Some AU students are unhappy with the amount of time professors took to post their grades online at the end of the fall semester.
"Grades are posted 72 hours after a student's last class," said Linda Bolden-Pitcher, the university registrar. "This has actually been one of our better grade submission periods."
A female freshman in the School of International Service, who wished to remain anonymous, finished class Dec. 16 and left for vacation Dec. 17. She said she didn't receive her grades until a week later.
"Two of my grades came in late," the student said. "Everyone in the class kept calling each other up and asking if they got their grades yet."
She says the grades came in late for Macroeconomics and Beyond Sovereignty and that the Macro class was her biggest problem, because teaching assistants helped with final class grades.
"I didn't like it because it was nervewracking, especially because I'm a first semester student," the student said. "I wouldn't be so anxious if I weren't trying to keep a scholarship."
According to Bolden-Pitcher, faculty members submit grades electronically through their my.american.edu Web portal. Electronic grades submission has been used since 2002.
"Ninety-six to 97 percent of grades were in by New Year's," Bolden-Pitcher said. "Grades that weren't in on deadline were typically independently supervised and study abroad courses."
Paul Winters, a professor of economics at AU, said he turned in grades by the deadline given to the faculty and did his best to have it done quickly.
"My class was a large one - 165 students," Winters said. "I could have under those circumstances only have exams that are easy to mark, but I think having papers is important for student learning."
According to Winters, the last paper was turned in toward the end of the semester and the grading took time.
"As soon as the grading was done, I put in the grades. ... I guess it would have been possible to have the paper turned in earlier but that would have been harder for the students since we needed to cover the material for it," he said. "I did what I thought was the best under the circumstances and given the deadline for grades provided by the university."
Megan Schlosser, a sophomore in the School of Communication, did not receive a grade for her Reporting class until early January, about two weeks late.
"I knew the grade would eventually be there, but it was just the anticipation for that last one to determine my GPA," Schlosser said. "At first I thought it was just me but then I talked to my classmates and discovered that no one got their grades yet."
Usually it's extenuating circumstances that make grades come in late, Bolden-Pitcher said. For instance, a professor was sick at the end of a semester and had to turn in grades late.
"The professor was very good about it though and turned in his grades ASAP," she said.
