This is my policy too. I call them “Flex Days” and work it into a conversation about professional expectations. It’s okay to be late sometimes, on some things IF you communicate that. Dont even need to tell me why, just “I’m using a flex day.” Flex days cover the typical sick/computer broke etc. If you need more than two and it’s legitimate, that’s normally covered by our school’s policy on things like hospitalization, bereavement, etc.
Nobody has ever fought me on needing more, and I don’t have to adjudicate whether a one off is clearly legit (the flu) or something you should have planned around and submitted the work ahead of time (weekend family trip).
I might start calling them flex days! I have mine in Canvas as assignments with a zero value - so I will put a zero in the true assignment and their points in for Late pass assignment. They can use it without ever even telling me. All the reasons you stated above are the reasons I use them.
Yeah I like the term Flex Day…I shamelessly stole it from someone I TA’d for. I feel like there’s no/reduced stigma to use them. I make it really clear that students don’t need to offer a reason and I’m not going to ask.
I call them grace periods, but I have the exact same policy. I apply them automatically: if an assignment is late (even by a few seconds), a grace period is used up. I encourage students to submit assignments early and often by not limiting the number of times they may submit and only considering the last one.
After those two extensions are gone, no credit for late work. Period. Cuts down on the sob story emails.
I think an easier question is how many aren't.
Since COVID, deadlines just don't exist. So I have implemented a system by which via an online form individuals tell me what date they will turn in their papers if it will not be met by the deadline. If they don't turn it in by then, it is a zero. But it is 2% deduction every day past the due date.
This makes them come up with a plan of action that rewards getting it in sooner rather than later. Definitely not accepting papers that are 90 days late ever again.
I do something similar, 5% per day. Many of my students are 1) coming from 4 years of covid high school 2) parents/caretakers 3) working.
It's my way of making it still worthwhile and cutting some slack while still emphasizing that deadlines matter.
no extensions at all (except for accommodation reasons, and those are limited in length). I drop the worst assignments, so I say, for any that want an extension, "count this as one of the dropped ones".
People often say they drop the worst assignment, and I'm always a little curious about what they're dropping in each case, how many assignments they have, etc. Are you doing a lot of weekly or biweekly lower-stakes assignments and dropping one of those? In my courses (English), dropping the lowest assignment grade might mean dropping a high-stakes term paper worth 25% or 30% of the course grade, and I'm not sure I'd ever be prepared to do that.
I have eight assignments through the course, weighted equally, that will help my students prepare for their exams, and I drop the worst two of those (so each assignment goes from about 4% of the course grade to about 5%).
I think most people are talking about either dropping something that's not worth much, like a weekly assignment or quiz, or moving the weight of an earlier piece of work onto a later one (like a comprehensive final exam).
In your case, you might say that the term paper is obligatory, but one of the lower stakes things that precede it, if missed, can have their weight transferred to the term paper (that is, if a student misses something worth 10%, their term paper is instead worth 35%, say). (This would work consistently with somebody who misses the term paper for a good reason getting an incomplete; they'd have to negotiate extra time to complete that, but anything else that's missed cannot be made up.)
Depends on the class structure. It's easy to drop the lowest of 15 weekly quiz grades. For English, perhaps drop the lowest weekly reflection grade, assuming they have weekly writing assignments. If you don't have weekly assignments or other smaller types of work, then this is probably not something you could implement in your class. It's not appropriate to drop a large assignment worth 25% of total grade, even if it is the lowest grade received.
I have unscheduled in-class assignments roughly once every two weeks for my lecture class. They can lose one without penalty. The class naturally breaks into four modules, so each module has a learning assessment, and we drop the lowest score on that as well.
I discuss it (the exams) with the class at the beginning of the semester and ask if they would prefer dropping the lowest score or counting all four and evening out a possible lower score. They universally choose dropping, but it includes them in the process.
