Academic Senate Strike Information and Guidance

The information on this page is a resource for faculty, instructors, and academic units regarding questions of academic policy under the authority of the San Diego Division of the Academic Senate.

• Please contact the Academic Senate Office (academicsenateoffice@ucsd.edu) with questions about Senate policies.
• Please visit UC San Diego’s Labor Negotiation Updates for the latest administrative guidance.

Fall 2022

Final Examinations

According to Senate policy, final exams in undergraduate classes are required. If a course has a scheduled final exam, instructors must provide a final assessment in keeping with this requirement. However, instructors have significant flexibility regarding finals, as long as changes are applied consistently and they are communicated clearly to students. Some possible exam modifications include: 

• Adjust the format, content, or length of an exam or final assessment. This may include adjusting your expectations for the assessment.
• Substitute a take-home exam or other assignment for a final exam.
• Offer an asynchronous final exam and open it earlier during finals week to allow students more time to complete the exam. Remember that Instructors are required to make the exam available during the date and hour scheduled by the Registrar’s Office. 
• Offer a no-fault final exam, where the final exam grade cannot negatively impact a student’s grade. 
• If the course syllabus and grading rubric allows for dropping the lowest exam score, consider allowing students to opt not to take the final. 

Students may be depending on final exams to be able to improve their grades. Exams and assignments may not be due or scheduled after the quarter ends on December 10^th. 

Grading

December 20^th Deadline for Fall 2022 Grade Submission. The official deadline for submitting grades this Fall quarter is extended from December 13^th at 11:59 pm to December 20^th at 11:59 pm.

• Once the grade submission deadline has passed, instructors will be able to initiate grade changes beginning December 22nd. 
• Instructors have up to a year to change their grades.
• The period in which an Instructor of Record can designate another person to enter grades into eGrades (called an Authorized Grader) will remain open until December 20th. 
• If an instructor does not enter a final grade, there will be a blank grade on the student’s transcript.
• A blank grade, if not changed, will lapse to an F at the end of Winter 2023.
• For questions about grade submission or eGrades, please email eGrades@ucsd.edu.

Incompletes. Unless an instructor agreed with a student in advance, assigning an Incomplete grade is not appropriate. Incompletes are only intended for students who have passing performance in the majority of coursework but are not able to complete the course for good cause.

Missing or Blank Grades. If an instructor is planning not to submit grades, it is important to preserve course materials for future evaluation of student performance.

Information to Help Faculty Mitigate the Impact of Missing Grades. If an instructor does not enter a final grade, there will be a blank grade on the student’s transcript. The Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) and the Registrar have worked to identify those undergraduate students who will be most affected. 

The DUE sent out notices on December 9th to Instructors to notify them of students who require grades to: a) determine academic standing; b) be eligible for Fall 2022 graduation; c) participate in athletics; d) participate in Education Abroad Programs (EAP); and e) maintain eligibility for financial aid, for recipients on an approved Satisfactory Academic Progress appeal. (See example of letters sent to faculty.) For privacy reasons, no information is being disclosed regarding individual student situations. The DUE and Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management also provided an update on Fall 2022 grading to students on December 6th encouraging students to be in contact with their instructors if they have an extenuating circumstance not noted above.

Graduate Coursework. The following suggestions are offered for instructors to consider regarding the grading of graduate coursework:

• Instructors have flexibility and may be generous when considering the totality of the work completed over the course of the quarter.
• For individual research courses (e.g. 299s) and teaching apprentice courses (e.g. 500s), instructors have flexibility and may wish to consider student performance up to the point of the strike and assign a grade based on that work. If the enrolled student was fulfilling their duties satisfactorily up to this point, then issuing a satisfactory grade could be seen as appropriate. 
• Faculty may wish to consider the implications of assigning an “F” or “U” grade in graduate coursework. A cumulative GPA of 3.0 in upper division and graduate coursework is required for graduate students to maintain good academic standing, and they are subject to probation or disqualification if they do not meet these requirements (SD Senate Regulation 515). Instructors may consult the information provided by the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs on academic standing and probation and consult with their Department Chair or Program Director if they have any questions.

Enrollment Deadlines

Standard deadlines to change grading option or units, drop a class, or withdraw from the quarter remain in effect.