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How strict should you be? A guide to assignment due dates.
Be consistent in your approach to deadline flexibility, whether you never accept late work or are always willing to make an exception..
Colleges typically require instructors to include a calendar of assignment due dates in every course syllabus. But most syllabi also include a disclaimer that assignment deadlines are subject to change.
So, how flexible should deadlines really be in a college course?
Be Flexible, or be Rigid, but Always be Consistent
Be consistent in your approach to deadline flexibility, whether you never accept late work or are always willing to make an exception. Nothing irritates strong students more than their instructor announcing, “Since so many of you asked for more time on the assignment that was due today, I’m extending its deadline to next week.”
Syllabi should always include a clearly stated policy about the circumstances under which late work might be accepted, if at all.
But should this policy be applied equally to low-stakes and high-stakes assignments?
Low-Stakes Assessments
If a course has many low-stakes assessments, like quizzes or homework problems, those assignments are usually due on the same day each week.
For example, if class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays, there might a reading quiz due every Monday, to ensure that students are prepared for the week’s in-class discussions, and a homework problem due every Friday, to verify understanding of the week’s concepts.
Here are three solid approaches to deadline flexibility for low-stakes assessments:
1. Not flexible: Late work is never accepted
If a student misses a deadline, they receive zero points on that assignment.
This approach works best in courses that have many low-stakes assignments, such as reading quizzes on every textbook chapter, where missing one or two deadlines will not jeopardize a student’s understanding of the core concepts nor greatly impact their final letter grade.
2. Somewhat flexible: Late work is accepted, at a penalty
If a student misses a deadline, they can submit the assignment late, but their score will be penalized a specified amount (e.g. -5 points).
This approach works best in courses where content acquisition is scaffolded such that missing one assignment will negatively impact a student’s understanding of core concepts and successful completion of future assignments. In this case, students who miss deadlines should be permitted to complete the missed assignments, but with a small scoring penalty to encourage on-time submissions in future weeks.
3. Very flexible: Late work is made up, with instructor permission
If a student misses a deadline, they must contact the instructor and arrange an alternate way to complete the assignment (e.g. by taking a make-up quiz during the instructor’s office hours).
This approach works best in courses where low-stakes assessments are considered part of a student’s participation grade. In this case, missing a deadline is like missing a class meeting. Students should be encouraged to initiate contact with the instructor to arrange a way to verify their understanding of the missed assignment’s concepts.
High-Stakes Assessments
Every course has one or more high-stakes assessments, such as exams or research papers. These assessments are weighted more heavily (worth more of the overall course grade) than lower-stakes assessments because these are higher-level demonstrations of students’ proficiency in the course outcomes. Failure to successfully complete high-stakes assessments generally leads to failure of the entire course.
What kind of flexibility is appropriate then for key, high-stakes course assessments?
1. Not flexible: Deadlines do not change, under any circumstances
If a student misses a deadline, they receive zero points on that assessment.
This is the most common approach to deadlines for high-stakes assessments. It is rare for a college instructor to permit students to make up a missed midterm or final exam because students making up an exam would receive the unfair advantage of more time to prepare for the exam. Also, many final exams are scheduled for the very end of term, when there is no time remaining for make-up testing before instructors must report course grades to the college.
2. Somewhat flexible: Deadlines are extended, at a penalty
If a student misses a deadline, they can submit the assessment late, but their score will be penalized a specified amount (e.g. one letter grade per day).
This approach is more common for midterm assessments, or for courses with single high-stakes assessments, such as a research paper that students work on throughout the term. If students who miss the deadline for a high-stakes assessment can still submit their work, but their score is heavily penalized, the course grades will accurately reflect the students’ term-long proficiency in the course outcomes. For example, a student who earned “A” scores all term but submitted their final paper one day late could still finish the course with a “B” grade.
