Registrar's Notes

Feb. 9, 2009

Midterm grading

• Midterm grading will open on Monday, Feb. 16 at 8:00 am and will remain open thru Sunday, March 8th.
• As soon as an instructor enters midterm grades and hits the ‘submit’ button, those grades will be available to students.
• Midterm grades are not part of a student’s academic history at WMU. They will not appear on any WMU transcript, nor will they be part of a students gpa at WMU.
• Instructors should use the ‘X’ grade for students who have never attended, or have stopped attending a course.
• Those instructors choosing to submit midterm grades should let their students know when they submit the midterms, so that students will know to look for them.
• Instructors can also let students know that aside from the instructor who submits the grades, academic advisors will also see these midterm grades.
• If an instructor makes an error in submitting a grade, that grade can be changed online through the end of midterm grading period. No other paperwork is necessary.

To submit Midterm Grades

1. Open a browser and go to gowmu.wmich.edu
2. Enter your Bronco NetID and password and click the Login button
3. Select “Midterm Grades Worksheet” listed under the Faculty menu
4. Select the appropriate term from the drop down box and click Submit
5. Select the appropriate CRN/Title from the drop down box and click Submit
6. Enter a grade from the drop-down list for each student and then click Submit

If you have more than one class to enter midterm grades for, click on Select new CRN, and repeat steps 5 and 6.

Please note that it is not necessary to enter last attendance date and hours.

April Commencement – times now set

9:00     College of Arts and Sciences

12:00   College of Education and Extended University Programs

3:00     Haworth College of Business and College of Aviation

6:00     College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, College of Health and Human Services, and the College of Fine Arts

Graduate Student dismissals

Please remember to forward a copy of the dismissal letter when your department dismisses a graduate study from their program of study. We keep the letter in the student file and also change the program code in Banner to indicate that the student is no longer part of that program.

Advisor Access Report         

There is a report in Cognos (Public Folders>Advisor-Security Assignments (under the periodically used subject areas)>DEPT:Personnel With Advisor Access:001) that you can run by department to determine who is checked for advisor access. Please review this list and make appropriate adjustments before 5:00 on Friday, February 13, 2009. The reports for the reauthorization will be run on Monday, February 16, 2009.

Remember, per FERPA regulations, only those with “an educational need to know” should have this access. That means that if a faculty member is NOT an advisor for a major, minor, or graduate program s/he should NOT have the access.

Thank you for your cooperation in this effort.

Mathematics Placement Test

Please note that the online Mathematics Placement test is no longer available. Incoming students will be placed based on ACT or SAT scores. Contact the Math Dept, Steve Culver, with any questions on Math Placement.

Textbook – registration information integration

The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 includes requirements that textbook information, such as the ISBN and price information for required and recommended textbooks, be disclosed to students in the online course schedule of courses. The intent of this requirement, from the Act, is ‘to ensure that students have access to affordable course materials by decreasing costs to students and enhancing transparency and disclosure with respect to the selection, purchase, sale, and use of course materials.’

We are currently working with OIT staff to link the textbook information which the bookstore has in their system, with the schedule view.

While the deadline for completion under the Higher Ed Act, is July 2010, we are planning to have this in place for Spring 2010.

The technical coordination of the data is one aspect of this project. On the department and faculty side, the impact will be seen in the need to provide the bookstore with textbook information much earlier than in the past. For example, for the spring 2010 semester, textbook information will need to be returned by August 1, 2009.

I will continue to update you as we progress with this project.

Upcoming dates

• Monday, February 16 – Midterm grading opens; remains open thru March 8
• Monday, February 16 – Summer registration opens
• Friday, February 27 – Spirit day – no classes
• Monday, March 2 – Spring break begins
• Tuesday, March 3 – Fall schedule open for viewing
• Monday, March 9 – classes resume
• Monday, March 16 – last day students can withdraw from Spring classes
• Monday, March 16 – Fall registration opens
• Monday-Friday, April 20-24 – Final exam week
• Saturday April 25 – Commencement
• Tuesday, April 28 – Grades due at noon