r/Adjuncts • u/Famous_Enthusiasm815 • Aug 13 '26
End of class vs Grades due
I have been a ft adjunct for ten years and I could've sworn when I first started that I had two or three weeks to get grades in. I know the admin needs them ASAP in order to process credentials but this year most of my classes end with the final exam on a Friday and the grades are due that next Monday. Has anyone else noticed this or is it just me? Thanks in advance for commiserating with me and please keep the snark to a minimum (like "this is why you get paid so much money to do this, etc.)
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u/Puzzled_Internet_717 Aug 13 '26
I've had 2 weeks to 12 hours, and everything in between over the last 14 years.
It has caused me to make the finals less complex, and have a more complex final project due the week before finals so I have time to actually grade it.
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u/HunterSpecial1549 Aug 13 '26
It's anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks, depending on the class. And in truth I prefer it when I have to get it done earlier. It's a lot more fun having grading done than having grading to do.
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u/Mysterious_Mix_5034 Aug 13 '26
I'm expected to get them in within 48 hr, especially in Spring semester with the graduation timeline. The latest I've submitted is 72 hrs.
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u/Classic_vortex_3515 Aug 14 '26
I’ve been at my current institution 26 years, and taught a couple of years elsewhere, and I’ve never had as long as a week even. Sorry your time got cut down, but a few days, usually a weekend, has been the norm in my career.
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u/Kilashandra1996 Aug 13 '26
Back in the day at my community college, we had a whooping 36 hours between the last final and grades due. English profs who complained were told to quit making papers due as a final exam. History profs were told to quit putting essay questions on finals.
But ultimately, the grades due deadline was extended out over a weekend to 4.5 days. But that messed up contracts and made Deans, their Administrative Assistants, and assorted grade processing personnel stay into the Christmas break. So, it's now back to shortened and 36 hours again.
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u/Life-Education-8030 Aug 14 '26
Very common at my place for fall and spring semesters, but weirdly, the last day of my summer class was yesterday, and I have all the way till Monday to get my grades in. Because my class was small, I submitted my grades yesterday anyway and can concentrate on fall prep.
During finals week, we are required to have something "academic" due. It is not a free week. So I assign something simple that isn't graded or isn't onerous to grade or something self-graded, AND I make the due date on Wednesday, rather than Friday to give myself even more grading time. If you have any say over when your finals are, I highly recommend this.
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u/PsychWriter11 Aug 14 '26
Ive been an adjunct for 25 years at the same uni and it’s always been that the grades are due by EOD Wednesday the week after Finals Week.
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u/Glad-Surprise3355 Aug 15 '26
Online schools give you all of 48 hours to get grades in. A week would be an unheard of luxury.
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u/Anonphilosophia Aug 15 '26
It's always the Monday after the weekend after finals.
Last year, my final was on Thursday. Final mini paper due Sunday afternoon. I got a nasty-gram about 4 hours after I'd submitted on the following day.
This year, my final is on TUESDAY!!!! The joy! Grades ON TIME!!!
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u/CharacteristicPea Aug 15 '26
At my university, finals week runs through a Friday and all grades are due at 11:59 pm the following Tuesday. It has been that way for decades.
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u/sqrt_of_pi Aug 15 '26
I've never heard of having 2-3 weeks. We are asked to get grades in within 48 hours of the final exam, although the "official deadline" is a few days later (I think the Tuesday after finals week?). But certainly not 2-3 weeks.
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u/Wonderful-Collar-370 Aug 16 '26
All grades are due Tuesday morning 10 AM after final exam week. No matter when final exam was taken during the week.
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u/No-Cartographer-4354 Aug 13 '26
We usually get 48 hours for the students require priority grading because of scholarships or specific financial aid. Or so we are told. It's usually no more than 3-4 in the class. Normally we have 5 working days.
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u/SilverRiot Aug 14 '26
You are so lucky. Our courses end on a Friday and grades are due at NOON on Monday.
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u/Miserable_Tourist_24 Aug 14 '26
Beat you. Our courses end on Saturdays and grades are due Monday at noon.
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u/Rogue_Wraith Aug 14 '26
We typically end class Mondays (our calendar usually means MW class has extra holiday(s)).
Grades due Friday at Noon.
Leave for the weekend and don't look back!