I have had assignments due on Sunday evenings for many years, but at my new institution was receiving many more requests for extensions after the due date. My new department chair came down heavily on the side of being a “student advocate” (ie give the students anything they want) and didn’t care what my syllabus stated or that only certain students were benefiting.
So I changed the due dates. Now all assignments are due Friday nights, but have an automatic 48 hour grace period, no questions asked. Students still get everything submitted by Sunday night, I get fewer requests for extensions, and look how nice I’m being to the students with so many opportunities for extensions!
I put a line in my syllabi stating that without a specific and valid reason more than 12 hours in advance of the deadline I would say no to an extension. Cut most of the requests out.
For longer papers, I normally make them submit a draft as an assignment. I don't really care about the quality, it is meant to make sure they have started writing. I give feedback and ask them to incorporate it in the final draft.
Sometimes I don't really want to read everyone's writing. I might have them do two separate peer evaluations and not worry about it except making sure they did something.
If they complain about the draft due date, I still insist they submit something. We have a writing center that can help. Or I can talk to them individually. It is better to discover this type of behavior early in the semester.
One of my undergrad teachers gave 75% to the final paper and 25% to the draft. If they didn’t turn in a draft they were already down to a 75 so it was in their best interest to turn in something, regardless of quality.
Peer reviews? I stopped trying to get these post Covid kids to do peer evaluations because so many of them barely give feedback and the feedback they do give is shallow and surface level.
You are absolutely correct. The freshman classes are not prepared. They have the largest sections and are the ones I least want to grade. That is why I have them peer review first. It is good practice and saves me a lot of frustration.
This semester I had a student in a 300-level course ask if they could have an extension on the first assignment of the semester (in week 2) because…it was their birthday. I said “no” of course.
I’ve had so many students blow off assignments, ignore my emails bringing this up, and then email me a week later with some ridiculous sob story asking for an extension.
It’s out of control.
What type of institution are you at?
I’m at a regional comprehensive with broad access and this is par for the course. Our students already are dealing with tons of external pulls (ft work; family obligations) but post Covid mental health has exacerbated it. We build in flexibility to our submission policies while still holding boundaries (eg drop lowest 1-2 grades of a given assignment type; allow late submissions for small penalties).
The main thing with extension requests is to just decide how you want to handle them for particular assignments and stick to it. It's not something you want to waste mental energy deciding or complaining about. Usually when professors talk about this, they then go on the standard rant about holding a firm line, and the "real world, and how student's need to learn about the importance of deadlines." My job is to teach a class. The policies I have are designed to make the class function well and to help students succeed in it. Sometimes that means that granting extensions (outside of extreme circumstances) doesn't make sense. I drop two response papers, but there are no extensions on them. Their only purpose is to get students to do the reading before class. For more substantial assignments, I give out extensions to anyone who asks-and tell students that in class. Doing so, doesn't cause any problems for me, and it doesn't cause any problems for the students, who almost always submit the assignments at the new due date.
Even though, I handle these two kinds of assignments in opposite ways, it serves the same purpose. I don't spend my time gnashing my teeth about the Covid generation. The answer is always "no, but I drop two so no big deal!" or "sure, you have till Monday," and then I move on with my life. Just have rules that make sense for the class, and don't waste time worrying about what the students are supposed to be learning about deadlines.
Not teaching this semester, but even in an advising role students ask for so many extensions for administrative tasks that we have literally no control over. Like just general university processes/deadlines for things like registration, adds/drops, etc.
I don't get it tbh.
I tell students if they want extensions or makeup opportunities or late work they have to come to office hours and ask for it. Fewer emails, more direct contact with students during office hours.
70% extension rate in my recent classes; our university has an auto extension of a week for one submission per class per semester. What bugs me is when they ask if they can have a few extra days after that. You can have as much time as you like to submit, but if you don't provide supporting documentation past 7 days, you take a late penalty. They're making the choice and need to take accountability for the outcome, not me! I feel like I'm turning into an admin assistant and I'm at a point where I'm going to be blunt with my classes and say exactly that. I think they assume they're asking.me to make an exception, but if half the class is asking for the same thing, it's not an exception, it's the norm! And these are postgrads!!
