5.3 Late Penalties

If the assignment asks you to submit a printout, obviously you need to get the printout into my hands.

Most of your work will be uploaded to Turnitin.com. If you have a problem submitting your work in the proper format, you may stop the late clock by e-mailing your word-processor file as an attachment or by getting a printout into my hands.

Getting Credit for Late Work

If you submit your work before I've finished marking the stack of on-time submissions, I'll probably return your grade along with everyone else's. But if I finish the whole stack before you submit your contribution, I may never even notice when your late paper comes in.

If your assignment is not in its proper online slot when I finish marking the submissions, I will record a zero for the assignment.

In order to replace that zero with my assessment of your late work, follow this two-step process.

1. Submit the paper in the online slot where it belongs.
2. Send me an e-mail that tells me I should look in the slot for your work. Include a subject line with your last name, the course name, the assignment name, and the word "Late".
   Example: "Smith EL267 Ex 2 Late"
   (There's no need to make an extra trip to slip a printout under my office door.)

I am willing to make exceptions in the event of extenuating circumstances, such as illness or conflicts caused by your mandatory participation in school activities. In the absence of an approved exception:

• By default, late assignments automatically lose one letter grade per day.
  
• By default, I will not accept any work that is more than a week late. (You may still have to submit, for zero credit, sequenced assignments such as a paper proposal or draft, before I will accept later assignments in that sequence. I will always be willing to meet with you during my office hours to help you catch up, but I cannot promise immediate turn-around if you submit a late assignment.)
  

All Late Work

For all late work, contact me to tell me what I should look for -- otherwise I may never see it, and won't know that I should change the recorded zero. If you are asking that I waive the late penalty, e-mail a copy of your completed Absence Form with a subject line that follows this pattern: "Smith EL267 Ex 1-2 Absence Form".

Unless I grant you an extension in advance, all other assignments are penalized one letter grade for each day they are late (including Saturdays, but not counting Sundays or holidays when the university does not offer classes). (Students who have had me before should note, this is stricter than my previous policy.)

Special Cases

Online participation and reflection papers. These time-sensitive assignments (which are due for every assigned reading) earn no credit if they are late. (You should still complete any items that you missed, in order to get full credit for your class participation portfolio.)

Class Participation: The way to get credit for a missed in-class activity is to contribute substantially to the online discussion of that topic. Post thoughtful comments on the course website, your peers' websites, and/or your own. To make sure that I see and record credit for this alternative work, paste the URLs of your online contributions into a word processor file, and upload the file into the J-Web late paper box in order to make up a missed set of discussion prompts.