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Accessible Learning

Assignment extensions

Disability- or chronic health-related functional impacts can be complex, irregular, and unpredictable. An accommodation for occasional extensions on assignment due dates helps a student manage those impacts. For example, a student’s Crohn’s disease may flare up unpredictably, or a student with bipolar spectrum disorder may be hospitalized for several days.

An assignment extension accommodation is not a blanket extension on all work, nor is it permission to submit work after the course ends. It is a verification of a student’s need to occasionally negotiate due dates.

An extension may not be appropriate for some assignments. The spirit of the accommodation is that a student should not be penalized for missing a due date because of a disability- or chronic health-related functional impact. This accommodation may be applied differently in different courses and for different assignments.

If an extension request is needed due to acute illness, injury, personal or family emergency, or any other unexpected or extenuating circumstance or conflicting responsibility, refer to the academic concession regulation for in-class extensions.

Student responsibilities

Notify your instructor if you are experiencing disability-related impacts and need to activate your assignment extension accommodation. Consider using the template email to notify your instructor, as early as possible.

Tell your instructor how much extra time you need to complete the assignment. The amount of time needed should be related to your experience of disability-related impacts. Many extensions are one to four days long.

Complete all required work for the course. You can request an academic concession if you cannot complete the course requirements.

Email template

This template is intended to provide an idea of how to communicate with your instructor when negotiating an assignment extension for disability-related reasons.

Hello [instructor’s name here],

I am requesting an extension in [course number and section] for [assignment name] due on [date]. This request is related to my assignment extension academic accommodation. I am requesting [number of days] days, to be submitted on [revised date].

Please confirm whether the extension has been approved so I can plan my work accordingly or let me know if you would like to discuss this request further.

You may also connect with my accessibility advisor if you have any questions or concerns.

Regards,
[Your name here]

Instructor responsibilities

Do not ask the student for details about the cause of their request for an extension. Information about disability and chronic health is confidential. Contact the student’s accessibility advisor if you have questions about the use of the accommodation. The accessibility advisor reviewed medical documentation before assigning the accommodation.

Negotiate a revised due date with the student. Consider an alternative form of this accommodation if an extension is not appropriate. Consider that a student may request additional time to recover and heal before they continue working or if issues persist. Contact the student’s accessibility advisor if you have questions about reasonable limits to the extension accommodation

Alternative forms

An extension may not be appropriate for all assignments. For example, you may plan to post solutions immediately so students can use them to prepare for an exam.

You can find many examples of alternative assessments on Teach Anywhere, and you can consult with Learning and Teaching Innovation (LTI) on assessment design.

The student’s accessibility advisor can help you determine whether an alternative satisfies this accommodation.

How to help

Include assignment due dates, specific time parameters, process for requests for academic concessions and course extension policy in the syllabus. Clear communication can help students be prepared for assignment due dates and reduce the need for accommodation.

Determine if strict assignment due dates are essential in the course:

  • Does each week’s material build on graded material from the previous week?
  • Does an extension fundamentally alter the course?
  • Does a late assignment negatively affect other students (such as group work)?
  • Is timely completion of assignments an essential course requirement?