Guide to Submitting Grades in Polaris: Fall 2024 and Spring 2025

For enhanced security, instructors must connect to VPN before they can submit grades in Polaris. Follow the instructions below to install Bowdoin's new VPN tool and test your connection in advance of grading deadlines.

• How to Setup/Install VPN
• How to Use VPN
• IT Client Services (Help Desk) contact information

Polaris can be accessed from anywhere you have an internet connection using the following methods.

Recommended method: authenticate into the Bowdoin network via login.yilunjianshe.com and select the "Polaris Grade Entry" tile. 

Alternate method: log in to Polaris directly by navigating to polaris.yilunjianshe.com and then select "Grade Entry" from the top left "hamburger menu" (3 horizontal lines).

Troubleshooting tips: it is recommended that you delete your internet cache and cookies (instructions vary depending on which web browser you use) before logging in to Polaris. If you have already deleted your cache and cookies and are still having difficulties logging-in then please contact IT Client Services/the Help Desk.

At the top of the "Faculty Grade Entry" section is a list of all courses for which you are an instructor for the current AND next term. Grades may only be submitted for current term courses. 

You can only submit grades for gradable courses, e.g., not labs. 

To begin entering grades for a course click on the title of the course you would like to grade.

The list of students in the class you selected will appear in the lower half of the portal. For a course with more than 25 students, students may appear on separate screens. Move between the screens by clicking on the gray navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen, or reset the list to include more students by choosing a different number of students to display per page.

Select the "Final Grade" drop down menu next to a student to display the grading options. Select the grade for that student. The grading options depend on the nature of the course and whether a student chose to take a class with the Elective Credit/D/Fail grading mode.

The options displayed in a student’s grade drop down list include:

• Standard letter grades (A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, and F)

• Elective Credit/D/Fail (CR, D, and F)
  • The "CR" grade is located between the C- and D in the drop down list.

• Credit/D/Fail ONLY (CR#, D#, and F#)

• The "S" grade is a temporary option for the first semester of a two semester independent study or honors project only. It indicates that the student's work to date is satisfactory (at least C- level).
  • The final grade will be assigned retroactively once the project is completed the following semester via an "S" Grade Conversion Form sent directly to the project director.
  • The S grade is located between the C- and D in the drop down list.

• See the Guide to Grades for more details

Spring only: students with grades due by the "senior" deadline are noted in Polaris with an *

When you are finished selecting grades, click on the Save button to submit them. Grades may be saved/submitted one at a time or all at once. Once all grades are saved, the grading status button will appear green and say "Completed." If some entries are still blank, the button will appear yellow and say "In Progress".

Instructors are strongly encouraged to confirm the grading status for all current term courses is green/completed before logging out of Polaris- Grade Entry. 

The exact deadline dates for grade submission can be found in the Registrar's Calendar.

Prior to the grading deadline, instructors may change and re-save grades in Polaris. 

Once reported, no grade is changed (with the exception of clerical errors) without the approval of the Recording Committee. Recorded grades cannot be changed on the basis of additional student work without approval of the Recording Committee. 

If you made a clerical error, please email registrar@yilunjianshe.com for correction instructions.

If students are dissatisfied with a grade received in a course, they should discuss the problem with the instructor. If the problem cannot be resolved in this manner, the student should consult with the chair of the department and, if necessary, with an associate dean in the Office of the Dean for Academic Affairs who will consult with the department as needed. The student may request a final review of the grade by the Recording Committee.