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At the end of the semester, final grades are submitted through the grading form in SPIRE. Depending on your goals and preferred work process, you have a number of options for managing grades during the semester and entering final grades into SPIRE at the end of the semester.

Note: Grades must be approved in SPIRE by the announced deadline. For help with grading from knowledgeable and patient consultants, contact the Instructional Media Lab.


Learning Management System

Faculty and instructors can use Canvas, a Learning Management System (LMS), to manage student grades throughout a semester. Students can view grades during the semester if you configure the grade book to allow them access (they will only see their own grades). At the end of the semester, final grades can be entered manually into SPIRE, or imported directly to SPIRE from the LMS.

For questions or help using Canvas, contact the Instructional Media Lab at instruct@umass.edu.

Spreadsheet

Faculty and instructors can also use a spreadsheet application, such as Excel, to manage student grades throughout a semester. At the end of the semester, final grades can be entered manually into SPIRE, or imported from the spreadsheet into Canvas for transfer to SPIRE. 

*Before you can import your grades into Canvas from a spreadsheet, you will need to have a Canvas course. To request a Canvas course, Request a Canvas Course through SPIRE.

For questions or help using Canvas, contact the Instructional Media Lab at instruct@umass.edu.

Paper Grade Book

Faculty and instructors can also use a paper grade book to manage student grades throughout a semester, and manually enter final grades into SPIRE at the end of the semester.

  • To learn how to manually enter grades into SPIRE, see Record Grades.

For questions or help using SPIRE, contact IT User Services at @email

Student Privacy and Grades

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) classifies student grade data as confidential. Grades should not be shared with anyone but the student, including parents or guardians. Additionally, grades should never be posted on a door or in any way that students could be matched to their grades (e.g., through alphabetized lists or easily-matched "codes" like partial student ID numbers). An LMS, such as Moodle, helps protect student privacy by displaying individual grades for students when they have logged in.

For more information about FERPA see Instructor's Guide to Information Security & FERPA Certification Quiz.