Quarterly Information
Fall 2023 Important Dates
- September 28th, 2023 – Instruction Begins
- October 13th, 2023 – Deadline to Add a Course (undergraduate & graduate students)
- October 27th, 2023 – Deadline to Drop a Course without a W (undergraduate & graduate students)
- November 10th, 2023 – Veterans Day Holiday
- November 13th, 2023 – Deadline to Change Grading Option (undergraduate & graduate students)
- November 13th, 2023 – Deadline to Drop a Course with a W (undergraduate students)
- November 23rd - 24th, 2023 – Thanksgiving Holiday
- November 27th - December 8th, 2023 – CAPEs open (evaluation of Instructors, TAs, Readers, and UGIAs)
- December 1st, 2023 – Deadline to Drop a Course with a W (graduate students)
- Decmeber 8th, 2023 – Instructions Ends
- December 9th -16th, 2023 – Finals Week
- December 11th, 2023 – eGrades open
- December 19th, 2023 – eGrades close
- December 21st, 2023 – eGrades open for changes
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COVID-19 Important Announcements
We would like to remind instructors to check UC San Diego COVID-19 Information Website regularly for the latest on this fast-evolving situation. UC San Diego leadership and health care experts are actively monitoring the continuing developments of COVID-19 to ensure the ongoing safety of our campus community.
Please take note to the following information as of 9/5/2023 below. NOTE: All information is subject to change, emails will be sent out to all instructors as soon as updates occur per the Academic Senate, the Dean of Undergraduate Education, and Graduate Division.
QUARTERLY INSTRUCTION UPDATES
- Information for instructors on details about instruction can be found on the Academic Personnel Services COVID-19 Academic Affairs FAQs and Resources page.
- To reduce anxiety and demonstrate compassion for our students, we strongly recommend that faculty consider the following for the first week of instruction: (a) taking measures to help students familiarize themselves with the course resources and instruction tools, (b) making review and introductory material available via Canvas so students joining the course late can catch up, and (c) refraining from having assignments or assessments due that week.
- In-person lectures will be delivered in real-time and students can be required to attend lectures, discussions, labs, and exams as listed on the schedule of classes. Lectures should be recorded either through podcasting or Zoom (audio only is okay) for any student who is affected by COVID-19 and is unable to attend lecture(s) in-person due to illness/quarantine etc. Per the Academic Senate, no documentation can be requested of the student to verify their information.
- Per The Office of the Chancellor, use of CANVAS is mandatory for all courses.
- The Academic Senate, Dean of Undergraduate Education, and/or Graduate Division can request or require additional accommodations throughout the quarter. All updates to policy will be emailed to instructors as soon as updates occur. All instructors should be prepared to be flexible with their course instruction.
- Instructors can check out the COVID-19 Academic Affairs FAQs and Resources for helpful information including Support for instructors, Contingency planning, Safe classroom rules/rule compliance, Modality change process, and Campus/classroom preparation.
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Additional Important Announcements
In an effort to streamline and equally distribute workload, all HWSPH Education Program Coordinators will be involved in the TA appointment process, with a different Program Coordinator acting as a point person for each quarter. For TA-related business, we will be using the hwsphedteam@health.ucsd.edu email address, so if you have any questions regarding TA appointments, please contact us via that email.
Gradescope
The HWSPH Educations Programs have transitioned to Gradescope (https://www.gradescope.com/) starting fall 2018. Gradescope streamlines the tedious parts of grading paper-based, digital, and code assignments while providing insights into how your students are doing. It supports variable-length assignments (problem sets & projects) as well as fixed-template assignments (worksheets, quizzes, or exams). In addition, it stores all assignments and exams which will be helpful when the department is submitting information for CEPH accreditation.
Gradescope provides a Getting Started with Gradescope Online Video Series for instructors, TAs, and UGIAs who are unable to attend the training or who would like a refresher of how to use Gradescope.
Upon request to edtech@ucsd.edu, instructors can link their Canvas course rosters with Gradescope and sync grades from Gradescope with a column in their Grade Centers. Please send this request from your UCSD email address and include the course title.
Please see Gradescope under Instructional Support for additional information.
UC San Diego Canvas Transition (from TritonEd) *Per The Office of the Chancellor, CANVAS is mandatory
After a thorough evaluation process, which relied heavily on feedback from our UC San Diego community, the university has transitioned to Learning Management System (LMS), Canvas, to better meet the community's needs. Canvas is currently available to instructors, along with a practice course which can be accessed from coursefinder.ucsd.edu.
You can request a 5 minute consultation with one of the EdTech team members. This consultation will include a high-level overview of Canvas and tips for a successful transition.
Not sure what an LMS is? Read our "What is Canvas?" page for a description.