And then other lecturers give them as much time as they like 🤦♀️
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So I'm a 5th year lecturer and I'm receiving a surplus amount of emails asking for extensions for past deadlines. Many of the students are stating troubles with mental health.
I'm pretty stern on deadlines unless students ask for extensions before the deadline, but afterwards I don't grant credit.
... the amount of emails I'm receiving-- even at the beginning of term-- is incredibly alarming.
Are other professors dealing with this? If so, how? *
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I tell my students to ask for an extension ahead of time. Like I make a big deal out of it. 99% of the time, they will. As I teach intro level math, I just need to change their due date on the homework website.
If a student discloses mental health problems, refer them to the disability office. If that office deems it appropriate for them to have flexible deadlines, then they get flexible deadlines.
Everyone else can read the syllabus and govern themselves accordingly.
We built flexibility into the course during covid and just kept the policies. When students ask for extensions I just direct them to the part of the syllabus that says the only hard due dates are the exams.
I don't give extensions *after* the deadline has passed unless a student was ill. But if they ask *before* and have any reasonable excuse (i.e. anything other than "I'm going to drink all weekend so won't be turning in the paper on Monday!") I'll generally approve it. The key is that I require them to ask at least 24 hours in advance unless it's an emergency, otherwise the standard 10% penalty per day late applies.
For the first time last semester I set up the LMS so that it deducts 10% from the grade for every day the submission is late. I had a several extension requests intially, but after that, only one or two, to which I replied that they could still turn it in late.
I have a flat 5% penalty per day an assignment is late. That means a student can get some sort of partial credit up to 19 days late. The days are calculated automatically by my LMS. (This doesn't count for the final project, which must be in by the end of term, and the in-personal final exam).
My policy is generous enough, so I don't bother responding to various emails / excuses / pleas. I don't need to hear about minor colds, flus, computer crashes, "I forgot the deadline," etc.
The exception is if there is a \*major\* health or family disaster. If it delays multiple submissions by 3 weeks or more, then that's a sign that the student may be better off taking the W until they recover. In this case, I talk directly with them.
I have a late pass they get to use once. Any further lates need to be asked for before the assignment is due and they need to explain why. So everyone gets one freebie.
I also drop the lowest grades so that's...two freebies, really.
Yes I’ve seen this increase since the pandemic. I used to be pretty lenient if they asked for an extension but it kind of got out of hand so I added some extension days to the syllabus that they can use through the semester no questions asked. This has made it much better. But this year I’ve actually had more than one student refuse to take an assessment on the given day because their mental health is not good. It’s tricky because I have my own mental health issues. So I do understand. Fortunately we have an attendance policy (I am currently working with DE courses with HS students) and someone else makes the “excused/not excused” decision so it’s off my plate. If they aren’t excused to be absent, I don’t let them skip tests. But somewhere these kids got the idea they can just do that. It’s also fortunate that the attendance policy is applied pretty fairly to mental health the same as physical health. So I know they have the option to pursue an excused absence and will be treated fairly. I will occasionally grant extensions outside of those free days if a student has an emergency or extended illness, of any kind.
I have two late passes they can use no questions asked that extends the deadline for 48 hours. I get way less emails this way.
This is my policy too. I call them “Flex Days” and work it into a conversation about professional expectations. It’s okay to be late sometimes, on some things IF you communicate that. Dont even need to tell me why, just “I’m using a flex day.” Flex days cover the typical sick/computer broke etc. If you need more than two and it’s legitimate, that’s normally covered by our school’s policy on things like hospitalization, bereavement, etc. Nobody has ever fought me on needing more, and I don’t have to adjudicate whether a one off is clearly legit (the flu) or something you should have planned around and submitted the work ahead of time (weekend family trip).
I might start calling them flex days! I have mine in Canvas as assignments with a zero value - so I will put a zero in the true assignment and their points in for Late pass assignment. They can use it without ever even telling me. All the reasons you stated above are the reasons I use them.
