Faculty are required to confidentially inform students of their midterm grades based on work submitted prior to April 3, 2017, which is the date when midterm grades are due (2017 City Tech Academic Calendar). Although midterm grades cannot be reported in CUNYFirst, there are several other options for doing this: faculty can record student midterm grades in BlackBoard, or on paper when the instructor returns an assignment or essay. Faculty are actively discouraged from e-mailing students their midterm grades because this can lead to some confusion on the part of students and to extra work for faculty members.
The grading scheme is as follows:
P=Passing work
BL= Borderline
U=Unsatisfactory
SA=Stopped Attending
Although NOT required for FYW courses at City Tech, midterm exams involving some type of in-class writing activity are included by many instructors in the FYW program. Instructors use the midterm exam for one or more of the following purposes: to prepare students for the final exam, which is a requirement for all FYW courses; to give students an opportunity to practice in-class essay writing; to allow students to practice some specific element of college-level reading and writing practices, including summary writing and/or textual analysis. Midterm grades may or may not include the grade a student receives on the midterm exam since students will have already submitted a number of formal and informal writing and reading assignments and thus have completed enough work for the instructor to assess their performance in the course.
Instructors of FYW courses at City Tech are responsible for designing their own midterm exam if they choose to give one and are encouraged to closely integrate whatever midterm assessment method they choose into their specific course content.
A sample midterm exam for the ENG1101 course is available on the FYW @ City Tech Open Lab website, and can be accessed here:
https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/firstyearwriting/college-writing-resources-links/first-year-writing-exams/sample-exams/
Additional information about the FYW course final exams and sample ENG1121 exams can be accessed here:
https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/firstyearwriting/college-writing-resources-links/first-year-writing-exams/
While it is important that all students in your courses have a sense of how they are performing in your class at the midterm, it is particularly important for students who may be at risk of failing your class, either because of excessive absences or missing assignments, to understand exactly what their options are relative to possibly receiving a passing grade for the course. If students withdraw from your course by Wednesday, April 19, they will be assigned a grade of W. For students who are NOT receiving financial aid, this may be a good option. However, for students who are receiving financial aid, receiving an F grade for the course may be the best option.
For instructors wishing to know more about financial aid and the W grade, you can click here for a link to the City Tech Financial Aid Brochure on Dropping/Withdrawing from courses. In brief, the brochure offers the following guidance for students choosing the W grade option: “The W Grade will not affect your enrollment status or eligibility for financial aid for the current semester, but they will be retained on your academic record and will be included in the calculation of your academic progress. You will receive a “W” Grade for withdrawn classes. The ‘W” Grade may adversely affect your Federal financial aid (Pell, SEOG, Direct Loans) and your eligibility for TAP and other NYS awards for subsequent semesters.”
If you have any questions related to Midterm Grades or Midterm Exams for your ENG1101 or ENG1121 course, please contact Johannah Rodgers (jrodgers@citytech.cuny.edu), Director, First Year Writing.
