Official Due Dates. Every assignment in this course has a single, firm Official Due Date listed in the course schedule and on Canvas. Due dates exist to keep you on pace with the course's scaffolding and to get you timely instructor feedback. That said, "life happens," which may necessitate a late submission. For most assignments, the reason doesn't matter, because the flexibility is already built in.
Built-In 3-Day Grace Period (Universal Accommodation). In alignment with Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a 72-hour grace period is automatically built into the Canvas lock-date of every eligible assignment. This 3-day window functions as a pre-approved, universal accommodation available to all students — for unexpected illness, family emergencies, and disability-related flare-ups alike. No explanation, request, or documentation is required to use it, and no late penalty applies.
Two things are excluded from the grace period: the final exam (addressed below) and team assignments. Team assignments are due on their Official Due Date because they depend on coordinated work among teammates — a late individual submission disrupts other students' ability to complete their portion, so the shared timeline is an essential element of the assignment. If a team assignment is going to be late, you must contact me immediately so I can assess the reason and determine the consequences. A 15% late penalty may apply to one or more members of the team.
The Final Exam. The final exam for the lab is a team presentation. This must occur on the scheduled day and time; the grace period does not apply. If you have an unavoidable conflict, you must speak with me well in advance of the final. If accepted, the arrangement might entail taking an Incomplete in the lab and presenting the entire presentation yourself at a later date.
A Word of Caution. Before you celebrate the built-in flexibility: submitting many things late can create an unmanageable pile-up at the end of the term. Use the grace period when you need it, not by default.
If You Need More Time Than the Grace Period Allows. If you cannot submit an eligible assignment by the end of the 72-hour grace period because of an unforeseen, unavoidable, and justifiable reason that occurred on or before the Official Due Date, you may request an extension by email or Canvas message. Tell me which graded activity is affected and why; documentation will be required. Note that if the reason arises during the grace period rather than on or before the due date, it generally does not qualify — had you submitted by the Official Due Date, the later problem would not have prevented submission.
Students with DRC Accommodations. Because a 3-day extension is universally active on all eligible assignments from day one, this course treats the built-in grace period as satisfying the DRC's standard recommendation for flexible assignment deadlines (typically a 1–2 day extension). For eligible assignments, the grace period runs concurrently with — and meets or exceeds — that accommodation, measured from the Official Due Date rather than added on top of it. In practice, you already have at least as much deadline flexibility as the standard accommodation provides, and usually more, with nothing to request. Two limits apply. Team assignments are not eligible for deadline-flexibility accommodations, because a delayed individual submission disrupts teammates' ability to complete shared work; the coordinated timeline is an essential element of those assignments. The final exam is also not eligible for deadline-flexibility accommodations, because it too is a team presentation. If you have an unavoidable conflict, you must speak with me in advance of the final. If accepted, the arrangement might entail taking an Incomplete in the lab and presenting the entire presentation yourself at a later date.
If your DRC-approved accommodation calls for more flexibility than the grace period provides, or if a disability-related need requires additional time on a specific eligible assignment, contact me by email or Canvas as early as possible. I will engage the DRC coordinator so that, through the interactive process, we can determine what is reasonable for that assignment.