Remember, flexibility around assignments should be geared towards what makes sense in your course and for your students. While there are a lot of possible variations in regards to policy, the most critical element is to be clear and upfront with your students early in the term. This will help avoid confusion and complaints – and help you keep your sanity at the end of the term when students come looking for extra chances to make up missed work!
Anna Johnson is an award-winning instructor at Mt Hood Community College in Oregon where she has worn many hats since 2005. Joining the faculty as an instruction librarian, Anna then spent 10 years as a career-technical instructor, preparing students for living-wage jobs as administrative assistants and front-end web developers, and now leads the college’s Business transfer degree program. Anna enjoys using problem-based learning and flipped classroom methodologies to prepare students for future workplace challenges. When she's not teaching, Anna is an avid cook, formidable fantasy football player, National Park enthusiast, and volunteer usher and tour guide for Portland's performing arts center. Anna has supported other instructors in their use of SIMnet as an MHE Digital Faculty Consultant since 2015.
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WHEN or WHAT is the due date for this assignment?
I want to know due date for my assignment which is given by teacher. In this situation, is it correct to say
When is the due date for this assignment?
What is the due date for this assignment?
or other things you recommend?
- word-choice
2 Answers 2
In casual, every day use, both would be fine, but if you want to be strict, you would either say:
"What is the due date for this assignment" or "When is this assignment due?"
The "what" is asking for a specific name / figure denoting a point in time, and the "when" is actually asking for a point in time - the answer does not have to take the form of a date. For example you could answer "tomorrow", or "in 4 weeks", whereas the first question specifically asks for a date.
Both are correct. Likewise, What is the DEADLINE? or When is the DEADLINE?
See more examples from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English :
The new Jan. 22 due date also applies to taxpayers in Washington, Mr Keith adds. The amount and due date will be announced in advance. It was less than satisfying; and yet as his due date neared he kept on, sometimes all night. A loan stock holder is not hampered by such restrictions if his loan stock is not paid on the due date. My first child arrived quite quickly on the due date. The covenant to pay the rent on the due date, quarterly in advance usually, is absolutely fundamental. The due date coincides with the closing ceremonies in Atlanta. Fewer than 5 percent of women deliver on their due date. Only a significantly wrong due date separates Lou Madden from a perfect Super Bowl attendance record.
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10 Professional Ways to Ask for a Deadline in an Email
Asking for a deadline is a common task in the workplace, but it must be done professionally to show respect and maintain good communication.
This article provides you with ten different ways to request a deadline through email. Each method is polite, professional, and clear, making sure you get the information you need without overstepping.
10 Professional Ways to Ask for a Deadline
When you need to know how much time you have for a task, here are ten professional ways to ask for a deadline in an email:
- Could you please inform me about the deadline for this task?
- May I know the deadline for submitting this work?
- What is the final date to complete this project?
- Could you clarify the deadline for this assignment?
- I would appreciate knowing the submission deadline.
- Can you specify the due date for this task?
- By when do you need this completed?
- What timeframe are we looking at for this project?
- Is there a specific deadline I should aim for?
- Could you advise on the timeline for this task?
1. Could you please inform me about the deadline for this task?
This phrase is polite and professional , suitable for both formal and semi-formal emails. It’s best used when you are initiating a project and need clear deadlines from a manager, client, or colleague. It’s versatile and can be used across various communication channels, including email and instant messaging platforms. We recommend using this alternative when you want to demonstrate respect for the recipient’s time and authority.
2. May I know the deadline for submitting this work?
This alternative is polite and conveys a sense of responsibility towards your work. It is slightly more informal than the first, making it ideal for when you have a familiar relationship with the recipient. This phrase fits well in emails to colleagues you’ve worked with before. We recommend it for internal communications where deadlines are flexible but necessary.
3. What is the final date to complete this project?
This question is professional and direct, best used in settings where the project timelines are strict. It’s suitable for both formal and informal communications but leans more towards formal interactions, especially with new clients or external partners. This phrase helps set clear expectations for both parties and is recommended when clarity is critical for project success.
