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Faculty Grading and Student Privacy

Student Privacy and Confidentiality of Student Records

The University has a legal obligation to protect the privacy of students and the confidentiality of student records. Faculty members who have teaching and advising responsibilities are authorized to access student records information. Otherwise, no information about a student’s academic performance can be released without the student’s written permission.

Note: The public posting of grades (on office, class, or department bulletin boards or on the web) using students’ names or ID numbers is prohibited under federal law. Because Axess is secure, it is the best way to report grades to students. Axess is in compliance with federal privacy laws.

You may obtain more information about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act from the Registrar's Office Student Record Privacy page or the Department of Education web site.

Entering Grades via Axess

All grades must be submitted online via Axess by the published deadlines (see the "Notices" box while logged into Axess). See the Recording and Submitting Grades section of this web site for instructions.

Faculty members may opt to designate a proxy to enter grades on their behalf. Faculty may designate more than one proxy for a course. They may also designate a single proxy for all their courses for a given term. Proxy designation must be done via the Axess for each term. See Designating a Grading Proxy for more information.

University policy dictates that a designated proxy must have a SUNet ID and must not be a student enrolled in the class to be graded. Individual schools may have individual internal policies regarding grading proxies.

Reporting of Grades

All grades must be reported within 96 hours after the time and day reserved for the final examination, and in no case later than the grade deadline indicated on the Academic Calendar which is usually at 11:59 on the Tuesday following the final examination period.

In the case of degree candidates in Spring Quarter, final grades must be reported by noon of the Thursday prior to Commencement Sunday.

Incomplete Grades

The 'I' grade is restricted to cases in which the student has satisfactorily completed a substantial part of the course work. 'I' grades must be changed to a permanent notation or grade within one year (i.e., prior to the first day of the fifth quarter which follows the course, including Summer Quarter). An earlier time limit may be set by the instructor. If the 'I' remains uncleared at the end of one year, it is changed automatically by the Registrar’s Office to an 'NP' or 'NC' as appropriate for the grading option selected.

For the additional information and policy regarding incomplete grades, please review the main incompletes grades page.

Grading TGR 801 or 802 Courses

Students working on projects, theses, or dissertations enroll in their department’s 801 or 802 courses for a number of successive quarters. To indicate that a student is making satisfactory progress on their project, thesis, or dissertation, a grade of 'N' should be assigned. A grade of 'S' is recorded during the final quarter when the project, thesis, or dissertation has been completed and accepted by the department.

The 'N-' grade indicates unsatisfactory progress in a continuing course. The first 'N-' grade constitutes a warning. The advisor, department chair, and student should discuss the deficiencies and agree on the steps to correct them. A second 'N-' will normally cause the department to deny the student further registration until a written plan for the completion of the degree requirements has been submitted by the student and accepted by the department. Subsequent 'N-' grades are grounds for dismissal from the program.

Revision of End-Quarter Grades

When submitted via Axess or filed with the Registrar’s Office, end-quarter grades are final and not subject to change by reason of a revision of judgment on the instructor’s part; nor are passing grades to be revised on the basis of a second trial (for example, a new examination or additional work undertaken or completed after the end of the quarter.) Changes may be made at any time to correct an error in computation or in transcribing, or where some part of the student’s work was overlooked; that is, if the new grade is the one that would have been entered on the original report had there been no mistake in computing and had all the pertinent data been before the instructor, the change is a proper one.

Information on entering grades is available on the Axess for Faculty web pages.

In the event that a student disputes an end-quarter grade, the established grievance procedure should be followed. See the “Student Academic Grievance Procedures” section of the Stanford Bulletin.