McMaster University registrar outlines causes for delayed grade postings amid student concerns
Darran Fernandez, McMaster University registrar, has addressed student concerns regarding the delays in posting final grades for the Fall 2024 term to Mosaic. Speaking in response to frustrations shared by students on social media, Fernandez outlined the university's grading process and provided context on current delays.
According to Fernandez, McMaster typically requires final grades to be submitted and posted within seven days of the end of the exam period. This process is supported by a structured plan communicated to faculty each term. However, exam schedules that align closely with holidays or breaks can sometimes impact the timeline.
"On the administrative end, we have a date that we convey to faculties and departments. A date that we expect for all grades to be in and for students to be fully graded [and] we follow up with [them] should there be any missing grades," Fernandez explained in an interview with The Silhouette.
On the administrative end, we have a date that we convey to faculties and departments. A date that we expect for all grades to be in and for students to be fully graded [and] we follow up with [them] should there be any missing grades.
Darran Fernandez, University Registrar
McMaster University
Fernandez emphasized that McMaster's grade submission policy aligns with national standards. "On average, it's a five to seven day window provided to instructors," said Fernandez. As chair of the Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada, Fernandez highlighted that McMaster is well-informed of general practices and normally adheres to them.
Acknowledging the challenges delayed grades pose for students, Fernandez outlined the university's efforts to minimize disruptions. For students requiring Fall term grades as prerequisites for Winter 2025 courses, McMaster ensures that students are not immediately removed from their courses due to pending grades.
Fernandez also noted that some Canadian graduate programs accept applications during the first weeks of January and that many institutions are understanding of minor delays in transcript submissions. "We do advise that [students] check their grade record to see that the grade is there before they make [a transcript] request," said Fernandez.
He encouraged students encountering issues to contact their faculty offices for support, describing these offices as the primary resource for resolving grade-related concerns.
Looking ahead, Fernandez expressed confidence in McMaster's ability to maintain its usual consistency in grade processing.
"By way of our practices, I get the impression that people are very diligent in submitting according to the deadline . . . but that still doesn't make these outlier situations go away. There's obviously every intent on our end to make sure that a student can progress seamlessly between courses, in particular when prerequisites are involved."
There's obviously every intent on our end to make sure that a student can progress seamlessly between courses, in particular when prerequisites are involved.
Darran Fernandez, University Registrar
McMaster University
While he described the typical grade submission process and steps to mitigate the impact of delays, Fernandez indicated that he was not fully aware of the specific outliers or why they have taken so long to be resolved.
Fernandez expressed empathy for the stress students may experience due to delayed grades, acknowledging that additional stress on top of challenging courses is unwelcome and expressed confidence that the issues will be rectified.
Students are encouraged to monitor their grades on Mosaic, consult faculty advisors for support and report any concerns to their respective faculty offices.
Students waiting for updates from the university as some final grades for the Fall 2024 semester remain unreleased
As of January 10, 2025, some McMaster University students are expressing frustration as some final grades for the Fall 2024 term have yet to be uploaded to Mosaic, the university's student information system.
The delay, which has extended weeks past the end of the exam period, has created challenges for students relying on these grades for academic planning. Namely, students taking prerequisite courses.
Unresolved grades would affect the ability to enroll in required courses for the Winter 2025 term, such as CHEMENG 2F04, COMPSCI 2AC3 and CHEM 2OB3 which rely on prerequisites like CHEMENG 2D04, COMPSCI 2C03 and CHEM 2OA3, respectively. The course enrolment and changes deadline is January 14, 2025, leaving students limited time to address any issues.
Students applying to graduate programs may also face difficulties, as many programs require official transcripts early in the Winter 2025 term. Some programs, such as McMaster's MA in health and aging, MA in Indigenous studies, and MSc in neuroscience, have fast-approaching transcript submission deadlines that may be affected by these delays.
Alexander Wu, a second-year computer science student, expressed concerns about the delay in grades for COMPSCI 2C03 (Data Structures and Algorithms), a key prerequisite for subsequent courses in his program.
