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The public posting of grades by the student’s name, institutional student identification number, or social security number without the student’s written permission is a violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). Even with names obscured, numeric student identifier numbers are considered personally identifiable information. Therefore, the practice of posting grades by social security number or student identification number violates FERPA.
Instructors and others who post grades should use a system that ensures FERPA requirements are met. This can be accomplished either by obtaining the student’s uncoerced written permission to do so or by using code words or randomly assigned numbers known only to the instructor and individual student. The order of posting should not be alphabetic.
Another method which faculty members may use to notify students of their final or other grades, prior to official institutional notification, is to have any interested students complete a postcard with their name and mailing address on the address side and the course name/number on the message side. The completed postcard is given to the instructor, who writes the student’s grade on the message side and mails the card to the student when grades have been determined.
Two grading options are available for instructors when posting grades for students who are to receive an F grade for a course. Students who attended or participated in a course at least one time will be given the traditional F grade, and the instructor is responsible for reporting the last day of attendance or participation. The grade of NF (Non Participation) is given when a student’s name appears on a final grade report, but there is no record of attendance or other evidence of participation in the course. The NF grade is treated as an F grad in calculating grade point averages.
Participation includes most documented forms of academic activity: attendance in class or labs, graded quizzes, tests, assignments, and participation in online discussions. However, simply logging into a system like Canvas does not constitute participation.
Final grades are available on the unofficial transcript in ACCESS/BANNER or by requesting official transcripts online, by mail or in person. See www.usu.edu/registrar/htm/records/transcripts for more information. |
