Tips for Using E-Grades with Excel

If you already have your grades in an Excel spreadsheet, or prefer to enter grades in Excel and then upload them to the E-Grades system, here are the steps you would take for each of your classes.

A. Generate and Save a Class Roster from E-Grades.

• Log on to E-Grades.
• On the Main Menu, select the "Create Grade Roster" option from the Action dropdown menu next to the class you want to download and click the GO button. You will then see your Grade Roster in CSV (comma separated values) format. (CSV format is a standard file format used for exchanging data between unrelated systems.)
• Use your browser's File>Save As option to save the data on the page as a text file. Navigate to the folder you want to save it to and specify a filename that you will recognize. On a Mac choose Text for the "Format"; on a PC choose Plain Text or Text File(*.txt) as the "Save As Type" option. Then click SAVE.
• Log off of E-Grades.

B. Import the Class Roster into Excel.

• Open Excel.
• Select File>Open and navigate to the file you saved above.
• Since it is a .txt file and not an .xls file, Excel will automatically launch its Text Import Wizard.
• On the Text Import Wizard Step 1 screen, select "Delimited" for the "Original Data Type" and then click NEXT.
• On the Text Import Wizard Step 2 screen, unclick Tab and click Comma for the "Delimiters," then click FINISH (not NEXT -- you can skip Step 3 of the Text Import Wizard).
• Your Class Roster from E-Grades will now be available in Excel.

C. (Optional) If you already have an Excel spreadsheet where you have been recording grades all semester, compare the E-Grades Grade Roster with your spreadsheet to make sure all students are accounted for.

IMPORTANT: E-Grades will not accept uploaded records if it cannot find the Student ID already enrolled in the class.

• An easy way to compare spreadsheets is to sort each spreadsheet by a common field, such as Student ID or Last Name.
• To sort a spreadsheet, click the empty gray cell above Row 1 and to the left of Column A. This will highlight the entire spreadsheet.
• In the Excel menu bar, select Data>Sort.
• Specify which column you want to sort by. For example, if Column A contains Student IDs, you would specify Column A. Then specify Ascending order.
• If necessary, follow the same steps to sort your E-Grades spreadsheet by the same criteria.
• With both spreadsheets sorted in the same order, you can compare them side by side and note any variances.

D. Enter grades in Excel and save your spreadsheet as a CSV file.

The E-Grades upload process expects to receive a CSV file with three columns: Student ID in Column A, Grade in Column B, Comments (optional) in Column C. Any additional columns in the file being uploaded are ignored.

• For each student, enter a grade in Column B and any comments in Column C. NOTE: For students taking a class Pass/Not Pass, a grade of P or NP must be entered. For Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory, enter S or U. Other letter grades (such as A through F) will be rejected.
• When you are done, save the file as a CSV file. Select File>Save As. On a PC, select Save As Type: CSV (comma delimited); on a Mac select Format: CSV and make sure to check the "Append File Extension" box if it is not checked. Remember to make a note of where you saved the file and what you named it!

E. Upload your CSV grade file into E-Grades.

Important: Uploading a spreadsheet erases and overwrites any grades already entered in E-Grades for that class.

• Log on to E-Grades.
• On the Main Menu, select the option Upload Grades next to the class whose grades you are uploading, then click the Go button.
• Browse to the CSV file containing the grades for this class and click Open.
• You will be prompted to enter your ID and password again, and then the file will be uploaded.
• E-Grades will check each line in the file to be sure it is in the expected format. It will also verify that each Student ID is registered in the class. When finished, it will present you with a summary of any errors encountered, or a successful upload message.

F. Correct Errors in Grades.

If you received any error messages for the grades you uploaded, these will need to be corrected before grades can be submitted. You can either correct the grades on your spreadsheet and upload it again, or correct the grades directly in E-Grades by following these steps.

• On the Main Menu, select Assign Grades for the class you are grading and click the Go button.
• The Assign Grades screen will display any students who do not have a grade. Enter grades for these students and then click Next Page.
• The View Grades screen will display the entire class roster along with the grades you have entered. You can correct the grade for a student by clicking the CHANGE GRADE button and entering the new grade. Remember that Pass/No Pass students must have P, NP or I as a grade.
• When you are done correcting grades, click the CHECK GRADES button. The system validates that all grades have been entered and that each student has the correct grade type (A-F or P-NP). If there are any errors you will see a Grade Validation Report listing what the error was for each invalid grade. Correct these errors and click ENTER GRADES and then CHECK GRADES.

G. Submit Grades.

When all errors have been corrected, you will see a Grade Validation Report with a message saying "All Grades have been validated." The grades are now complete and ready to be submitted. Submitting grades is the final step in grading, and only the instructor for that class (not a delegate) is authorized to submit the final grades

• Enter your CalNet ID and passphrase, and click the Submit Grades button.
• You will see a Grade Submission Report and receive an email confirmation within 24 hours.