Early Academic Assessment Program FAQs

  • What is the deadline for a faculty member to input grades? 

    The EAA time frame is from the beginning of the third week of classes through the end of the seventh week for each Fall and Winter semester.

  • What information am I required to input?

    Early Assessment grades indicate that a student is experiencing academic difficulty or is not achieving at a "C" level. Submit a letter grade for students performing below a C level. Notification to those not achieving at least a “C” level is sent almost immediately after you submit your grades.

  • How will students know they received EAA grades?

    Grades will be available to students immediately after they are submitted. Students get an e-mail to go look for their EAA grades in Academica. Automated emails will be generated for students who receive an EAA grade of C- or below.

  • What happens if a faculty member fails to get EAA grades input before EAA grading is turned off for the semester?

    It will be the faculty member's responsibility to see to it that the grades are input by the designated deadlines. Compliance reports are distributed to deans and chairs at the end of each EAA grading period. 

  • I get a message that I don't understand when web grading is not turned on. What does it mean?

    EAA web grading is available weeks three through seven. At other times, you will receive an error message similar to this:

    "The Mid-term Grade Worksheet is unavailable for 9-15 wks beginning 1st wk, Fall 2008."

    This message is accompanied by a stop sign icon. To briefly explain this message, you need to know that it is generated automatically by Banner; it can be confusing. It consists of three parts:

    • "The Mid-term Grade Worksheet is unavailable for" this lets you know you cannot input grades.
    • The message inserts the Part of Term description associated with the class this describes when the class meets for the semester. There are classes that do not meet for the entire term, but only for a portion of it.
    • The message ends with the current term.

    Please note that although the built-in error message refers to "Mid-term" grades, it means the same as EAA grades. 

  • How do I know my EAA grades were put in successfully?

    When the "Submit Grades" button is clicked, any grades that have been selected in the web form are stored. The confirmation can be hard to spot since essentially the same grading page is returned with the message "The grade changes you made have been saved successfully" at the top of the page. You may need to scroll up to see it!  If you are still unsure whether your grades have been properly stored, you can start a new Academica session; the grades that are stored will appear as the page opens. 

  • Are all grades presented in the drop-down grade box acceptable EAA grades for every student in every class?

    Yes. Effective winter 2009, the university changed the EAA grading system from the -H, -E, -L, and -P combinations to regular letter grades. Students can view any midterm grade issued to them in Academica, but they will receive notification from the university if a grade of C- or below is entered. Remember that EAA grades do NOT impact a student's GPA. 

  • What makes the submission of grades final?

    These can be edited by the faculty member as long as web grading for the class is turned on. They are final only after EAA web grading is turned off at the end of the EAA grading period.

  • What are some potential problems that can arise? 

    The EAA system was created to time-out after 30 minutes of no activity. Any grade selection made since the last time you clicked "Submit Grades" will be lost if there is an inactivity time-out or network problem that disconnects the session. Not that an inactivity time-out will only occur if there is absolutely no mouse or key stroke interaction with the grading page for a 30-minute period. All you need to do to avoid this is to move the mouse within that period. You should click "Submit Grades" frequently to avoid losing your work. 

  • Can grades be directly uploaded from a spreadsheet?

    Yes. If you are using CANVAS, you must download to an EXCEL spreadsheet and then upload the spreadsheet to the grading system.

  • What if I do not click "Submit Grades?"

    Your work will not be saved and all of the information will be lost. The form will open as if not grades had been input.

  • Can we provide a way to print a report?

    Yes, There are two ways. Either download the class list in Academica by going to the Faculty tab and selecting "Download Class List" in the "Teaching" menu.

    If you have access to STARS, you can run report 2A. If you do not have access to STARS, contact Bob Berman.

  • How long do I have before an EAA session times out? 

    You have 30 minutes without a keystroke or mouse move before it times out. It is wise to click "Submit Changes" frequently. 

  • Who should I contact if need assistance?

    Questions related to the EAA program should be directed to your school, college or program's EAA Coordinator or to Kelly Dormer