By KATIE KLIMACEK
Opinion Editor
—
Being in college, I find it frustrating that my grades are not always as accusable as I would like them to be. Even though there is a place on Blackboard for professors to enter in class assignments, not all professors do that. Even when they do, it only tells students a few grades, not allowing them to get an idea of what their Grade Point Average might be for the class.
In high school, many schools had a “Portal”; it was a tool to allow students to monitor their grades and GPA as frequently as they wanted. By using the portal, students were able to see their grades in a timely fashion, how it affected their GPA for the class, and over all GPA.
Now in college, there is really no efficient outlet to allow students to closely monitor their grades. Students are lucky if a professor hands back a midterm grade before the end of the semester. But with a portal, professors are, in a way, forced to put their grades up quicker.
It seems like professors are always saying, to students “ If you are struggling come and talk to me,” a good piece of advice, if the student knows if he or she is struggling.
Many times, students feel like they are doing well in a class, and it is not until the hand back of the latest test, they realize that they are struggling to stay afloat. To often students find out that they are failing or close to failing a class to late in the semester to change their grade.
By offering some kind of grade tracking tool, student are able to be more on top of their grades, allowing for more successful students.
The draw back to this idea is that it is a lot for professors to keep up with. Students understand that professors are busy, and don’t expect for them to hand back an assignment immediately. All that they ask for is assignments to be handed back in a time frame that allows the student to correct their mistakes before its to late.
Not only is a portal a good tool for monitoring one’s grade, but is also a great tool to see what GPA you have. Students usually don’t find out their GPA until the end of the semester, once grades are mailed out.
With this tool, students can keep track of their GPA. A lot of students have a goal that they try to reach each semester, and by being able to look at were you are, it gives students an idea of how much effort they need to put in and continue to put in to maintain the grade he or she wants.
It’s understandable that switching over to a program like this would be timely and potential costly, but if that means that it would help Saint Rose’s students and their grades, then the school should start looking into it.
