**********************************************************************
* Status as of 27 Sept 1994: *
* Considered by Senate and returned to Instructional Policy *
* Committee for a recommendation *
**********************************************************************
MICHIGAN
TECHNOLOGICAL
UNIVERSITY University Senate
----------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSAL 27-94
(Voting Units: Academic Degree-Granting Departments)
MID-TERM GRADE REPORT POLICY
For courses numbered 0 - 299 all students with freshman or
sophomore standing will receive mid-term grade reports. They are
due on Friday of the 5th week of the Fall, Winter, and Spring
Quarters and the Registrar's Office is responsible for distributing
them so they are received before Friday of the 6th week of the
Quarter. A grade of SAT will indicate satisfactory work, a grade
of UNS will indicate unsatisfactory work, and grade of M will
indicate no grade was received from an instructor. (Students
should see their instructors in such cases if they have any
question about their mid-term status.) Turning in mid-term grade
reports is a mandatory instructional policy.
No mid-term grades will be issued for courses numbered 300 or
higher and only students with freshman or sophomore standing will
receive mid-term grade reports. However, it is strongly
recommended that instructors inform all the students in their
classes about their mid-term grade status by the end of the 5th
week of a Quarter.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Development of Proposal
2 Dec 1994: Senate President asks the Instructional Policy
Committee to review the mid-term grade policy.
19 Apr 1994: Instructional Policy Committee transmits a revised
Mid-term Grade Report Policy to Senate officers.
25 Apr 1994: Senate officers assign proposal number 27-94 to
policy. Background and history are composed and
attached.
27 Apr 1994: Proposal 27-94 Mid-term Grade Report Policy is sent
to Senate for consideration on the Senate floor.
----------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSAL BACKGROUND
The issuing of mid-term grades was established by Senate Proposal
17-69 Mid-term Grades, amended by Senate Proposal 5-76. Proposal
17-69 reads as follows:
1. All students will receive mid-term grades by post card mailed
by the Registrar. A grade of S will indicate satisfactory
work; a grade of U will indicate unsatisfactory work; a grade
of M will indicate no grade card was received from the
instructor, student should see instructor if he has any doubt.
2. Interested and qualified persons other than the student are to
be informed of the student's performance at the end of about the
5th week by initiating the following procedure.
Step 1: Duplicate grade cards (in contrasting color) are to be
prepared by Data Processing as soon as class rolls are complete
(about the end of the 4th week). Cards are to be issued for all
undergraduate students in all courses and given to the
individual instructors.
Step 2: The instructor separates the cards into two stacks.
One stack will include all students doing unsatisfactory (D or
F) work; the other stack consists of the remaining cards. The
instructor will identify the unsatisfactory stack by marking
the first two or three cards U, and will return both stacks to
the registrar.
Step 3: Data processing programs their machines to prepare three
lists in original and carbons as follows:
a. A series of abbreviated section lists composed of U
students only.
b. An alphabetical list by curricula.
c. A straight alphabetical list.
All lists would give name, course number, and curricula
information. Both lists b and c would have one entry per card,
so that students with more than one failure would appear as many
times as there are U cards for the students.
Step 4: Lists would be distributed as follows:
List a: Original to instructor and carbon to department head.
List b: Original to department head and carbon composite of
all department curricula to Dean of Students.
List c: Original and one carbon to Dean of Students, and the
other carbon to Athletic Department.
This should be done by the end of the 6th week.
Proposal 6-76 Amendment of Mid-term Grade Policy is worded as
follows:
Proposal 17-69 is hereby amended to apply only to students with
freshman or sophomore standing and only to courses number 0 to 299.
Henceforth, no mid term grades will be issued to students with
junior, senior, or graduate standing, and, no mid term grades will
be issued in courses numbered 300 or above.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Comment on Proposal 27-94 by the Instructional Policy Committee:
"In our discussion on these it was mentioned that it is up to the
Registrar's Office to find the most efficient and cost effective
way to distribute the reports which may not necessarily be by mail.
The committee felt that it was important for the students and their
advisors to have this information available and for that reason
have added a phrase about the reports being mandatory."
.