Need more information to get started? Utilize the various sections and pages of this site to get an idea of what to expect during the transitions to Canvas. Please consider attending one of our Canvas workshops or contacting the EdTech Support team to answer any of your questions.
Follow the five-step checklist at How do I prepare for the Canvas move? to get you ready for the move.
Please see Canvas under Instructional Support for additional information.
FA23: Beginning of the Quarter
Resources Page for Instructors, TAs, Readers, and UGIAs
All information provided in this message and more are located online on our HWSPH Education Programs website under Resources. Additionally TAs and UGIAs can reference the newly created Teaching+Learning Commons Instructional Support for TAs and IAs. Please contact Dina Rodgers (drodgers@health.ucsd.edu) if you have any questions regarding the information provided in this message or on the resources page of the HWSPH Education Programs website.
Fall Quarter 2023
FA23 classes begin on Thursday, September 28th and the last day of instruction is Friday, December 8th.
Finals, eGrades, and Evaluations
FA23 finals week is from Saturday, December 9th through Friday, December 16th. Final Exam days and times are listed on the Schedule of Classes (https://act.ucsd.edu/scheduleOfClasses/scheduleOfClassesFaculty.htm).
UCSD uses an on-line eGrades system. eGrades allows Instructors of Record to enter grades or to designate another person to help them enter grades into the application. This helping role is called the Authorized Grader (AG) and is usually the course TA, Reader, and/or UGIA (if you have one). AGs must be assigned to individual course section numbers every quarter. Once an AG finishes entering grades or uploading a spreadsheet, the section must be reviewed and submitted by the Instructor of Record. AGs are limited to entering grades during the initial submission period. They may not enter grades past the deadline, nor are they ever allowed to file grade changes. Once an AG finishes entering grades into the system, the section must still be reviewed and submitted by the Instructor of Record.
The eGrades system (egrades.ucsd.edu, log on with Single Sign-On) will be open for submission of grades from December 11th at 8:00 am until December 19th at 11:59 pm. After this deadline, grades can no longer be entered by AGs nor can the Instructor of Record upload a spreadsheet using the Import function.
Please see the eGrades Blink page for more information and in-depth step by step process, including tutorials and FAQs: http://blink.ucsd.edu/instructors/academic-info/grades/egrades.html
Course Grading
The parameters for numeric to letter grade are whatever the instructor decides as the threshold for each letter grade. Instructors aren’t bound to the typical 10% breakdown of each letter grade (ie: A= 100-90, B= 89-80, etc). The only rule is that each student is graded and assigned grades in the exact same way, with the exact same thresholds, including those taking the P/NP or S/U option. In addition, each letter grade does not have to hold the same percentages across category (ie: an "A" can span over a 30% scale (100-70%) and a "B" could be over 10% (69-60%).
Instructors can use the +/- schema for grades A through C and A+ is a thing, although it does not give any boost to GPA (A and A+ are both 4.0 GPA calculations). This link outlines the grading system at UCSD: http://blink.ucsd.edu/instructors/academic-info/grades/system.html
We hope this helps us all communicate course grading more clearly with students and keep us all in line with University requirements and grading parameters.
PLEASE NOTE: Pass/Not Pass (P/NP) for undergraduate courses and Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) for graduate courses have different grading criteria.
- S is considered a B- or above; U is considered a C- or lower grade earned
- P is considered a C- or above; NP is considered a D or F grade earned
Grading Options can only be changed up until the end of the 6th week. This is mostly important for those faculty who host outside students in their courses. Any requests to change grading options after that date will be considered “grade shopping” and will most likely be rejected by the Academic Senate or Grad Division. Obviously, if there are extenuating circumstances, this petition process can be explored.
Professor, TA, Reader, UGIA, and Course Evaluations
Undergraduate courses are evaluated by Course and Professor Evaluations (CAPE). Graduate courses are evaluated by Graduate Course Evaluations, run through the Academic Affairs Evaluation system. You can log in here: https://academicaffairs.ucsd.edu/Modules/Evals/ to view your past CAPE and Graduate Course Evaluation results. You can also see a scatterplot of how your CAPE performance compares to other professors’ in Public Health. These measures will be available once the initial grading deadline has passed.
Instructor, TA, and UGIA Office Hours
Office Hours can be in-person or remote for the quarter. UC San Diego Zoom Web/Video Conferencing have provisioned all campus faculty, staff, teaching assistants and enrolled students with Zoom Pro accounts.
Additional Resources to Reference throughout the Quarter:
Academic Integrity
Please see Academic Integrity under Instructional Support for additional information.
Available Software Subscriptions
Please see Available Software Subscriptions under Instructional Support for additional information.