"I knew what I got already because my exam and assignment grades are on Avenue 2 Learn . . . But some people might be close to failing and there's a rumour about a curved grade. Those students don't know if they need to apply for a prerequisite waiver, which adds to their stress" said Wu.
. . . some people might be close to failing and there's a rumor about a curved grade. Those students don't know if they need to apply for a prerequisite waiver, which adds to their stress.
Alexander Wu, Second-Year Computer Science Student
McMaster University
On the main Reddit page for McMaster, one student commented, "I finished one of my courses four weeks ago and still haven't gotten my final grade yet." Another remarked, "Still haven't received grades for 2 of my classes."
According to the webpage for the Office of the Register, McMaster typically makes final grades available to students approximately a week after the exam period ends.
While the university administration has not yet provided a formal explanation for the delays, students are looking for clarity and resolution as key academic deadlines approach.
Yoohuyn Park/Production Coordinator
Do grades have to be everything?
By: Hadeeqa Aziz, Contributor
This one is for all the first years. So you’ve heard your grades will drop and you’re rather terrified of what the next couple of years will bring. And rightfully so, because according to data collected by the University of Waterloo, the average Ontario high school student’s grades will likely drop by a factor of 16 percent. Some of you may not worry too much because you’re confident in the way your high school conditioned and prepared you for post-secondary education.
After all, you’ve earned your way into your program, haven’t you? The feeling of accomplishment is even more incredible now, especially since admissions averages have been steadily increasing over the last few years. For example, according to student observations on r/OntarioUniversities, McMaster’s life sciences gateway program has seen an increase in cutoff averages since 2019, from high 80s to low 90s.
There’s nothing short of a plethora of reasons to explain these increases, from larger applicant pools to better overall student performances, especially in light of online learning. There’s one factor, however, that remains prominent — one that we all know exists but seldom find the courage to thoroughly talk about: grade inflation.
It’s a sensitive topic because implying the existence of grade inflation is an implication that not everyone sitting in your lecture hall has rightfully earned their way into their program. The onus, however, is not on the student, but seemingly on the high schools they come from.
All Ontario universities value grades when assessing high school seniors for undergraduate admissions, taking the form of an average of your top 6 courses in Grade 12. It appears to be the most plausible evaluation tool, as it’s supposedly designed to gauge your competence as an academic. Here’s a shocking revelation though: not all students have been to the same high school. What does this mean? It essentially implies that a 95 percent average at one school may not hold the same value as a 95 percent at another.
Grade inflation is often rooted in a decrease in academic standards or when faculty don’t have clear expectations of their students. This leads to grade inequality, meaning that equal qualities of work are assigned different grades across schools, departments or courses.
Many speak to the problematic nature of grade inflation, while others outright deny that it’s even a problem. When inflation leads to increased admissions averages, it sets grade standards to an all-time high, so much so that some career prospects may be taken away from students who fail to reach those standards.
The process of achieving the ridiculously high grade requirements for the University of Waterloo’s engineering programs, for instance, is not the same for all students. Those who don’t reap the benefits of grade inflation would have to work much harder than those who do. Here, universities risk being unfair to the students who have more rigorous marking standards. And we haven’t even touched upon other factors that contribute to student issues such as socioeconomics, race or geographics.
Entering university with inflated grades isn’t all that fun either. If inflation leads to misinterpretations of a student’s competence and studying habits, perhaps it can lead to similar misinterpretations on a student’s fitness for their program of entry. Students unprepared for the demands of university education may be more vulnerable to mental health issues such as stress, anxiety and depression.
In an attempt to be fairer to high school applicants, the University of Waterloo used data from their engineering program to develop a list of what they call “adjustment factors” for each high school. This factor uses a student’s admission average and their first-year average to gauge the effects of grade inflation by measuring the “gap” between the two grades. Essentially, the higher the gap, the higher possibility that the student’s grades were inflated in high school. The faculty supposedly take this adjustment factor into consideration during the admissions process.
Schools at the top of the list argue that Waterloo’s student sample is too small to reflect the hard work of their teachers and students. From their perspective, it’s quite difficult to collect robust data on inflation and adequately prove such a claim.
