Late Policies

by Mike Gleicher on December 27, 2016

All deadlines are anytime that day, in Madison’s time zone. So if something is due on Wednesday, it is any time on Wednesday. 1am Thursday is not Wednesday.

Addendum 1/27: sometimes, I will express a preference for things to be done before class (1pm). Usually this is for things where nothing is turned in online (like readings). If something really needs to be turned in before class, the deadline will be the day before, which is why you may see a bunch of Sunday deadlines.

The late penalties will depend on the assignment type. For some assignments, it is more important to do them on time because others will need to read them, or that they are necessary for class.

There will be a “closing date” after which we will not accept late assignments. This will usually be described with the assignment, but in the event that it is not, it will be 2 weeks after the due date.

For things that are turned in late (but before the closing date), we may consider it “very late.” This determination will be made subjectively.

The late policy is meant to apply cumulatively. If you are consistently on time, but are late occasionally, it won’t affect your grade.

The severity of the penalty depends on how much it affects the learning goals. For example:

    • Seek and Finds: being late means we cannot use what you’ve found in class discussion and that the class discussion might cloud your search.
    • Initial Required Postings: being late means that your posting can’t be used to seed the discussion.
    • Discussion: If you don’t discuss when everyone else is discussing, it is “adding your thoughts at the end” rather than discussing.
    • Initial Design Submissions: being late means that your designs aren’t available for critique.

In other words, the deadlines are (almost always) there for a reason.

In general, being late (consistently) will cost you between 1/2 to 1 letter grade (e.g. an A drops to an AB or a B). Not doing assignments hurts more.

In class assignments cannot be done late. You are either present for the experience, or you aren’t.

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