Canvas
Please see Canvas under Instructional Support for additional information.
CAPE
Please see CAPE under Instructional Support for additional information.
Class Lists
Please see Class Lists under Instructional Support for additional information.
Educational Technology Services
Please see Educational Technology Services under Instructional Support for additional information.
Education Continuity Tools and Resources (Remote Learning)
Please see Education Continuity Tools and Resources (Remote Learning) under Instructional Support for additional information.
Gradescope
Please see Gradescope under Instructional Support for additional information.
Guest Speaker/Panelist Reserved Parking
Please see Guest Speaker/Panelist Reserved Parking under Instructional Support for additional information.
Library Support for Leanring & Research
Please see Library Support for Learning & Research under Instructional Support for additional information.
Media Support and Imprints
Please see Media Support and Imprints under Instructional Support for additional information.
Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) Accommodations
Please see Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) Accommodations under Instructional Support for additional information.
Religious Accommodations
Please see Religious Accommodations under Instructional Support for additional information.
Reserving Rooms for Review Sessions
Please see Reserving Rooms for Review Sessions under Instructional Support for additional information.
Scanner/Photocopier for Public Health Education Programs
Please see Scanner/Photocopier for Public Health Education Programs under Instructional Support for additional information.
SPSS Software Access
Please see SPSS Software Access under Instructional Support for additional information.
Student Athlete Services
Please see Student Athlete Services under Instructional Support for additional information.
Student in Need/Distress Resources for Faculty
Please see Student in Need/Distress Resources for Faculty under Instructional Support for additional information.
Student Resources for Remote Learning
Please see Student Resources for Remote Learning under Instructional Support for additional information.
TA, Reader, and UGIA Responsibilities
Please see TA, Reader, and UGIA Responsibilities under Instructional Support for additional information.
Teaching + Learning Commons
Please see Teaching + Learning Commons under Instructional Support for additional information.
Textbooks
Please see Textbooks under Instructional Support for additional information.
Time with Profs Program
Please see Time with Profs Program under Instructional Support for additional information.
TritonEd
Please see TritonEd under Instructional Support for additional information.
Triton Testing Center (TTC) and Proctor Pool
Please see Triton Testing Center (TTC) and Proctor Pool under Instructional Support for additional information.
Zoom - Video and Web Conferencing
Please see Zoom - Video and Web Conferencing under Instructional Support for additional information.
*SAVED* 2020 Faculty Workshops
Please see *SAVED* 2020 Faculty Workshops under Instructional Support for additional information.
Wishing you a wonderful fall quarter!
FA23: End of the Quarter
Resources Page for Instructors, TAs, Readers, and UGIAs
All information provided in this message and more is located online on our HWSPH Education Programs website under Resources. Please contact Dina Rodgers (drodgers@health.ucsd.edu) if you have any questions regarding the information provided in this message or on the resources page of the HWSPH Education Programs website.
Fall Undergraduate and Graduate Course Instructors
Listed below includes important information about eGrades deadlines, course evaluation, and related issues. On December 11th, please log into eGrades to verify that you have access. If you encounter any access-related issues, please let one of the HWSPH Education Student Affairs Team know as soon as possible so we can assist you with next steps to get access.
1: Finals and eGrades
Final Exam days and times should be listed in the Schedule of Classes for any course scheduled through the Registrar’s Office (https://act.ucsd.edu/scheduleOfClasses/scheduleOfClassesFaculty.htm).
The eGrades system (http://egrades.ucsd.edu/, log on with Single Sign-On) will be open for submission of quarter grades from December 11th at 8:00am until December 19th, 2023 at 11:59pm. No grades can be submitted or changed on December 20th. Once the deadline has passed, grades cannot be entered by an Authorized Grader (usually a TA, Reader, and/or UGIA) nor can a spreadsheet be uploaded by use of the Import function. Late submissions and changes can only be submitted starting December 21st by the instructor of record.
As a reminder, eGrades allows Instructors of Record to enter grades or to designate another person to help them enter grades. This helping role is called the Authorized Grader (AG) and is usually the course TA and/or UGIA (if you have one). AGs must be assigned to individual course section numbers every quarter. AGs are limited to entering grades during the initial submission period. They may not enter grades past the deadline, nor are they ever allowed to file grade changes. Once an AG finishes entering grades into the system, the section must still be reviewed and submitted by the Instructor of Record.
Please see the eGrades Blink page for more information and in-depth step by step process, including tutorials, podcasts, and prior recorded training sessions: http://blink.ucsd.edu/instructors/academic-info/grades/egrades.html
It is IMPORTANT to make note that once you are on the “Save and Review” Screen, you still need to continue to the next screen and select “Submit”. The grades have not been submitted until this second step is completed.