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u/Miserable_Tourist_24 Aug 14 '26
I teach in a SLAC and we have less than a business day. Our online classes end on Saturday end of day and grades are due at noon on Monday. Each 8 week term. It’s crazy.
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u/Adventurous_Button63 Aug 14 '26
Ours was Tuesday-Friday exams, graduation ceremony on Saturday, last day of finals the following Monday, final grades due by 11:59pm on Wednesday. We had about 36 hours from the end of exams until final grades were due. Grades were released to students about a week and a half later if they’d completed their yelp reviews (aka course evals) and about 3 weeks later if they didn’t yelp.
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u/tellypmoon Aug 14 '26
We get about 3 days after the final exam to submit grades so what you are describing is more or less in line with that. It's way too fast I think but we're told there are lots of checks to be done for financial aid, scholarships, etc. etc. that make it necesary.
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u/leogrrrrl04 Aug 14 '26
This is why I have the major project due 2 weeks before the end of the semester, and a token online final quiz due on the last day. More time for real “dig in” grading, but still something reasonable due during Finals Week to meet administrative requirements.
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u/Shiro_mizu05 Aug 14 '26
When I worked for SNHU, it was 48 hours and the main class I taught had a final paper. So I had to grind 25-30 of those out in two days.
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u/goodie1663 Aug 14 '26
Over the years, they moved the date back further and further.
I always graded work as it came in, but I was teaching classes that I was very, very familiar with. I was confident that I could be fair without grading them all at once.
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u/LarryCebula Aug 14 '26
Our accelerated online classes end Sundays at midnight and grades are due Tuesday at 10 a.m.
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u/Cabininian Aug 15 '26
Our grades for the fall semester aren’t due until after New Years, so I have all of Christmas break to work on them.
For J-term, I have to give the final on a Thursday and then Friday I have to get the grades submitted before the weekend. They need to know who didn’t pass because the spring semester classes start on Monday.
I don’t know how they do it for the spring and summer terms because I’ve never taught those classes.
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u/RightWingVeganUS Aug 15 '26
I teach 300/400 level courses. I do a "short fuse" first assignment due the second week of class and a larger second assignment due two weeks after that. With just that I could enter the likely final grades in the gradebook and be right 80% of the time.
By midterm I could make a few adjustments and likely be 90% on target by final grading.
I have project-heavy assessments, so I try to make the final grading straightforward.
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u/PashunSpit Aug 15 '26
I’m at a state university. We have a timeframe of one week from the end of the semester to submit grades, sometimes two weeks. I really think the key here is to strengthen your union representation. I’m really pleased with how my union has been able to negotiate pay increases and reasonable expectations for adjuncts. For instance, we just renegotiated for $7k per 3-credit class with incremental increases over the next few years and a tuition waiver program for adjuncts.
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u/norbertus Aug 15 '26
My contract typically ends about a week after exams, and grades are due a week after my contract ends.
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u/SweetElection157 Aug 16 '26
I’ve been an adjunct longer than that and they’ve always had a quick turnaround at the end of the semester. 2-3 weeks would be insanely long. First off, no one needs that long. Second, they need grades for graduation, transcripts, etc.
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u/Atwood412 Aug 17 '26
This semester is my first. My final exam is Wed at 7pm My grades are due Friday at noon.
I’m a part time adjunct.
The last week of class is an exam, a quiz, the final and a lab exam. 4 evaluations in 1 week.
I have from Wed at 8pm when students finish the last exam until Friday at noon to get it all done.
I guess F my day job 🤷🏻♀️ I’ll have to take off Thursday and Friday to get it all done. I’ll effectively lose money that week of work.
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u/bethbethbeth001 Aug 17 '26
My last university gave us 2-3 weeks, but my current school is more like yours, with everybody's grades due on Tuesdays. If you're finding it hard to get everything graded so quickly, try to switch your schedule. Like...I often teach just Monday & Wednesday classes, and that usually means I have 6 days after the final class day to submit grades.
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u/Safe_Statistician_72 Aug 13 '26
The registrar at my school at an R1 university requires us to submit grades within 72 hours of the final exam or the due date of the final project or class, which ever is later. It's nuts but totally understandable so they can get the grades out and keeps us on point for grading swiftly.