4. Could you clarify the deadline for this assignment?
This request is straightforward and professional , ideal for situations where there might have been previous discussions about deadlines that need clarification. It suits both formal interactions with superiors and informal ones with team members . It’s useful when you want to avoid any misunderstanding regarding the project completion date.
5. I would appreciate knowing the submission deadline.
This phrase is polite and professional , subtly asking for the information without sounding too direct. It’s most effective in formal emails where you need to maintain a level of diplomacy and courtesy. This wording is best used when communicating with higher-ups or external entities where you need to be cautious about your tone.
6. Can you specify the due date for this task?
This question is professional yet somewhat informal , making it appropriate for conversations with colleagues or clients you have a comfortable working relationship with. It’s direct and ensures you get the precise information needed without ambiguity. It’s well-suited for fast-paced work environments where efficiency is paramount.
7. By when do you need this completed?
This alternative is informal but remains professional , perfect for internal communications where you have a good rapport with your colleagues or team leader. It’s an excellent choice for agile work settings where tasks are rapidly assigned and completed. This phrase facilitates a smooth workflow by clearly establishing deadlines.
8. What timeframe are we looking at for this project?
This question is a bit more informal , suited for discussions where project timelines are being initially set or when dealing with long-term projects. It works well in both emails and meetings, ideally with team members or managers with whom you’re planning the project’s scope. This alternative is recommended when seeking a broad understanding rather than a specific date.
9. Is there a specific deadline I should aim for?
This query is versatile, polite , and professional , intended for situations where you need additional guidance on prioritization. It’s equally effective in formal and informal settings, making it an excellent choice for engaging with both new clients and familiar colleagues. This alternative is advisable when you’re juggling multiple tasks and need to understand which ones to prioritize.
10. Could you advise on the timeline for this task?
This request is professional and signifies your intent to thoroughly understand the project’s timeline to manage your workload effectively. It’s more formal , best suited for communications with supervisors or clients where showing initiative and responsibility is crucial. It’s recommended for use in professional settings where detailed project planning is vital.
Final Thoughts
Knowing how to ask for a deadline professionally can make a big difference in your work communication. The ten ways shared in this article are designed to help you get the information you need in a polite and effective manner.
Slava Velikiy, CEO of Rontar and GainRep, has over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, project management, and software development. Passionate about innovation and solving real-world problems, he shares his insights on entrepreneurship, leadership, and technology.
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How to stay ahead of deadlines on your academic assignments.
Completing your assignments and homework on time is instrumental to your final grades at school, because it shows that you can observe time and respect deadlines, and, as a student, it is important that you are able to complete your tasks on time.
1. Start Immediately
Immediately after you receive the assignment, start working on it. Starting immediately will help you stay focused throughout the assignment.
2. Plan Effectively
A good plan will enable you beat the deadline and submit your work on time. When planning how to handle the assignments, start with the most difficult ones or the most urgent ones. However, you need to be realistic about how you plan out your time.
3. Have a Quiet Study Area
4. get help.
You and your classmates can help each other complete assignments by working as a group. It helps you handle the tough areas of the assignment and complete it on time. Additionally, you can get help from your tutors on the challenging parts of the assignment.
5. Avoid Multitasking
Because it is easier to do one assignment at a time, it is important to start by planning your work well. Handling more than one assignment will lower your concentration and productivity. You will spend more time on the assignment than you had anticipated.
6. Remember to Take Breaks
The key to completing your assignments early and submitting on time is knowing the importance of the assignment in your studies. Take the assignments seriously, plan well and give them your best. You will not have to worry about missing the submission deadline.
Daniel Reed
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Assignment Time Calculator to help meet Deadlines
Got an assignment deadline coming up?
Not sure how much free time you need to sacrifice to complete the work on time?
Here’s a handy calculator to estimate the time needed to complete an assignment within the given deadline.
Calculator for time needed to finish an assignment
To use this tool, please follow the instructions below.