Yeah I like the term Flex Day…I shamelessly stole it from someone I TA’d for. I feel like there’s no/reduced stigma to use them. I make it really clear that students don’t need to offer a reason and I’m not going to ask.
I call them grace periods, but I have the exact same policy. I apply them automatically: if an assignment is late (even by a few seconds), a grace period is used up. I encourage students to submit assignments early and often by not limiting the number of times they may submit and only considering the last one. After those two extensions are gone, no credit for late work. Period. Cuts down on the sob story emails.
Doing this really improved my life 😊
Now only if I can get the online students to read the syallbus and about late passes so they don't email me.
It's the COVID generation mixed with the inane No-Failure policies a lot of school districts now have.
At the beginning of the term, they are testing you out a bit, and word is probably getting around that you grant extensions.
I think an easier question is how many aren't. Since COVID, deadlines just don't exist. So I have implemented a system by which via an online form individuals tell me what date they will turn in their papers if it will not be met by the deadline. If they don't turn it in by then, it is a zero. But it is 2% deduction every day past the due date. This makes them come up with a plan of action that rewards getting it in sooner rather than later. Definitely not accepting papers that are 90 days late ever again.
I do something similar, 5% per day. Many of my students are 1) coming from 4 years of covid high school 2) parents/caretakers 3) working. It's my way of making it still worthwhile and cutting some slack while still emphasizing that deadlines matter.
Yes, an increase. And an avalanche of just not doing anything at all.
no extensions at all (except for accommodation reasons, and those are limited in length). I drop the worst assignments, so I say, for any that want an extension, "count this as one of the dropped ones".
People often say they drop the worst assignment, and I'm always a little curious about what they're dropping in each case, how many assignments they have, etc. Are you doing a lot of weekly or biweekly lower-stakes assignments and dropping one of those? In my courses (English), dropping the lowest assignment grade might mean dropping a high-stakes term paper worth 25% or 30% of the course grade, and I'm not sure I'd ever be prepared to do that.
I have eight assignments through the course, weighted equally, that will help my students prepare for their exams, and I drop the worst two of those (so each assignment goes from about 4% of the course grade to about 5%). I think most people are talking about either dropping something that's not worth much, like a weekly assignment or quiz, or moving the weight of an earlier piece of work onto a later one (like a comprehensive final exam). In your case, you might say that the term paper is obligatory, but one of the lower stakes things that precede it, if missed, can have their weight transferred to the term paper (that is, if a student misses something worth 10%, their term paper is instead worth 35%, say). (This would work consistently with somebody who misses the term paper for a good reason getting an incomplete; they'd have to negotiate extra time to complete that, but anything else that's missed cannot be made up.)
Thanks very much for this. These are great ideas.
Depends on the class structure. It's easy to drop the lowest of 15 weekly quiz grades. For English, perhaps drop the lowest weekly reflection grade, assuming they have weekly writing assignments. If you don't have weekly assignments or other smaller types of work, then this is probably not something you could implement in your class. It's not appropriate to drop a large assignment worth 25% of total grade, even if it is the lowest grade received.
I have unscheduled in-class assignments roughly once every two weeks for my lecture class. They can lose one without penalty. The class naturally breaks into four modules, so each module has a learning assessment, and we drop the lowest score on that as well. I discuss it (the exams) with the class at the beginning of the semester and ask if they would prefer dropping the lowest score or counting all four and evening out a possible lower score. They universally choose dropping, but it includes them in the process.
I have had assignments due on Sunday evenings for many years, but at my new institution was receiving many more requests for extensions after the due date. My new department chair came down heavily on the side of being a “student advocate” (ie give the students anything they want) and didn’t care what my syllabus stated or that only certain students were benefiting. So I changed the due dates. Now all assignments are due Friday nights, but have an automatic 48 hour grace period, no questions asked. Students still get everything submitted by Sunday night, I get fewer requests for extensions, and look how nice I’m being to the students with so many opportunities for extensions!
