On this page:

• Enter grades in SPIRE
• Inactivity warning or time out error
• Set your grades for review
• Approve your grades
• Enter Last Date of Attendance (LDA) data
• Revise your grades
• Request grading help

 

Enter Grades in SPIRE

1. On your Faculty Center check that your teaching schedule for the term for which you want to enter grades appears under My Schedule. If you see your teaching schedule for another term click the change term button. Select the term from the list for which you want to enter grades and click CONTINUE. Now your Faculty Center displays your teaching schedule for the selected term.
2. Once you have selected a term for which to enter grades, under My Schedule, click the Grade Roster icon next to the class for which you wish to see the grade roster. If a class you need to grade is not in the list or does not have a Grade Roster icon, check with your department's Scheduling Representative to be sure that you are properly listed as an instructor with grading access for that class.
   
   Note: The Grade Roster icon changes to reflect the current status of the grade roster.
   
   • The Grade Roster icon indicates the roster is ready for grade entry or for editing or review of entered grades.
   • The Approved Grade Roster icon indicates grades were entered, and that the roster was approved and is ready to be processed, but the grades are not posted yet.
   • The Posted Grade Roster icon indicates the University Registrar's Office, University Without Walls, or the Graduate School, as applicable, has processed the roster and posted the grades to students' records.
3. The Grade Roster page for the selected class opens. Review the class information at the top of the roster to confirm that you are about to enter grades for the correct class.
4. Avoid losing your work: click Save every 15 minutes as you enter or edit grades!
5. In the Grade Roster Action box, check that the Approval Status is set to Not Reviewed. Use the drop-down list to select Not Reviewed if necessary. Not Reviewed is the status that allows you to enter or edit grades. For more information on Approval Status options, see our Grade Roster Status information, a link to the information is found on the right side of this page.

6. From the Roster Grade drop-down lists, assign a grade to each student.

   - or -

   To enter the same grade for multiple students:

   
   
   1. Identify the students to receive a particular grade by selecting the check box to the left of the students' names in the Grade Roster. Alternatively, click Select All, just below the Grade Roster.
   2. From the drop-down list below the Grade Roster, select the grade you want to enter for all of the selected students.
   3. Click the add this grade to selected students button, also below the Grade Roster.
   4. To change an individual student's grade, use the Roster Grade drop-down list to the right of the student's name.
   The grade options available in the drop-down lists may be different for different students in the same class. If you need clarification or assistance selecting grading options, please contact the University Registrar, University Without Walls or the Graduate School, as applicable.
7. At the top or bottom of the Grade Roster page, click Save. A message pops up to remind you that To complete grade processing, grade roster should be changed to approved status. Click OK.

   
   Note: Grades that you enter appear in the Roster Grade column. Grades do not appear in the Official Grade column until after the University Registrar's Office, University Without Walls, or the Graduate School finishes processing the grades and posting them to students' records.

8. After saving your entered grades, click Faculty Center in the left menu to return to your Faculty Center page.

Inactivity Warning or Time Out Error

Save your work frequently! SPIRE is set up to time out due to inactivity after 40 minutes maximum but it can timeout after less than 40 minutes. Clicking options in drop-down lists (such as grades) does not count as activity. Only actions such as submitting, saving or opening new pages counts as activity.

SPIRE will provide you with an inactivity warning when it is close to timing you out. Depending on how your computer is configured and how many other windows you have open, you may not see this warning in time. To minimize the risk of losing your grade entries, save early and save often.

If you receive an inactivity warning, at the top or bottom of the Grade Roster page, click Save. This will save your work and also prevent SPIRE from timing out.

Set Your Grades for Review

1. From the Approval Status drop-down list, change the status to Ready for Review.
2. Click Save at the top or bottom of the page. A message pops up to remind you that To complete grade processing, grade roster should be changed to approved status. Click OK. The Roster Grade drop-down lists will no longer be available, and you will see your grades in the Roster Grade column.

Approve Your Grades

 

Note: Once final grades are due, your approved grades will be processed by the University Registrar's Office, University Without Walls, or the Graduate School, as appropriate for your class. You can approve grades in SPIRE only if you are the instructor with full grading authority for the course. If you are a Teaching Assistant (or other instructional staff member), and do not have full grading authority, then you will not have the Approved option in your Approval Status drop-down list. In that case, notify the instructor with grade approval authority that grades are ready for his/her review to complete the approval process.

 

1. Select Approved from the Approval Status drop-down list.
2. Click Save. You will receive a confirmation message. Click OK. Exception: You will not receive the message if any student's failing grade directs you to the Student Last Date Attended page. See Last Date of Attendance for more information about confirming successful roster submission in that case.

Enter Last Date of Attendance (LDA) data

Federal regulations require collection of Last Date of Attendance (LDA) data to provide a more complete understanding of students’ failing grades. The regulations seek to discern three groups of failing students based on class attendance patterns. Failing grades are ‘F’ and the double-underscore ‘__’, which you must use for students who never attended class. Text on the new Student Last Date Attended page offers a description of each failing group, along with guidelines about how to determine a specific LDA for students in the third group.

Tips:

 

• Invest a few moments to read the descriptions on the Student Last Date Attended page and to fully understand the differences among the groups. Doing so will make it easier for you to determine how to enter the data for each student.
• Enter a double-underscore '__' in the grade roster for students who enrolled but who never attended class.
• Enter an 'F' in the grade roster for students who attended class throughout the term, but whose work reflects failure to achieve the learning objectives.
• You can choose to enter either 'F ' or '__' in the grade roster for students who stopped attending class before the end of the term. Consider the quality of any work that a student may have submitted when deciding how to enter the grade. You will need to enter a specific date of last attendance for such students.

 

1. If you have entered a failing grade for any student, the Student Last Date Attended page opens automatically when you change your roster status to Approved or Ready for Review and click Save.
2. Only failing students are listed on the page. To enter data, either check one of the two checkboxes, Student Completed Class or Student Never Attended, OR enter a date under Date Student Last Attended for each student, according to the descriptions of failing groups near the top of the page.
3. Click Save. If for some reason you do not receive the usual confirmation message that your grades have been submitted, you can check the roster’s status icon on your Faculty Center to ensure that the Approved Grade Roster icon appears.

Note: You can navigate to the Student Last Date Attended page any time using the Last Date Attended link near the roster Approval Status box on the Grade Roster page. Be sure to Save your grades before clicking the link.

Revise Your Grades

Before final grades are due, you can make grade changes directly in the SPIRE grade roster using the following steps.

1. From the Approval Status drop-down list, change the status to Not Reviewed, then click Save at the top or bottom of the page. A message pops up to remind you that To complete grade processing, grade roster should be changed to approved status. Click OK.
2. Change grades as necessary and click Save at the top or bottom of the page.
3. From the Approval Status drop-down list, change the status back to Approved and click Save at the top or bottom of the page. You will receive a confirmation message. Click OK.

After the University Registrar's Office, University Without Walls, or the Graduate School has processed the roster and posted the grades to students' records, you may use SPIRE to change posted grades of INC, NR, Y, or '__' (blank) for classes taught in the most recent four terms. You must have grading authorization for the class.  For details, see Grade Change - for Instructors. All other grade changes require grade change forms, available from your department or the Registrar's Office.

Request Grading Help

If you need additional help or are experiencing technical difficulties, email spire-support@it.umass.edu. One of our SPIRE user-support specialists will be happy to assist you.