- The cells marked in yellow should be amended to suit your specific situation
- Check whether your assignment has a word count allowance. If so, then you just need to meet the minimum end of the range when you’re pressed of time
- An excellent writing speed would be about 600 words an hour
- Medium would be around 350 words per hour
- A slow writing speed implies roughly about 200 words an hour
- Enter the deadline for the assignment in Month / Day / Year format
Tips to complete assignments on time
Cliché as it may be, the best advice to complete assignments by the deadline is to start in advance. Of course, this may not always be feasible but just trust us, your future self with be really grateful that you didn’t leave it until the last minute.
If you’re behind schedule, you’re going to want to make the most efficient use of whatever little time you have. However, even in such a situation, we highly recommend that you set aside a brief slot in your schedule to plan the structure of the assignment and what word count needs to go in each section that you have identified.
This will help you get a better idea of which sections are going to take up a bigger chunk of your time and you can use this to prioritize your available time accordingly.
We have a guide on how to make an assignment structure outline quickly using grading criteria . We also have another one on managing assignment word count .
Here’s another helpful guide from Purdue University with good suggestions for time management when it comes to assignments.
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Managing Deadlines: Stress-Free Approaches to Meeting Assignment Goals
Navigating academic life involves mastering the art of juggling multiple assignments, each with its own set of deadlines. Effective deadline management strategies are essential for students aiming to achieve academic success while maintaining their well-being. This comprehensive guide introduces a variety of stress-free deadline approaches for students, designed to streamline your study process and help you meet your academic deadlines with ease.
The Importance of Effective Deadline Management
Effective deadline management transcends mere schedule adherence; it’s about optimizing your academic performance and minimizing stress. Let’s explore why mastering strategies for managing assignment deadlines is pivotal:
Academic Success
Timely submission of assignments is a cornerstone of academic achievement. Adopting organizational techniques for academic success ensures you consistently produce quality work, contributing positively to your grades and academic standing.
Stress Reduction
Proper deadline management is a powerful antidote to academic stress. By implementing deadline management tips for stress reduction, you can alleviate the anxiety associated with looming deadlines, fostering a healthier study environment .
Improved Time Management
Efficient handling of deadlines enhances overall time management skills, equipping you with the ability to allocate your resources wisely. Time management solutions for deadline success are integral for balancing study, work, and leisure, paving the way for a more organized and productive academic journey.
Consistent Progress
Staying on top of deadlines promotes steady progress in your coursework. Strategies for managing assignment deadlines effectively prevent the last-minute rush, allowing for a smoother academic experience.
Quality Work
When deadlines are managed well, you’re more likely to submit work that reflects your true potential. Effective deadline management strategies enable you to dedicate ample time to research, drafting, and refining your assignments, resulting in higher-quality outcomes.
Stress-Free Approaches to Meeting Assignment Goals
To navigate the challenges of academic deadlines without the stress, consider incorporating these effective strategies into your routine:
Calendar and Planner Utilization
Embrace the use of calendars and planners, both digital and physical, to keep track of your deadlines. This organizational technique for academic success provides a visual overview of your commitments, helping you plan your study schedule more effectively.
Break Down Assignments
Tackle large projects by breaking them down into smaller, more manageable tasks. This approach, a cornerstone of stress-free deadline management, makes daunting assignments feel more approachable and achievable.
Set Realistic Goals
Establishing realistic goals for each study session can significantly enhance your productivity. How to handle academic deadlines efficiently often involves setting clear, attainable objectives for what you aim to accomplish, ensuring steady progress toward your deadlines.
Prioritize Tasks
Understanding how to prioritize your assignments based on urgency and importance is crucial. Strategies for managing assignment deadlines effectively often employ prioritization techniques to ensure critical tasks are addressed first, optimizing your study efforts.
Time Blocking
Dedicate specific blocks of time to work on your assignments. This productivity hack for meeting study deadlines helps create a structured approach to study, minimizing procrastination and maximizing focus.