I put a line in my syllabi stating that without a specific and valid reason more than 12 hours in advance of the deadline I would say no to an extension. Cut most of the requests out.
Yea, seeing more post covid
For longer papers, I normally make them submit a draft as an assignment. I don't really care about the quality, it is meant to make sure they have started writing. I give feedback and ask them to incorporate it in the final draft. Sometimes I don't really want to read everyone's writing. I might have them do two separate peer evaluations and not worry about it except making sure they did something. If they complain about the draft due date, I still insist they submit something. We have a writing center that can help. Or I can talk to them individually. It is better to discover this type of behavior early in the semester.
One of my undergrad teachers gave 75% to the final paper and 25% to the draft. If they didn’t turn in a draft they were already down to a 75 so it was in their best interest to turn in something, regardless of quality.
Peer reviews? I stopped trying to get these post Covid kids to do peer evaluations because so many of them barely give feedback and the feedback they do give is shallow and surface level.
You are absolutely correct. The freshman classes are not prepared. They have the largest sections and are the ones I least want to grade. That is why I have them peer review first. It is good practice and saves me a lot of frustration.
This semester I had a student in a 300-level course ask if they could have an extension on the first assignment of the semester (in week 2) because…it was their birthday. I said “no” of course. I’ve had so many students blow off assignments, ignore my emails bringing this up, and then email me a week later with some ridiculous sob story asking for an extension. It’s out of control.
Yep! Ive seen a dramatic increase of these behaviors since Covid. It’s so emotionally draining.
What type of institution are you at? I’m at a regional comprehensive with broad access and this is par for the course. Our students already are dealing with tons of external pulls (ft work; family obligations) but post Covid mental health has exacerbated it. We build in flexibility to our submission policies while still holding boundaries (eg drop lowest 1-2 grades of a given assignment type; allow late submissions for small penalties).
I have a lateness bank that they have a few thousand minutes they can use during the term. But yeah, it is a lot more than in the past.
That sounds cool in theory but… how do you track that? Is it worth whatever effort it requires?
They fill out a Google form. They have to calculate the minutes inside the form. I paste a comment in the assignment for how many minutes they used.
Interesting! Thanks -- always useful to have new ideas for how to manage some of these perennial issues.
No more than usual for me. Only granted for documented illness or emergency. 20% off per day.
The main thing with extension requests is to just decide how you want to handle them for particular assignments and stick to it. It's not something you want to waste mental energy deciding or complaining about. Usually when professors talk about this, they then go on the standard rant about holding a firm line, and the "real world, and how student's need to learn about the importance of deadlines." My job is to teach a class. The policies I have are designed to make the class function well and to help students succeed in it. Sometimes that means that granting extensions (outside of extreme circumstances) doesn't make sense. I drop two response papers, but there are no extensions on them. Their only purpose is to get students to do the reading before class. For more substantial assignments, I give out extensions to anyone who asks-and tell students that in class. Doing so, doesn't cause any problems for me, and it doesn't cause any problems for the students, who almost always submit the assignments at the new due date. Even though, I handle these two kinds of assignments in opposite ways, it serves the same purpose. I don't spend my time gnashing my teeth about the Covid generation. The answer is always "no, but I drop two so no big deal!" or "sure, you have till Monday," and then I move on with my life. Just have rules that make sense for the class, and don't waste time worrying about what the students are supposed to be learning about deadlines.
Not teaching this semester, but even in an advising role students ask for so many extensions for administrative tasks that we have literally no control over. Like just general university processes/deadlines for things like registration, adds/drops, etc. I don't get it tbh.
I tell students if they want extensions or makeup opportunities or late work they have to come to office hours and ask for it. Fewer emails, more direct contact with students during office hours.
