Extension Questions

[Vark]

A student asked me if he could have an extension on his paper because he would be returning home over the weekend to attend a funeral this Monday, the due date (and the only day that this class meets before Thanksgiving break). I agreed. In his email thanking me, he wrote that he would be submitting the paper on the following Monday. I'm not sure how to handle this. An entire week's extension is a long time, however it is Thanksgiving break. Shall I tighten up the deadline? Shall I tell him that I expect that his paper will reflect the extra week's writing time and grade it more rigorously? Shall I just accept the late paper with no conditions? 

[ciao_yall]

A student asked me if he could have an extension on his paper because he would be returning home over the weekend to attend a funeral this Monday, the due date (and the only day that this class meets before Thanksgiving break). I agreed. In his email thanking me, he wrote that he would be submitting the paper on the following Monday. I'm not sure how to handle this. An entire week's extension is a long time, however it is Thanksgiving break. Shall I tighten up the deadline? Shall I tell him that I expect that his paper will reflect the extra week's writing time and grade it more rigorously? Shall I just accept the late paper with no conditions?

I had a no late homework/papers rule. They had to turn in whatever they had on the due date and I graded it.

[Antiphon1]

Did you specify the new due date, the student may have assumed (we all know what that means) his paper was due on the next class meeting day rather than on the next day of classes? It's a pretty fine distinction, but a person might push the envelope if the terms of the extension weren't explicitly spelled out either in an email or in your policies.

Unless this person has habitually turned in late work, I'd be inclined to allow the student's assumed due date.  Then grade the crap out of the paper because he had an extra week to work. 

[Caracal]

A student asked me if he could have an extension on his paper because he would be returning home over the weekend to attend a funeral this Monday, the due date (and the only day that this class meets before Thanksgiving break). I agreed. In his email thanking me, he wrote that he would be submitting the paper on the following Monday. I'm not sure how to handle this. An entire week's extension is a long time, however it is Thanksgiving break. Shall I tighten up the deadline? Shall I tell him that I expect that his paper will reflect the extra week's writing time and grade it more rigorously? Shall I just accept the late paper with no conditions?

I give any extensions students ask for and just work out how long they want. I make sure everyone knows that I'll give extensions before things are due. It all works fine. A week might be a bit long under normal circumstances but over thanksgiving it makes sense. Don't worry about it being unfair to give extra time, that isn't really how this works. A paper isn't a timed assignment. Presumably students have had the paper assignment for quite a while and everyone has had plenty of time to do work on it. If there's some huge advantage to be gained with taking an extra 7 days something was wrong with the set up of the assignment. Besides, this obviously isn't how this works. Students who take extensions usually spend less time on the thing than people who turn it in on time.

[Hegemony]

I agree.  Just let it go.  A funeral plus Thanksgiving is a lot going on.  If you wanted the paper to be submitted in a shorter time frame, you should have specified that clearly in the first email.  But this is such a frantic time of the year — absolutely no harm in letting it go till after Thanksgiving.  And I imagine you don't need another paper to grade in that space of time either.

[present_mirth]

Accept it with no conditions. Tell the student late papers go straight to the bottom of your grading stack, so he might not get it back before the end of the semester, and if he wants feedback on the paper he should e-mail you. Odds are he won't, and you won't need to go to the trouble of commenting, just give it a grade and move on. Win-win.

[Parasaurolophus]

I give any extensions students ask for and just work out how long they want. I make sure everyone knows that I'll give extensions before things are due. It all works fine. A week might be a bit long under normal circumstances but over thanksgiving it makes sense. Don't worry about it being unfair to give extra time, that isn't really how this works. A paper isn't a timed assignment. Presumably students have had the paper assignment for quite a while and everyone has had plenty of time to do work on it. If there's some huge advantage to be gained with taking an extra 7 days something was wrong with the set up of the assignment. Besides, this obviously isn't how this works. Students who take extensions usually spend less time on the thing than people who turn it in on time.

Chime.

I'd just ignore it, because it takes up too much mental energy too late in the semester to deal with properly, and it really doesn't make any difference on my end (but it surely makes a huge difference on theirs).

[dr_codex]

Accept it with no conditions. Tell the student late papers go straight to the bottom of your grading stack, so he might not get it back before the end of the semester, and if he wants feedback on the paper he should e-mail you. Odds are he won't, and you won't need to go to the trouble of commenting, just give it a grade and move on. Win-win.

Chime chime.

My mentor adopted this policy. All extensions granted, no questions asked. (Once you got to the grade submission/Registrar level, you had to do the paperwork, of course.) No excuses needed, no wheedling, no negotiation. And no penalty.

However, no late work received anything other than a letter grade. Students could discuss it, in person and by appointment, but nothing else would arrive in writing.

Most students understood the trade-off.

As a policy, it had several advantages:
1. It was simple.
2. It was clear.
3. It was universal.
4. It offered a significant advantage to the deadline conscious.
5. It offered a significant disadvantage to those who did not meet the deadline.
6. It had a mechanism for addressing errors/complaints, which did not take excessive time.
7. It involved minimal Instructor time in adjudicating or monitoring extensions. They were, indeed, at the bottom of the pile, and would be read when convenient.

Those of you playing along at home might note at least one implied condition:
A. Students wanted detailed feedback.

I don't know if this policy would work for everyone, everywhere. But it's a thought.