Managing Grades
The Office of the University Registrar does not in general permit the respective Faculties to record and submit either informal interim/temporary grades or grades that serve as placeholders. All grades must be official, final grades that conform to the grading schema in place at the various Schools. Exceptions to this policy should be secured in advance from the Office of the University Registrar. Approval will be granted only on a case-by-case basis taking into account unique circumstances that are germane to a particular faculty member or student.
Grades must be submitted through Web Grading on Vergil.
Deadline for Submitting Grades:
Fall 2024: Friday, January 3, 2025, by 9:30 PM
Spring 2025: Graduating Students: Friday, May 16, 2025, by 9:30 PM
Non-Graduating Students: Thursday, May 22, 2025, by 9:30 PM
Submitting & Viewing Grades
You will need your University Network ID (UNI) and password to log in. The submission process requires two steps:
- Click the Submit button on the web grade roster. You will then be required to check your work and perform a final submission.
- After the final submission, you will receive a message stating that grades have been successfully submitted.
To determine whether or not your grades have been submitted, check the grade roster which will state the date, time and UNI of the individual who submitted the grades.
Please note: Columbia and Barnard students who take the same classes will appear and be graded on a single grade roster.
For assistance using Web Grading, please contact your departmental administrator or send an email.
Follow the steps below to view a current or previous term grade roster:
- Log into Vergil/SSOL and select Web Grading
- Enter the Course ID and Section ID and select the desired term.
- Select View Class to search.
Archived grade rosters are available back to 1982. They can be downloaded into Excel to save or print.
Grade Rosters
In the fall and summer terms, only a complete grade roster will be available. If grades are partially input they can be saved but not submitted until a value is entered for each student on the roster.
In the spring term, graduating student grades can be submitted individually but non-graduating student grades can only be submitted after every student is graded. There are three roster views available in the spring term:
Graduating: This roster lists only graduating students in a given class. Grades can be entered and submitted for students who appear on the Graduating roster. This will expedite clearance for graduation in the tight turnaround time between the end of term and commencement.
Non-Graduating: This roster lists only students who are not graduating. Grades can be saved on this roster but not submitted.
Complete: This roster lists all students enrolled in the class, both graduating and non-graduating. Grades submitted or saved on the graduating roster will appear here. Grades saved on the non-graduating roster will also appear here. Grades must be entered for every student on this roster before it can be submitted.
Changing Grades
The Electronic Change of Grade tool provides an electronic mechanism for managing grade changes in Vergil after an initial grade has been submitted, significantly shortening the time required to post grade changes in SIS and display them to students.
This feature is currently available to most students at Columbia University. Instructors are responsible for initiating grade changes and must transact all grade changes directly in Vergil. Students are prohibited from participating in the grade change process.
To change a grade of YC or CP, return to the Grade Roster and submit changed grades.
To change a grade other than YC or CP for students in many Columbia University schools, click on the Change Grades button from the Web Grading menu option. If the Change of Grade option is not available for a student, instructors should use the paper change-of-grade process through their department.
Note: All undergraduate grade changes must be approved by the school’s academic advising center.
The Office of the University Registrar has partnered with Columbia University Information Technology (CUIT) to offer an Electronic Change of Grade tool.
Background
- Historically, grade changes requested by faculty were handled manually using a paper form.
- The process of review and approval, if required, was also manual.
- Physical delivery of the paper form caused unnecessary traffic at the Student Service Center.
- Feedback from faculty and administrators indicated the older process was time-consuming, inefficient, and frustrating.
Goals
Our goals for the Electronic Change of Grade tool are to:
- Provide an electronic mechanism for managing grade changes in Vergil.
- Eliminate manual processing associated with grade changes originating from instructors of record.
- Route grade change requests from faculty to administrative reviewers for approval.
- Eliminate manual data entry, reducing the potential for human error.
- Significantly shorten the time required to post grade changes in SIS and display them to students.
How It Works
- Faculty use the Change of Grade tool to submit grade change requests electronically in Vergil after an initial grade has been submitted.
- To change a grade, the course instructor will log into Vergil, view a list of student grades for the course in question, and will request the change directly through Vergil.
- The request will be electronically directed to the required administrative approvers.
- Approvers will receive a daily electronic notification of all pending requests.
- If approval is granted, the grade change will be automatically updated in SIS.
- Course instructors will receive a daily electronic notification with the list of recently submitted grade change requests that have been approved or denied.
- Course instructors can log into Vergil at any time to view details on the status of their requests.
- Following approval, the student will be notified electronically of the grade change.