It’s almost May and finals are near, so now commences the mad dash to boost grades. From extra credit assignments to additional participation, students are trying everything they can to earn a couple more points.

Many students across campus are going into their final exams without a clue of their current grade. It’s unfair and irresponsible of the individual teaching the course.

It’s part of a professor’s job to submit grades. Most professors use an electronic grading system set up for their class. Course websites such as Moodle or Compass 2G provide easy and efficient grading strategies for professors. With websites like these, professors have virtually no excuse for failing to upload grades throughout the entire semester.

Students pay a large sum of money in tuition and fees; they deserve to know what their grade is at any point in time.

We get it: professors are people too. They have lives, commitments and tasks. But the bottom line is that getting behind on grades is hazardous. When a teacher refrains from uploading grades in the grade book, students suffer.

In some classes, students don’t have any grades posted, making it very frustrating to gauge how well they’re doing or not doing in a particular subject.

If students need to make their deadlines for essays and class projects within a specific time frame, then faculty members should be uploading grades within a week of the due date.

Students work so hard to keep up with their professors; however, some professors don’t seem to be working hard enough to keep up with their own course.

Many students learn from comments that professors leave on previous assignments. After getting their grades back, students understand what went wrong and what they can work on for the next assignment.

If teachers don’t give grades back before the next assignment is due, then students won’t know what they need to do to improve. For all they know, students could possibly be doing their assignments wrong or failing to meet a specific requirement.

If you are really concerned about your grade, you can try emailing your instructor or going in to their office hours. But it shouldn’t have to be that way for every class, especially when there is work to be done for those same classes.

If the instructor takes it upon themselves to upload grades periodically, instead of all at once at the end of the semester, the students can have a better idea of what they can do to raise that grade, or what they need to continue doing to keep that grade.

Academic success can depend on a pleasant, rewarding relationship between students and professors. When a professor succeeds in their work, so does the student.