Spring 2026 - Important Information for Faculty and Staff

Publish Date

2026-01-12

This message includes important information for you regarding the Spring 2026 semester. All information has been classified into seven categories: Important Dates, Enrollment and Census Reporting, Email and Confidentiality, Incomplete Grading, Student Privacy Information, and Useful Resources/Links for Faculty and Staff. Please read through the information and feel free to contact the Office of Records and Registration with any questions.

SPRING 2026 IMPORTANT DATES:

CLASSES AND BREAKS:

Intersession Classes Begin - December 15, 2025
Spring Term Begins - January 12, 2026
Intersession Classes End - January 17, 2026
CAMPUS CLOSED, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - January 19, 2026
First-half courses end/midpoint of semester - March 7, 2026
CAMPUS OPEN - no classes, Spring Break - March 9-13, 2026
Last-half courses begin - March 16, 2026
Finals Week - May 4-9, 2026
Spring Term ends - May 9, 2026

SPRING 2026 GRADING DEADLINES:

Intersession grades due - Noon, January 21, 2026
Midterm grades due (for faculty teaching 09X, 100, and 200 level courses) - Noon, March 11, 2026
First-half grades due - Noon, March 11, 2026
Last-half grades due - Noon, May 13, 2026
Full-term grades due - Noon, May 13, 2026

GRADUATION/COMMENCEMENT:

Last day to submit spring graduation application - February 20, 2026
Commencement (for Summer and Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 candidates) - May 9, 2026

LAST DAY TO:

Drop a course without financial obligation:

Intersession course - Partial withdrawal: Dec. 17, 2025; Complete withdrawal: December 14, 2025
First-half course - Partial withdrawal: January 18, 2026; Complete withdrawal: January 11, 2026
Full-term course - Partial withdrawal: January 26, 2026; Complete withdrawal: January 11, 2026
Last-half course - Partial withdrawal: March 22, 2026; Complete withdrawal: March 15, 2026

Withdraw, change grade option, or change to audit for:

Intersession course - January 7, 2026
First-half course - February 20, 2026
Full-term course - April 10, 2026
Last-half course - April 24, 2026
Change curriculum (program/major, minor, certificate) for spring semester - April 10, 2026

Enrollment and Census Reporting:

Accurate enrollment data is crucial for institutional reporting and funding. Faculty are encouraged to support timely student registration to ensure enrollments are completed by the semester’s census date. The census occurs on the 10th business day of the fall and spring semesters and the 5th business day of the summer semester. Enrollments added after census are not included in the official headcount for IPEDS reporting, state reporting, and other institutional data used for strategic planning.

Email and Confidentiality:

It is often necessary to send non-directory information via email, but such transmissions should be limited to official University of Illinois email accounts. Non-directory information should not be sent to emails outside of the UI domain (@gmail.com, @yahoo.com, etc.). High-risk data such as Social Security Numbers, grades, and grade point averages (GPAs) should not be sent via email. Transmissions that include this type of data (along with other confidential matters, such as academic integrity violations) should be transmitted via the Protected Email Attachment Repository (PEAR): go.uis.edu/PEAR. Information related to PEAR (including a video tutorial) can be found online.

Incomplete Grading:

The assignment of an incomplete grade is solely at the discretion of the applicable course instructor. The rules related to incomplete work can be found below (as taken from the current UIS Catalog):

Students with extraordinary circumstances that prevent them from completing all requirements for a course on time may request a designation of “I” (Incomplete) from their instructor. The assignment of an incomplete is solely at the instructor’s discretion, and requires that the student complete all course requirements within 12 months of the end of the term for which the incomplete was assigned. It is at the discretion of the instructor to determine the length of time allowed to complete the course work, which may be less than 12 months. If all course work must be submitted by a date less than 12 months, the instructor must inform the student of the due date at the time the incomplete is assigned. When an incomplete is assigned, the instructor also submits a “provisional grade” reflecting the grade that the student will receive if the course is not completed at the end of 12 months. Please note that re-registration in the course is not necessary, unless required by the instructor.

A few semesters ago, an optional Incomplete Grade Form was created to encourage faculty to outline expectations associated with the assignment of an incomplete grade. This optional form can be used to clearly outline the expectations associated with the assignment of an incomplete grade. This form is to be completed by the course instructor when an incomplete (“I”) grade is assigned for a particular course. The optional form is available online.

Student Privacy Information:

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA; 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.

The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education and requires that we protect the confidentiality of student records.

It is essential that all faculty members understand what constitutes protected information and how to ensure that student information is handled appropriately. Completion of the UIS online FERPA tutorial is a basic first step and a requirement before access to student information can be granted. Please be sure to complete the tutorial at your earliest convenience (if you have not already done so). The online tutorial takes about 30 minutes to complete and is found online.

Additional policies and available resources related to student privacy, information security, and FERPA matters are listed below: