Grading
What's on this page?
Who is this for?
Instructional staff including faculty, teaching fellows, and teaching assistants
Grading responsibilities
It is the Head Instructor’s responsibility to post (submit) final grades. Even after assigning grading permission to proxy graders, Head Instructors still need to post final grades. If you are unable to add a teaching fellow as a proxy grader, please contact courses@fas.harvard.edu.
More information about your responsibility for evaluation is available in the Information for Faculty Handbook.
Student Privacy
- All grade information is classified as highly sensitive and confidential data under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.
- This information can never be released to third parties without the written consent of the students to whom the grades have been assigned.
- Grade information should never be stored on local computers or local database systems.
- More information
Grading system
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences uses the following systems of letter and non-letter grades to evaluate student work:
Exam and grade entry deadlines
Each semester, the Registrar's Office publishes a a list of exam/final deadline groups and grade entry deadlines for each individual course. Once grading opens for the semester, you will receive a series of reminders with your individual grading deadlines.
Due dates for each term are based on the assignment exam group and are published in the Information for Faculty Handbook.
Instructor roles in my.harvard and grading access
Your grading access level in my.harvard determines your ability to post grades. Your Curriculum Coordinator will provide you with grading access when they set up your course. To learn more about additional roles, please review the FAS Instructor Roles and Grading Access documentation.
Final Grades: Only Head Instructors can post (submit) final grades.
| FAS Position | FAS Permission Level |
|---|---|
Head Instructors | Grade, Approve, Post (Submit) |
Instructors | Grade, Approve |
Teaching Fellows | Grade* |
Teaching Assistants | Grade* |
*Permission to grade is not automatic. Access will be granted once the department curriculum coordinator updates your access on the course, or the Head Instructor assigns proxy grader status. Learn how to assign a proxy grader.
The main difference between the Grade permission and the Approve/Post permissions is that the Grade permission cannot revert the grade status once they have changed it.
| Action | Grade | Approve | Post |
|---|---|---|---|
Enter individual grades or upload grades | 
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Change approval status from Not Reviewed to Ready for Review |
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Move freely between approval statuses (Not Reviewed, Ready for Review, Approved) | 
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Post (submit) final grades |
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Submitting grades
Submitting grades is a multi-step process: If all the steps below are not completed, you will receive a reminder about grades being late.
Step 1: Make sure to review the grade entry deadlines for your courses. For your convenience, the FAS Registrar's Office will send you a series of custom email reminders about your courses and grade roster status.
Step 2: If you are a Head Instructor and need someone else to enter grades, assign a proxy grader in my.Harvard. (Note: If you have assigned a proxy grader, you still must submit (post) the final grades in my.Harvard.)
Guidelines for assigning proxy graders:
- Please review the IT Help – Instructions for assigning proxy graders.
- Reassign proxy grader permissions each semester. Proxy grader access does not carry over semester to semester.
- Proxy graders must be affiliated with the department offering the course.
- Please allow up to 6 hours for proxy grading permissions to take effect.
Step 3: After you enter all individual grades you must post the grades in my.harvard.
Partial post
If needed, you can use the Partial Post feature to post your grade roster in my.Harvard without entering grades for all students (you must have Post grading responsibility to do this). If you have a student who hasn’t turned in final work, leave the grade entry blank and submit partial post.
- Once the Administrative Board approves an extension or makeup, we will update the blank entry with a notation of EXT or MKP.
- If the student is not petitioning for an extension or makeup, please submit a grade for the work completed.
Early grading for graduating students
All grades for graduating students must be posted by the earliest deadline listed Due Dates for Grades page of the Faculty Handbook.
- We cannot award Latin honors or print diplomas with grades pending.
- For more information, see the instructions for early grading for graduating students.
Incomplete grades for graduate students
Incomplete grades (INC) are granted to graduate students only at the discretion of the instructor.
- If a student receives an INC, the student must complete coursework during the term that immediately follows the INC term. For example, if a student receives an INC during the Fall 2021 term, the student must complete the coursework during the Spring 2022 term.
- Even if the student's registration status during the term is leave of absence, the student must complete coursework during this time frame. The only exception is if the student is given an earlier deadline by the instructor. If the work is not submitted within the required time frame, the INC becomes a permanent grade, unless the student has petitioned successfully for an extension.
Faculty members should submit final grades to replace the INCs through portal.my.harvard.edu using the grade change instructions.
