Soon the long task of submitting grades could be as easy as a few mouse clicks.
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, the Faculty Senate unanimously voted to review a proposal submitted by William Baumer, chairman of the Faculty Senate Grading Committee, which would make it mandatory for all UB instructors to submit students' grades via the Internet.
"Every faculty member has a UB IT account," Baumer said. "We expect students to have a computer and access their account. We should ask the same of faculty."
Currently, professors submit grades using Scan-Tron forms. If Baumer's mandatory Web grading proposal were enacted, he said the number of errors on transcripts would be reduced, professors would save time and the university would save resources.
Jonathan Golove, professor of music, said he prefers the online method of submitting grades to the use of Scan-Tron written submission forms.
"I think Internet grading is a convenience for professors, both in terms of avoiding the hand fatigue of scratching away at hundreds of bubbles - I never know if I need to make it all the way to the edges, or if I've gone over a bit - and also of needing to get the forms, all correctly sealed or unsealed, to the proper offices during business hours," said Golove.
According to Baumer, in the spring of 2002, over 6,000 grades had to be reentered by Records and Registration staff to due to errors on Scan-Tron forms. He said the new system would ensure a higher degree of accuracy because grades would be promptly entered into students' transcripts.
"There is less potential for error, because all errors are not caught with the paper submissions," said Baumer.
Under the proposal, professors would be responsible for entering the grades on to the Internet and would have a printable list of grades to review once the data has been entered.
"Grades are entered directly into data files, reports will be available sooner, and less subject to processing errors," said Baumer.
Ozgur Arici, a sophomore legal studies major, said he had trouble registering for classes one year due to problems with grade submissions.
"I think it's a good idea," Arici said. "Things will probably run more smoothly as well as more efficiently; you'll also get your grades much quicker, which can help with your scheduling."
In addition, Web grading would not require professors to be on campus to submit grades, giving them the leisure to point and click in the comfort and privacy of their own homes or wherever else they might be, said Baumer.
"Nothing about my grading process has been changed by going to Internet grading," Golove said. "I still calculate them the old way and then write them in my ledger, but then, instead of grappling with the paper forms, I hop on the computer and blast them off, at any hour of day or night."
Baumer said the Faculty Senate would begin outlining the policies of the Web grading proposal in upcoming months.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
