Catalog Records Have Grade Mode(S)

Catalog records have grade mode(s). One grade mode must be the default.

We went through all catalog records and reviewed grade modes. There are 2 documents. The original in on S:/Catalog with the title grade_mode_dont_update.xls. The document we revise is in S;/Team/Work with the title grade_mode_mose_recent.xls

Section records may have any grade mode attached to the catalog record. If no grade mode for the section record is specified, the catalog default grade mode is assigned to all students who enroll. If a grade mode is assigned to a section record, all students enrolling in the section are given that grade mode.

Registration is about registration, not grading. There is one grade mode that is restricted: grade mode B is not valid for UG students. If a UG student enrolls in a section that is grade mode B, the registration system permits it, and the student gets a grade mode of B that can be seen in SFAREGS. For this reason, we must run a script to find UG students in B gmod sections and change their grade mode manually on SFAREGS back to N. Otherwise, no grades will appear in the drop down menu for that student on the final grade list. The script looks for gmod mismatches between students and sections, and also the B-->UG mismatch. The script is on rg_main, and also is part of the nightly grade stream. It should be run repeatedly throughout the term to minimize the work that must be done at the end of the term. (Note: The grade mode mismatch compares the student gmod w/ the section gmod if a section gmod exists. If there is no section gmod, it uses the default catalog grade mode when making the comparison. So, if the gmod on the student record is a catalog choice, but not the catalog default, the student will show up on the report.)

Grades and grade modes are assigned to student levels on SHAGRDE. The combinations on this table control what appears in the drop down menu on the final grade list.

Grade modes are:

A (Audit): AU, I, XC, UNSUCC

N (Normal): A-F, I (no D if level GR)

X: A-F, I, XC (ie. Normal plus XC)

B: A-F, S/U, I (not valid for level UG)

S: S/U/I/XC

P (Pass/NoPass)

Faculty load grades, selecting from the drop down menu.

Every night, after the backup when the system is down, grades that were loaded that day are rolled to history. Once a grade is rolled, it cannot be changed online. It must be changed using the grade change process (which is still paper at this point).

SHRROLL lists errors. The report should be checked and the errors resolved. Any students listed as errors do not have their grade rolled. Errors result from student level, student gmod and section gmod mismatches such that the grade assigned to the student is not valid. The most usual solution is to determine what the appropriate student grade mode should be so the grade can be accepted.

If a student does not successfully audit a course, the 'grade' UNSUCC should be assigned by the faculty member. The grade roll process does not actually roll that grade to history. Rather, it changes the registration status to AD, the credit hours to 0, and fills in the grade change date. The end result is the course does not appear on the transcript at all, but the student still has to pay for it. The UNSUCC will display on the final grade sheet as a permanent record of what the faculty member assigned. No separate process is required to process UNSUCC. It happens as part of the roll - via SFAALST, SFASLST or SHRROLL (because the shkrols package was modified). Additional technical info from Judi that will not interest most people:

I found where sfrtscr_credit_hr was set to 0 in SFAREGS (trigger PRE_EDIT), controlled by the value of stvrsts_incl_sect_enrl. In the same section of code, the error_flag is also set to 'D' so the shkrols mod is setting sfrstcr_error_flag = 'D' also. I notice that with sfrstcr_error_flag set to D, the student no longer appears in the class list on SFAALST. I checked some of the historical AD's and this is true for them as well. (So, because the error flag = D, students w/ UNSUCC will not display on SFAALST or SFASLST. Warren had to modify grades on line so it WILL display there).

On the last day of grade processing, 2 scripts must be run.

Admin F - this script finds all occurrences of partial grade lists. If all grades are missing, or if the course is 391/491, the course is skipped. If the only grades recorded are W, the course is skipped. Otherwise, students with missing grades are given F's. The F's are translated via the grade mode (so for S grade mode the end result is U, for P grade mode the end result is NP, for A grade mode the end result is UNSUCC ). On sfrstcr, the comment field contains :Updated to Admin F. On sfastca, the user field contains AdmF. Note: the process can be run in non-update mode first. Any blanks that should not be changed to F can be graded as desired.

B to M - Once the admin F process has run, the B to M script should be run. This gives M's to complete grade lists that have no grades.

(Note: If the Admin F process assigns an F, and before the roll the grade is changed to something else, the changed grade is what stays. Everything is recorded in the audit table.)

Grades appear on the final grade list with grade dates and user fields.

The grade date is the last date the grade was entered either online of via a BANNER form before it is rolled. If you mouse over the Y in the rolled column, the date/time it was rolled displays.

The user represents the last person or process to touch the grade, resulting in its value. Lowercase netids mean the grade was entered via the web by the person with that netid. All uppercase netids mean the grade was entered via a BANNER form by the person with that netid. If the AdminF process assigns an F to a blank grade, AdminF appears in the user column.

Specific last day of grades process:

Run the 'Find Non-Rollect SFRSTCR' report on rg_endterm. After selecting the default term, choose the 'N' option. This will find courses for the default term that have not rolled. Whoever shows up on this report will have showed up on the SHRROLL error report. If we missed them for whatever reason, this is a way to catch them.

