New Carmen Final Grades Transfer Process

When instructors submit Winter quarter final grades from Carmen, they will find an updated process. We are using some newly available technology to move final grades more quickly from Carmen to the Faculty Center. We are also providing more feedback to the user at each stage of the final grades transfer process.

I’ve got a series of screen shots to illustrate the process. Because grades are data we all need to protect, these images are taken from our development version of Carmen and I’ve modified or smudged anything that looks like identifying information.

The actual process of calculating final grades hasn’t changed. You still calculate your grades, return to the User List, and click the Transfer Grades to Faculty Center link.

After that, the new process starts up. You’ll notice a Progress box on the left-hand side that will inform you of what step you’re on. On the right-hand side, you’ll see additional information. Unless you have a really large class, all 5 steps should take a few minutes at most.

Except for a few comments, I’m going to let the images speak for themselves.

Step 1: Program gathers information about the course, its sections (class numbers) and the person submitting grades.

Step 2: Program retrieves grades from Gradebook

Step 3: Program displays grades for verification. The column highlighted in yellow is the one being submitted to the Faculty Center (see Carmen Help for more information about Final Calculated and Final Adjusted grades). Be sure you are submitting the grades you want to submit and that the letter grades look right for each student.

When you are done verifying, you will have scrolled to the bottom of the screen. If your final grades look good, click Transfer Grades to Faculty Center. If you need to change something, click Cancel Grade Transfer. You’ll be returned to the Gradebook where you can make changes and try again.

Step 4: Program transfers grades to the Faculty Center

Step 5: Program displays the results of the transfer. In the first table, you’ll see the results for each section in your course, listed by class number. In the second table, you’ll see results for any students whose final grades weren’t transferred.

Click the red icons for on-screen explanations of what happened and what action you might need to take; some “errors” don’t actually represent a problem. If you have any questions, note down the Submission ID at the top of page and use it when you contact the Carmen team. We’ll use this to identify your grade transfer and answer your questions.

The final step, as always, is to continue to the Faculty Center to approve and post the grades. Until someone who is authorized to post the grades does that, the process isn’t done!

We’d love to hear your comments or questions about this new interface.

Next week, I’ll post some tips and best practices about calculating final grades in Carmen. The Digital Union will also be hosting a Final Grades Open Office Hours on Wednesday, March 15, from noon to 2:00 PM.