When should professors be expected to submit grades and make those grades available to students? Currently, Roger Williams University (RWU), only requires grades to be submitted at the end of each semester after finals. This means that you may not know your grade for a class until after moving out of the residence halls at the end of the semester.

I personally think there should be a halfway point that requires all grades leading up to midterms to be submitted to Bridges/Brightspace. This semester I have a class that has no grades available for me to view online, and I have not received any feedback on any of my work. While this class is focused around one larger project, there are no check-in grades to reflect my work thus far.

Some may argue that because of midsemester warning grades this is unnecessary, but I see this differently. If a professor is able to calculate grades of those who are in danger of failing, then the grades of students who are not in danger of failing should still be known by professors.

The issue that arises with having a requirement for professors to submit grades halfway through the semester is that many classes are based on a larger semester-long project. This may mean that projects have to be broken up, or have check-in points where grades are established more frequently.

I believe that there should be more conversations around professor deadlines because if we are required to submit grades on time, then professors should be held to a similar standard. Many professors have a strict policy when it comes to deadlines, some taking off points or even giving zeros for late assignments. I understand the importance of turning in grades on time, but why should students get a zero for turning in an assignment a day late when some professors do not grade these assignments until weeks later?

I do not think it is out of reach to ask that professors submit grades after midterms, as other colleges and universities require a midterm grade to be available to students. For example, Rhode Island College (RIC) is a nearby college that requires professors to submit midterm grades.

I think having more frequent grade updates would create less stress because students will not have to guess their grade and be worried about doing poorly, especially around finals season.