Need to Use Grading Periods?

tcannon
Community Explorer

Can anyone clarify the necessity for using grading periods? 

I am a Canvas Admin. Although we use limited terms (Fall, Spring, Summer, etc.), our courses all start and end at different dates - some fall courses start in August, others in late September - and end at different dates. Grades for our instructors are due in Canvas two weeks after the course end date. And none of our courses run over the course of two semesters. 

Since we need the term to be all inclusive of these courses, we set the term to start early enough for the first class and late enough for the last class. But do we need a grading period in addition to the term? I understand that it limits when teachers can add grades, but doesn't really make sense for our usage, since it may be 3 weeks after their grades were already due. 

Is there any reason that we absolutely *need* to use grading periods? 

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