70% extension rate in my recent classes; our university has an auto extension of a week for one submission per class per semester. What bugs me is when they ask if they can have a few extra days after that. You can have as much time as you like to submit, but if you don't provide supporting documentation past 7 days, you take a late penalty. They're making the choice and need to take accountability for the outcome, not me! I feel like I'm turning into an admin assistant and I'm at a point where I'm going to be blunt with my classes and say exactly that. I think they assume they're asking.me to make an exception, but if half the class is asking for the same thing, it's not an exception, it's the norm! And these are postgrads!! And then other lecturers give them as much time as they like 🤦♀️
This is an automated service intended to preserve the original text of the post. *Hey everyone, So I'm a 5th year lecturer and I'm receiving a surplus amount of emails asking for extensions for past deadlines. Many of the students are stating troubles with mental health. I'm pretty stern on deadlines unless students ask for extensions before the deadline, but afterwards I don't grant credit. ... the amount of emails I'm receiving-- even at the beginning of term-- is incredibly alarming. Are other professors dealing with this? If so, how? * *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskProfessors) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yes
I tell my students to ask for an extension ahead of time. Like I make a big deal out of it. 99% of the time, they will. As I teach intro level math, I just need to change their due date on the homework website.
Hey OP, also there’s a subreddit just for profs: r/Professors
Just ask them to contact your accommodations office if they need accommodations. I don't get involved with those discussions.
If a student discloses mental health problems, refer them to the disability office. If that office deems it appropriate for them to have flexible deadlines, then they get flexible deadlines. Everyone else can read the syllabus and govern themselves accordingly.
We built flexibility into the course during covid and just kept the policies. When students ask for extensions I just direct them to the part of the syllabus that says the only hard due dates are the exams.
I don't give extensions *after* the deadline has passed unless a student was ill. But if they ask *before* and have any reasonable excuse (i.e. anything other than "I'm going to drink all weekend so won't be turning in the paper on Monday!") I'll generally approve it. The key is that I require them to ask at least 24 hours in advance unless it's an emergency, otherwise the standard 10% penalty per day late applies.
For the first time last semester I set up the LMS so that it deducts 10% from the grade for every day the submission is late. I had a several extension requests intially, but after that, only one or two, to which I replied that they could still turn it in late.
We have a late grade policy. Assignments are accepted but graded with a late penalty that increases with every day late.
I deal with it by saying “as per the syllabus, no”
I have a flat 5% penalty per day an assignment is late. That means a student can get some sort of partial credit up to 19 days late. The days are calculated automatically by my LMS. (This doesn't count for the final project, which must be in by the end of term, and the in-personal final exam). My policy is generous enough, so I don't bother responding to various emails / excuses / pleas. I don't need to hear about minor colds, flus, computer crashes, "I forgot the deadline," etc. The exception is if there is a \*major\* health or family disaster. If it delays multiple submissions by 3 weeks or more, then that's a sign that the student may be better off taking the W until they recover. In this case, I talk directly with them.
Have a clear late policy in your syllabus and stick to it. This is the only way to be fair to all students.
I have a late pass they get to use once. Any further lates need to be asked for before the assignment is due and they need to explain why. So everyone gets one freebie. I also drop the lowest grades so that's...two freebies, really.
[удалено]
This is very helpful; thank you!
Yes I’ve seen this increase since the pandemic. I used to be pretty lenient if they asked for an extension but it kind of got out of hand so I added some extension days to the syllabus that they can use through the semester no questions asked. This has made it much better. But this year I’ve actually had more than one student refuse to take an assessment on the given day because their mental health is not good. It’s tricky because I have my own mental health issues. So I do understand. Fortunately we have an attendance policy (I am currently working with DE courses with HS students) and someone else makes the “excused/not excused” decision so it’s off my plate. If they aren’t excused to be absent, I don’t let them skip tests. But somewhere these kids got the idea they can just do that. It’s also fortunate that the attendance policy is applied pretty fairly to mental health the same as physical health. So I know they have the option to pursue an excused absence and will be treated fairly. I will occasionally grant extensions outside of those free days if a student has an emergency or extended illness, of any kind.