2: Course Grading and Evaluations
The parameters for numeric to letter grade are whatever the instructor decides as the threshold for each letter grade. Instructors aren’t bound to the typical 10% breakdown of each letter grade (ie: A= 100-90, B= 89-80, etc). The only rule is that each student is graded and assigned grades in the exact same way, with the exact same thresholds, including those taking the P/NP or S/U option. In addition, each letter grade does not have to hold the same percentages across category (ie: an "A" can span over a 30% scale (100-70%) and a "B" could be over 10% (69-60%).
Instructors can use the +/- schema for grades A through C and A+ is a thing, although it does not give any boost to GPA (A and A+ are both 4.0 GPA calculations). This link outlines the grading system at UCSD: http://blink.ucsd.edu/instructors/academic-info/grades/system.html
We hope this helps us all communicate course grading more clearly with students and keep us all in line with University requirements and grading parameters.
PLEASE NOTE: Pass/Not Pass (P/NP) for undergraduate courses and Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) for graduate courses have different grading criteria.
- S is considered a B- or above; U is considered a C+ or lower grade earned
- P is considered a C- or above; NP is considered a D or F grade earned
Grading Options can only be changed up until the end of the 6th week. This is mostly important for those faculty who host outside students in their courses. Any requests to change grading options after that date will be considered “grade shopping” and will most likely be rejected by the Academic Senate or Grad Division. Obviously, if there are extenuating circumstances, this petition process can be explored.
Undergraduate courses are evaluated by Course and Professor Evaluations (CAPE). The CAPE evaluation period begins on November 27th at 8am and will continue until December 8th at 8am. You can view the participation of your class (updated live starting one day after the CAPE evaluation period begins) here: http://cape.ucsd.edu/responses/current.aspx
Please note: It is extremely important that TAs are also evaluated as it can affect a TA's eligibility for a future quarter. Please make sure to encourage your students to fill out a CAPE for both the instructor and TA(s). UGIAs are also able to be evaluated through CAPE.
This handy link provides tips to increase response rate: http://cape.ucsd.edu/faculty/tips.html
Graduate courses are evaluated by Graduate Course Evaluations and runs through the Academic Affairs Evaluation system. The Graduate Course Evaluations period begins on November 27th at 8am and will continue until December 8th at 8am.
You can log in here: https://academicaffairs.ucsd.edu/Modules/Evals/ to view your past CAPE and Graduate Course Evaluation results. You can also see a scatterplot of how your CAPE performance compares to other professors’ in Public Health. These measures will be available once the initial grading deadline has passed.
3: Academic Integrity Issues or Requests to Complete Additional Work for a Higher Grade
Academic Senate Policy is that “No change of a final grade may be made on the basis of revision or augmentation of a student’s work in the course. No term grade except Incomplete may be revised by further examination."
In some cases, where a student does not want the 'B' or 'C’ he or she has earned, requests are made to receive a failing ('D' or 'F') grade. Official university policy is that requesting a grade different from what has been calculated, whether higher or lower, is a violation of academic integrity.
A pending charge of academic dishonesty must be marked by selecting 'X'. This can be done while filling in the Instructor report that has been attached to this email.
For students requesting an incomplete: A student MUST have produced work of passing quality and have good reason for not being able to complete the course in order to receive a grade of Incomplete.
- For undergraduate courses a C- or above is considered of passing quality
- For graduate courses a B- or above is considered of passing quality
You can decide by what date the student must complete the work, but this date can be no later than the last day of finals of the following quarter. If you would like the help of the Student Affairs Office in administering exams for students to resolve their incompletes, we request the last day to complete work be the end of week 10 of the subsequent quarter. It is very important to provide your contact information so students can schedule any exams or work to be completed. There are no reminders of outstanding work to be completed sent to you or the student. Once the work is completed you will submit the final grade through eGrades.
Need eGrades Assistance?
Contact: eGrades@ucsd.edu or (858) 534-3144
Have Questions?
If you have any questions about the policies and procedures outlined above, or any further questions or concerns about wrapping up your class, please feel free to contact us and we are all happy to assist you!
- Bachelor of Science Public Health Undergraduate courses
- Contact: Dina Rodgers (drodgers@health.ucsd.edu)
- Contact: Elisa Crossman (ecrossman@health.ucsd.edu)
- Master in Public Health Graduate courses
- Contact: Rosemarie Subala (rsubala@health.ucsd.edu)
- JDP in Public Health Graduate courses
- Contact: Carrie Goldsmith (cgoldsmith@health.ucsd.edu)
- Master of Science & PhD in Biostatistics Graduate courses
- Contact: Stella Tripp (sctripp@health.ucsd.edu)