, Workday Student: Submit Final Grades provides step-by-step instructions for final grade submission in Workday. If instructors still have questions, the registrar's academic records team can help. Instructors may send an email to academicrec@iastate.edu or call 294-1840.
