Speaking as someone who traditionally is in the process of grading between
130-160 multi-page essays during exam week for my double section of Music
111,  I would like to add my voice to those who feel that faculty do not
have adequate time to prepare final grades. I have thought this for many
years, and now it would appear that with the 8AM deadline on the 29th they
have eliminated at least another half day.
Don Zimmer





At 12:58 PM 4/7/2004 -0400, Dr. Joe Dumas wrote:
>Melissa Anyiwo wrote:
>>I have my last exam on Tuesday 27 April. Now whilst I am a pretty speedy
>>grader, even at the best of times it takes me about 3 days to grade 50
>>exams each with 3 longs answers (150 answers).
>
>I have not one, but two final exams on Tuesday 4/27 (the 9:25 TT period
>and the 1:40 TT period).  Fortunately my classes are smaller than
>Melissa's, but that is a lot of grading to do in one day.
>
>>So I've always wondered why
>>it is that we get so little time to grade the final exams, tally up the
>>grades for the semester, and submit the grades by hand to the records
>>office? I know everyone likes to think that professors are superhuman but
>>it does seem a little extreme.
>
>It has always seemed like a really short interval to me (I don't think I
>have ever had a semester without at least one final on the last day :P
>
>I guess mainly it is due to having graduation so soon after the last day
>of exams.  If we were to hold commencement on, say, Monday night instead
>of Sunday (hint hint, administrators :) that would give faculty a little
>more time to grade exams ... plus avoid the possibility of the event
>landing on Mother's Day (fortunately not the case this year, but a
>problem in more years than not).
>
>(Regarding commencement, I think it is long past time to divide it up
>and have separate ceremonies for each College.  This would be less
>time-consuming and also might help to cut down on some of the
>misbehavior on stage by the graduates and in the stands by the
>spectators.  But that is another discussion entirely :)
>
>Linda Orth wrote:
>>Grades will be due in the Records Office for all students by Thursday,
>>April 29 at 8a.
>
>Is that a misprint or did you really mean 8:00 a.m. on the 29th?  If
>that is the case, are grades really effectively due at 5:00 p.m. on the
>28th, or will someone be in the Records Office before 8:00 on the
>morning of the 29th to accept grade rolls?  Or can we maybe slip the
>deadline a couple of hours, to, say, 10:00 a.m. on the 29th?  Enquiring
>minds with lots of last-minute finals to grade want to know.
>
>Joe Dumas