Instead, more individuals wish to see a discussion on whether or not standardized testing can play a role in the solution. Standardizing students, however, comes with its own set of issues and instead, I think most students would appreciate more individualized assessments of their accomplishments. If universities continue to treat grades as “everything,” they’re effectively missing the bigger picture.
By: Saadia Shahid
How does a student get good grades? I know the most obvious answer being shouted out is “by studying, of course,” with some sarcastic replies of “watching Netflix” thrown in the mix. But what if I told you both those answers were correct?
A balance of socializing and studying, which can include watching Netflix, is necessary to achieve those highly sought-after grades.
Though our cognitive needs are met by virtue of being university students, it is our need for "love and belongingness" that is present on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Socializing is a basic human need. To become functioning members of the society, we must engage in leisure activities.
Yet, we almost never put time aside to socialize with our friends. Even when we do, studying takes precedence and ends up taking over the time we allocated for socializing.
This is often a result of procrastination. Whether it is procrastinating by scrolling through clickbait articles or watching videos, when we procrastinate, we take away time from both socializing and studying.
Procrastination is also looked down upon so badly. Rarely do we try to understand why the person might be engaging in procrastination. Procrastination is a sign of anxiety.
In my opinion, procrastination is often a hugely unrecognized sign, too. Besides anxiety, procrastinating habits have been linked to depression and low self-esteem.
If you find your friend procrastinating, don’t “leave them alone so they can study”. Study with them. If left alone, they may continue procrastinating for even longer, and worsen their mental health.
Some people do emphasize their preference for studying alone. In that case, make sure they’re okay and continually check on their progress and their mental health. In severe cases of anxiety, they may even lie about it.
As a perfectionist, I speak from experience. My habit of procrastination stemmed from being anxious about the imperfect outcome that might ensue. As a result, I took longer getting started on assignments with the thought that if I didn’t do well, I could justify it by telling myself that I didn’t have enough time.
So far this year, I have been doing better as I have come to terms with the non-existent nature of perfection. This is something creatives struggle with as well. Things like “is this good enough?”, “should I post this now?” and “I want to make this better” are examples of what goes through their minds on a regular basis.
So how do you achieve the grade you’ve been aiming for? Consistency is the answer. Being consistently diligent with your workflow will not just aid in improving your skills, but also get you your coveted grade. Doing well in a course is a long-term goal, and definitely doesn’t occur when you start an assignment a day before its due.
Procrastination also leads to long hours of isolation in the library behind laptop screens or a stack of books, taking away the satisfaction of “love and belongingness”, and according to Maslow, halting an individual’s growth.
So, the next time you find your friend procrastinating, ask them why, take them out to get them relaxed and help them get started on their studying. Mental health is no light issue.
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By: Steffi Arkilander
Content Warning: Contains mentions of sexual assault
McMaster University has a strong reputation among Ontario universities for offering a variety of diverse student-oriented resources and supports. However, McMaster has consistently failed in making support for sexual violence survivors accessible and effective.
On Aug. 19, I was sexually assaulted by someone I trusted, just a few weeks before I started my second year at McMaster. I decided to give university resources a chance and reached out to the sexual violence response coordinator, Meaghan Ross, in October.
I needed academic accommodations to support the extensive and difficult emotional turmoil I was experiencing. My grades were falling and I was not ready to write any tests. To receive academic accommodations, I had to use Ross in my letter for Student Accessibility Services, which meant disclosing my sexual assault to numerous administrative individuals.
Unfortunately, getting registered with SAS is a long process and often my deferred midterms fell on days where I had other assessments or midterms. As a result, instead of my work being manageably spread out, my work and emotional distress were compounded together.
In December, I decided to report my assault to the university. Not only was it unfair to me to have to constantly interact with my perpetrator, but it was also unfair to other students that had to interact with him. But when I contacted the McMaster Students Union and the Residence Life Office, I learned that undergoing the reporting processes is an extensive and exhausting endeavour.