Run admin F report in non-update mode. Review it to make sure we are 'ok' w/ what it will do. Load an M on SFAALST for any student who should not receive the admin F. One example of when this might be necessary: a large number of F's in a row for what looks like a normal course. This could mean the instructor did not click the 'next set of records' tab and forgot to enter the grades. Because the list is partially loaded, the Admin F process will assign F's. If appropriate, we may choose to load M's, as it appears to be a faculty misunderstanding.

Run the blank grade report. Complete courses will display on this report (ie no grades at all) in addition to everyone on the Admin F report. This report, too, can inform the possible need to load M's. NOTE: It is important to run this report throughout the term. When new sections are added, we sometimes forget to uncheck the gradable indicator. If a section such as a lab is gradable, and a student withdraws, the W in the lab will roll if the section is coded as gradable.

Run the Admin F report in update mode.

Run the B to M process.

End result: no blank grades. The nightly grade stream will roll the grades.

There is no need to uncheck the box on SOATERM. Once all grades are filled w/ AdminF/M and rolled, no updating can be done. The box must be checked so departments/faculty can see the lists historically.

Set up/Controlling Pieces

GTVSDAX - check FACWEB group settings

if FACFATT = Y, any faculty can see any list, we have value = N

PRIMINSTR = N so any instructor, not just primary, can enter grades

NOTE: Only instructors can assign grades. Persons w/ Dean/Chmn attribute may view all grade rosters for that dept, but they cannot load grades. You MUST be an instructor to assign grades.

GMODGRD = Y so both stu lvl and gmod determine drop down list values (if value = N, only stu lvl determines grades in drop down)

SOATERM - grades checked on POT window

must be instructor (not necessarily primary) to load grades

catalog record must have gmod

schedule record MAY have gmod (or pull from catalog)

student choices governed by schedule/catalog

if schedule has gmod, that is ONLY choice for students (P,A not even avail)

if P,A is desired, must remove schedule gmod, enter gmod for stu, then put sch gmod back on

Note regarding Summer grade processing:

The grade mode xcheck rpt that is part of the grade run does not work for summer. For summer processing, you have to run the gmode xcheck from rg_main.

If a section has a specified gmod, only that gmod can be chosen on SFAREGS w/ the exception of P/A. We made a local mod to SFAREGS so we can enter gmod P or A for a student when the section has a specific gmod. For any other situation, this is what must happen (example):

UG student is in gmod B section. The gmod B 'happened' when the student enrolled. B is not a valid gmod for UG. Because the section has the gmod, you have to go to SSASECT or SWCSCHD and remove the gmod. Go back to SFAREGS and make the UG student N. Then go back and put the B gmod on the section. Note, this is only necessary if the section has gmod B. If the section gmod is null, and the catalog default is B, it is possible to choose other gmods for the student. It is only when the section gmod is specified that the choices are limited to P and A.

Miscellaneous technical info:

Both the admin_f process and the grade mode mismatch process check the stvrsts_gradable_ind to determine if processing should occur. That means currently only courses w/ RE or RW are reviewed. This is how we can bypass W grades w/o special coding.

As a one time prep for grades on line, the LDAP feed was modified so all faculty coming into BANNER have the CSO entry set to 'Y'.

Possible errors:

SHRROLL:

92503 1 ANTH 021 D2: Human Cultures Degree Levl Coll Majr Seq Cmp Pgm

950xxxxxx Kleyman, Yekaterina API Error

Primary Major Not Added

The error above was generated by a student who had a curriculum w/ only a minor (no major). This should be impossible, but it was there somehow. The grade did roll and the degree record was created. So we just went in and fixed both the student and degree curricula.

Dean's Grades

For a historical term to display in the drop down list:

Master Web Control must be checked on SOATERM

Final grades must be checked on part of term on SOATERM

What happens if a faculty member is loading grades when SHRROLL runs:

We tested these scenarios:

1. I am in my grade list and entered grades, but did not SUBMIT them. Result: no harm is done. The grades still display; they do not roll because they have not been submitted; the faculty member does not know anything happened.
2. I am in my grade list, entered some or all of the grades, and pressed SUBMIT. Result: The grades do roll. The next time I 'interact' with the web page, it redisplays with the rolled grades 'fixed' (no drop down list displays). No harm done except the faculty member can no longer change them.
3. I am in my grade list. I have entered some/all of my grades and pressed SUBMIT. Then I decide to change one of the grades. So the grade that was present when I pressed SUBMIT was an A, but what displays on the page is the grade I have changed it to but not yet submitted - B. Result: This was a problem. When we tested this scenario, the A was rolled to history, but the B was saved to SFRSTCR. So the faculty member saw the B even though that is not what was recorded. We had to fix this error (which Judi has reported to SGHE). Our quick fix, as time was at a premium, was Judi prevented the B from being saved to SFRSTCR and had a message display:

One or more of the grades you loaded were not saved. Please double

check the grades to verify they are what you expect. Contact the

Registrar if you have questions.

Sadly, grades on line is only designed to give error messages at the section level. Judi did not have time to do the large amount of work that would be required to specifically identify which student grade(S) needed to be reviewed. We need to talk more about grade processing and how we want to conduct it in the future before we decide to make this change. It will require a lot of work.