start of term requirements

Faculty are also required to submit both the course syllabus and AIE worksheet in advance of the start of classes for department review and approval.  

• • Undergraduate faculty, please send your materials to faculty support staff member, Trish Dudkiewicz; she will document receipt of your materials and then forward them to the appropriate department for review. 

  • Graduate faculty, please send your materials to your appropriate department representative for review, who will then submit them to Karen Necker in the graduate office. 

Grade scale

The programs at Immaculata University share one, official grade scale: the 4.0 and letter grade equivalency as stated on the syllabus for the course.  A detailed explanation of the scale is published in the undergraduate catalog. Since all official grade reports/transcripts use letter grades based on the 4.0 scale, this grading criteria is sufficient for university purposes.

In practice, however, many faculty prefer to manage grading using either a percentage-based scale or a points-based grading scale. With some exceptions (see text box below), it is ultimately the discretion and responsibility of the faculty teaching the course to determine and publish the levels students need to achieve on the chosen scale in order to be awarded a particular letter grade. 

For information on the various formats the grades can be displayed within your gradebook, see Displaying Grades in the Gradebook published in the Faculty Resource Center. For additional faculty information on Gradebook Management click HERE.

Exceptions to choosing a point- or percentage- based grading scale

Please note that the following situations would override an individual faculty member’s ability to apply his or her own scale in the class:

• 1.  Any teaching of nursing courses, which requires faculty to align grading practices with Division of Nursing grading scale

  2.  Any case in which the academic department chair/program director has advised the faculty member to use a particular point/percentage grade scale.

If you are not excluded by the exceptions above and wish to employ a percentage-based (or a points-based) grade scale for your class, the image below offers a variety of possible scales.  Please note: this list is not exhaustive: there may be other grading breakdowns you could choose, and the scales below are not listed in any particular order. However, the hope is that these options provide you with an idea of the variety of interpretations you might employ for your own grading scale.  You are welcome to use any of those below – or one of your own choosing – if it makes sense for your class. 

Finally and most importantly: when you employ any grading scale (the preloaded version or an alternative version), make sure to publish the scale on the LMS prior to opening the course for the term.  Students have a right to know how they are going to be assessed for their work in your class.  

Initial Communication using announcements

Beginning of the term

Undergraduate Procedure:

In an effort to facilitate reporting of undergraduate students who do not attend the first two weeks of classes, the university leverages the Starfish system. You will receive a survey via email during the the first week of classes; the survey will close the end of that week. You will be asked to indicate any students who have never logged on (online) or attended your course. Please see a sample email below.

Your Starfish list of students should match the Moodle list, making reporting student issues much easier for you. Should any students appear in your class but are not on your list, please direct them to report to the Business Office/Registrar. 

Please carefully follow the instructions published in the email as you complete the survey. You will be asked to indicate attendance concerns for any student who appears on the list. A space is provided for adding comments about your concern. Note that the student will receive a notification and also see the comment you write when they receive the automated email.

If you have no concerns, please click "Submit" as the default is "no concerns".  Note that Starfish will continue to send reminders until you click "Submit" for all of your surveys. In addition, some courses that may start later in the semester may have inadvertently been included in the survey. Therefore, if you teach a course that has not yet begun, please open the survey and click "Submit."  We will note that the course has not yet started.

Graduate Procedure:

To facilitate reporting of graduate students who do not attend the first two weeks of classes, the registrar’s office will send an email to faculty asking them to verify the class list reflects those who are in attendance. Any discrepancies between the class list and class attendance should be noted and emailed promptly to the registrar’s office or Sandra Rollison in the graduate office.  

Thank you, in advance, for reporting your attendance concerns. This allows us to track that students are where they are supposed to be.