The process forces you to disclose your story to multiple organizations, to staff and non-survivors and brings your sexual assault to the public forefront. Even if my perpetrator is removed from positions without contact from me, he will know I caused his removal and that I decided to take action. Moreover, people will be able to piece my story together. While I am personally okay with this, many others are not.
Thus, to receive accommodations,such as an apology or to remove him from a position, I took the informal route that is offered through the McMaster University sexual violence protocol. To my disappointment, this route requires survivors to detail the incident. This creates an incredibly re-traumatizing experience and gives your perpetrator access to your disclosure, allowing them to reject the requested accommodations.
This process has clearly become incredibly legal, despite pursuing the university route in order to avoid legal involvement. As this process is painfully slow, my perpetrator continues to hold positions of power and interact with the student body without consequence. My perpetrator is free to roam campus while I am forced to anxiously avoid him.
My story is not uncommon. In fact, in comparison to other survivors, the university has responded well. Students generally don’t report their sexual assaults because of the university’s response; the survivor often feels interrogated and is led to hope for an unsatisfactory compromise with their perpetrator.
Survivors need to be prioritized. MacLean’s nationwide survey found that 29 per cent of McMaster students were not educated on how to report a sexual assault and 24 per cent of students weren’t educated on McMaster’s services that support survivors. This needs to change.
The system should be more navigable and transparent, so that survivors are more likely to reach out for help. Reporting assaults needs to be standardized university-wide so that survivors do not need to recount their experience to multiple organizations.
Training does not teach perpetrators not to assault people. My perpetrator has attended over five trainings on anti-oppressive practices and sexual violence throughout university.
Instead, training needs to emphasize on supporting survivors, and tangible means by which we can all work to dismantle the barriers impeding support mechanisms. The fact that only three in 1000 assaults results in conviction only becomes horrifyingly real when you have to support a survivor or become one yourself.
Survivors have nothing to gain from reporting, only lots to lose. So please believe us.
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Each McMaster student ends up in the campus store at some point to browse the seemingly endless amount of supplies they have. Each Mac student also spends time dreading seeing their class average at the end of the year. So shop at the campus store through this quiz and we'll guess your class average for you!
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The beginning of June is an exciting time for Grade 12 students in Ontario. The first of the month marks the final day they are able to accept an offer to a university program and the beginning of the end of high school starts to feel real.
For future Marauders, June 1 is also the deadline for applying to residence. Students with academic averages above a certain point, 83.33 per cent for the 2017-18 school year, are guaranteed a spot in on-campus accommodation for their first year. Those with averages below this point are also welcome to apply. They are not assured a place in residence and may spend a large portion of the summer before beginning university in housing limbo: unsure of whether or not to sign a lease or take a gamble that they will make it to the top of the residence waiting list.
There are several reasons why this is a poor, outdated system, but many of these shortcomings are intertwined.
In order for these initiatives to have some gravitas on campus, the university needs to acknowledge, right from the beginning of a student’s first year, that they are worth more to McMaster as an institution than a student number and a grade point average.
As instances of mental illness and stress levels related to academics continue to rise, slogans about how students are more than their academic performance appear in support spaces from online communities to campus services. Multiple McMaster Students Union services, including the Student Health Education Centre and MSU Spark, lead initiatives that encourage students to have a balanced lifestyle that includes schoolwork, but not at the exclusion of everything else.
Currently, McMaster sends the opposite message for the arts faculties, Humanities and Social Sciences, along with Biotechnology and Process Automation. These are the only first year programs that admit students with academic averages below the 83.33 required for guaranteed residence. Other programs have acceptance averages around the residence cutoff, but none are clearly below that point.
For reference, Humanities and Social Sciences require a 75 per cent average. Process Automation and Biotechnology each require a 78. These are completely respectable averages that students need to work hard to achieve.
By granting these students admission, but not guaranteeing them residence, the university sends the message that it values these students, but not as much as someone with a slightly higher GPA. For arts students, this message coupled with the newly opened L.R. Wilson Hall and the revamping of the Faculty of Humanities brand sends a confusing message to incoming students about how much McMaster actually cares about what they have to offer the campus community.
