Final Grades (submitting to BrockDB)

The Office of the Registrar supports the collection of final grades from Brightspace and other sources. The current system allows instructors to quickly pull Brightspace course grades into BrockDB through a convenient Transfer tool, but it is also possible to import an Excel spreadsheet.

This process is typically performed once all assessment has been collected and there is a satisfactory offering in a site’s Final Calculated Grade column. Any adjustments to final grades must be done in BrockDB.

See the main Grades article for more information on preparing and maintaining Brightspace grades.

Requirements and additional information

Transfer Grades tool

To import final grades from Brightspace into BrockDB using Transfer Grades:

1. Navigate to the BrockDB interface.

2. Go to My Work → Brock DB - Menu → GradeBook → FinalGrade.

3. Enter the Academic Year, choose the Academic Session, and then select the class from the Change Course dropdown.

Open

Select a course that corresponds with a Brightspace site.

4. Find the Final Grade Maintenance tab [1]. Note the Import Final Grades [2] and Release Grade [3] tabs.

5. Click the Go button beside Transfer Grades.

Open

The infamous BrockDB Transfer Grades ‘Go’ button.

6. The Final Calculated Grade values from Brightspace will be populated in the Final Number and Final Letter columns and are ready to be released, although adjustments can be made at this time.

7. The Release Grade tab will help perform final checks and then facilitate releasing the grades to the Registrar.

Import an Excel spreadsheet

It is still possible to import an Excel spreadsheet to BrockDB, which is useful for grades managed outside of Brightspace but also in situations involving more complex or manually-managed calculations.

To manually import final grades from Brightspace into BrockDB:

1. Navigate to the BrockDB interface.

2. Go to My Work → Brock DB - Menu → GradeBook → FinalGrade.

3. Enter the Academic Year, choose the Academic Session, and then select the class from the Change Course dropdown.

4. Click the Import Final Grades tab [2], which will provide an Excel template that builds out the requirements for the file to be imported.

5. The Grades page in Brightspace can generate and export an Excel file or CSV, but either option will need to be added to the template from BrockDB. The exported file can be stripped down to contain only student names, usernames, Org Defined IDs, and the Final Calculated Grade values. Check that there is no filtering applied to the columns that is causing a change in the student order.

6. The Final Calculated Grade values from Brightspace will be populated in the Final Number and Final Letter columns and are ready to be released, although adjustments can be made at this time.

7. The Release Grade tab will help perform final checks and then facilitate releasing the grades to the Registrar.

When are grades due?

The Brock University Faculty Handbook, Section 3, sub-section 9.3.2 https://brocku.ca/university-secretariat/faculty-handbook/section-3/#9.3_Examinations states:

Final course grades, are to be submitted to the Office of the Registrar within seven working days of the examination completion date. In the case of Summer Session, the period would normally be three working days. For courses which do not have a final examination scheduled during the examination period, final grades must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar within seven working days after the end of the examination period (or three days in the case of Summer Session). Exceptions should be determined by agreement between the Dean and the Department Chair and then conveyed to the Office of the Registrar. Grades received after this period will automatically have a grade of NR (Not Reported) recorded for the course.

This means, for specific courses,

• For courses with exams, you can look up when it's timetabled, https://brocku.ca/guides-and-timetables/timetables/?session=fw&type=ex&level=all , and add seven working days (three in the summer).

• For courses without final exams, you can look up the “Examinations end” date https://brocku.ca/important-dates/academic-term/ and add seven working days (three in the summer).