This system of “who’s-in-who’s-out” of residence can be equally uncomfortable for those relatively few first-year students from these programs who do end up in on-campus housing. I lived in Les Prince Hall in my first year, and I think I can name almost all the other arts students in my building. In a building of almost 400 students, there were that few of us. It was one of the reasons I was never comfortable in residence, and if I could do my first year over knowing that I would be one of so few Humanities I students in my residence, I would likely have considered other options more carefully.
Basing a first year's projected university success on their high school marks is about as relevant to their deservingness of a residence space as household income.
The structures of high school and university education are different. Students who flourished in high school may burn out in university, while those with less impressive averages may flourish in the post-secondary environment. Basing a first year’s projected university success on their high school marks is about as relevant to their deservingness of a residence space as household income.
The irksome thing about McMaster’s current residence admission policy is how easy it is to fix. Currently, McMaster cannot guarantee every interested student a spot in residence; something the university is working on with the construction of the Living Learning Centre and other residence initiatives.
Until then, instead of having an entire system based on high school GPA, all incoming first years interested in residence could be entered in a lottery for residence space. If the university wanted to continue some kind of “reward” for students with higher averages, they could be guaranteed their first or second choice room style.
High school students should be rewarded for the hard work they put into their final year of studies prior to post-secondary education. But none should feel like their admission to McMaster has less merit than someone else’s.
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By: Jason Lau
As a university student, participation grades in class are something that’s been drilled into my head for years. If you want a better grade in the course, participate actively in class discussions and voice your opinions about the class material. Higher grades go to those who participate and engage with the material, and lower grades to those who don’t. Sounds fair, right?
Having been a TA at McMaster for two years, I know all about being on the teaching end of this phenomenon. You raise questions and interesting points, and desperately try to raise any sort of meaningful discussion in the group. Some students, specifically social, talkative and extroverted individuals will almost always shine as they recharge their social batteries while getting their much needed participation grades.
But what about the rest? What about the introverted student in the corner? What about the student who doesn’t like to talk over and interrupt other people? What about the international student who is unconfident with their English speaking abilities?
We give them low grades, if any at all. We tell them that they have not fulfilled the course criteria, and we rationalize it all to think that not speaking means not participating. We assume that these students have not done their readings. We accomplish our own self-fulfilling prophecy by discouraging quiet students to even try again as they look forward to slipping out the door right when the clock hits 20 minutes past the hour.
The evaluation of students’ learning is nevertheless dependent on our ability to be constantly extroverted, talkative, loud and opinionated. We promote it as the only way that demonstrates you have learned something, and the only method of evaluating success as a student in a tutorial environment.
However, more often than not, the phenomenon of tutorial and class participation reflects larger sociopolitical influences and biases that are extremely subtle, but still underlie how participation is practiced and controlled in a classroom environment.
The way that tutorials and class discussions play out reflects the complicated politics of who gets to control the conversation, who gets to voice their opinion and whose story gets told over others’. If an instructor is not careful of their biases, they will make the mistake of favouring several students or types of students over others.
We give them low grades, if any at all. We tell them they have not fulfilled the course criteria, and we rationalize it all to think that not speaking means not participating.
While giving a platform for the favoured to voice their opinions, they will also simultaneously silence others and communicate to them that, somehow, their opinions matter less.
In some cases, instructors sustain a cycle of privileging specific voices that are already privileged while keeping minority voices subordinate. Think of it as the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer, but in terms of participation grades and the platforms given for specific voices over others in an academic environment.
I will admit that I have made mistakes of my own as a TA in favouring only the talkative students whom I consequently saw as the only engaged ones in my tutorials.
This is not right. Talkative students have had life histories that have allowed them to become the way they are. Similarly, shy and quiet students also have complex life experiences that have made them afraid to voice their opinions in public around a group of people who may not be like them. We have to understand that, and we have to take that into consideration.
It’s not okay for an educator to assume one specific mode of engagement as correct and capitalize solely on that. In fact, as an educator, our roles are to make students feel as if their voices matter at all. It’s not about sitting back and waiting for students to speak up, or come to us, but instead actively working to encourage the expression of student voices.
This is especially true for those that may already be stifled. It’s never going to be perfect, but education should nonetheless be about democratizing academic discussion, and not perpetuating the very inequalities that already exist in our world.
Let us finally realize that true academic participation comes not from the voicing and reception of singular and insular ideas, but instead the synthesis of ideas, relationships and conversations between all members of the whole classroom.
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Re-examine setbacks
It’s easy to say that you didn’t do well because the instructor was an asshole, but there’s usually something on your end as well. Be critical about your study habits! Sometimes the reason is not as obvious as “I just didn’t go to class and crammed everything in the last week.” Maybe it’s because you’re studying to music with lyrics and you need to listen to ambient sounds instead. One of the best apps around is called “Noisli;” download it onto your phone and get ready to focus like never before.
Learn to adapt
There’s no one way of studying that will get you a 12 in all subjects, so make sure your study method is appropriate for what you’re trying to do. This will increase your likelihood of success and minimize wasted time. If you need to memorize a boatload of notes, you want to test yourself with cue cards (or the like) and not just read your notes. If it’s a problem-based course, you want to do as many practice problems as possible instead of focusing your time on reading the textbook.
Time to get organized
In your planner or calendar, mark down all the quizzes, tests, and assignment due dates for all your courses. This way you can plan ahead and know when you cannot afford to go to Motown. If you want to be even more detailed, set your own due dates for when you want a part of your assignment, or a reading, to be done. That way you won’t have a revelation at 2 a.m. that you have a 2,000 word essay due in a week.
Get a fresh start
If you need to get the sour taste of those 6s from last semester out of your mouth, get a fresh start by getting a new set of stationary and notebooks. Clean up your room and start a new routine. These changes require time, preparation and commitment, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t succeed initially. Actually sleep at appropriate times. Don’t fixate on your bad marks, because you can’t change those and they just add an unnecessary pressure.
Pencil in a break
Your mind tends to become petrified into stone when you continuously focus on one task for too long. Take 10-minute breaks for every 40 minutes of studying. Switch subjects every few hours. Go to the gym or even the grocery store. To ease your guilty mind when you’re not studying, know that your break can still be productive in some way. Try downloading the Pomodoro Timer on your laptop or phone, a great app to help you keep track of your work and of your breaks.
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The Canadian Council of Registered Nurse Regulators is facing backlash after moving to an American practicing nurse licensing exam called the National Council Licensure Examination last January. All nurses are required to pass the licensing exam in order to begin practicing. These changes were brought forward because the CCRNR wanted to move to an online system with the NCLEX. However, this marked the end of the Canadian test, the College of Nurses of Ontario Registration Exam.
Carolyn Byrne, the Associate Dean and Director of the School of Nursing, is among those pushing for reassessment.
“We are the only country in the world, excluding the United States, that uses an American exam. [There was] no discussion about this, it was just announced that it was going to happen.”
Those who wrote the exam for the first time struggled with the American adjustments to the test, including the use of the generic names of drugs dominant in the U.S. and the use of the U.S. imperial system instead of the Canadian metric system.
Due to this gap between U.S. and Canadian convention, there was a drop from an average pass rate of 90 percent to 72 percent across Canada. This fall is indicative of a similar decline in the number of people who achieved a passing grade, with a drop from 94 percent to 85 percent for McMaster students.
“It’s very upsetting, you know? These are bright students,” said Byrne.
When asked about if there is a capacity for change with the CCRNR, Byrne said she does not know.
“But we are certainly fighting back. We did have a conversation with [the CCRNR] but to me at this point they’re not prepared to change anything.”
The Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree will not change their curriculum to suit the exam, but there has been an overwhelming response to support the students.
“In [Ontario] students only have three chances to write an exam. In the States sometimes they can write forever. We are trying to make changes. We would like a Canadian exam [but] I don’t know if we will get that. If we use NCLEX for the rest of this year, we would like to give students four chances to write rather than the three, with the fourth one being free. Say none of this changes, we are putting in special workshops to help the students learn how to write that exam,” said Byrne.
Photo Credit: School of Nursing