Eliminate Distractions
Identify and eliminate potential distractions in your study environment. Achieving academic goals without the stress often requires a distraction-free zone, enabling you to concentrate fully on the task at hand.
Seek Clarification Early
If you’re unsure about an assignment’s requirements, seek clarification from your instructor as soon as possible. This proactive approach prevents confusion and ensures you’re on the right track from the start.
Utilize Technology
Leverage technology to enhance your study efficiency. From task management apps to digital calendars, technology offers a myriad of ways to streamline your study process and keep your deadlines in check.
By embracing these effective deadline management strategies and related techniques, you can transform your study habits, reduce stress, and achieve your academic goals with confidence. Remember, the key to managing deadlines effectively lies in planning, prioritization, and taking proactive steps to ensure you’re always prepared for what lies ahead in your academic journey.
Practice Self-Care
Incorporating self-care into your routine is not just beneficial; it’s essential for maintaining focus and energy. Strategies like “balancing deadlines and well-being in academics” emphasize the importance of regular exercise, adequate sleep, and healthy eating habits. These practices ensure that you’re not only academically productive but also physically and mentally well.
Flexibility and Adaptability
Being flexible and adaptable in your approach allows you to adjust to unexpected changes or challenges. “Productivity hacks for meeting study deadlines” often include having contingency plans and being ready to shift priorities as needed. This adaptability can significantly reduce stress when facing tight deadlines or unforeseen academic demands.
Use Time Management Techniques
Effective time management is critical for deadline success. Techniques such as the Pomodoro Technique or the Eisenhower Box can help you organize your study sessions more efficiently, allowing for dedicated focus periods interspersed with short breaks . “Time management solutions for deadline success” provide structured approaches to tackling tasks, enhancing your ability to meet deadlines without undue pressure.
Review and Reflect
Regularly reviewing and reflecting on your progress is key to continuous improvement. “Achieving academic goals without the stress” involves assessing what strategies are working and which areas need adjustment. This reflective practice can help you fine-tune your approach to managing deadlines, ensuring ongoing development of your organizational and time management skills.
Conclusion: Meeting Academic Deadlines with Ease
Mastering the art of deadline management is a dynamic process that involves a combination of planning, organization, and self-care. By employing “effective deadline management strategies” and staying adaptable, you can navigate academic challenges with greater ease and less stress. Remember, the goal is to achieve a balance that allows for academic success while also maintaining your well-being. With these strategies, you’re well-equipped to manage your deadlines efficiently, paving the way for a fulfilling and successful academic experience.
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How to Prepare for Exams and Meet Assignment Deadlines
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Table of contents
- Introduction
Start preparing for exams and assignments early
Set yourself some personal goals, double check all the information.
“Do you think King Joffrey Baratheon...?”
“The imp really...”
“I have an exam, back off!”
“In The Winter Soldier , Captain America and the Black Widow actually...”
“Are you not listening to me?”
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Conversations with my friend Bildy are maddeningly distracting. He will never shut up and always talks about something I am interested in.
In his defense, he doesn’t distract me on purpose, but he has not got an impressive IQ either. A sixth grader would be smarter than him. Oh, in case you were wondering, Bildy is my imaginary friend. He stays with me all the time and gets super excited while I am preparing for exams .
“Do you know the girl next door?” He finally got me. The next few hours were spent discussing ‘cool’ ways to look impressive in front of the neighbor, playing PS3 and watching a movie.
Preparing for exams and meeting assignment deadlines can suddenly make absolutely everything except studying incredibly interesting. I would not mind even cleaning my room if it gave me a break from study. But, in order to take off on that alluring vacation trip, first you have to take those end of semester exams and hand in all your course assignments.
I am sure most of you, if not all, have a friend like Bildy and think of exam season like I do. But sitting in an exam and passing it with at least an average score will take some doing on your part. You have to play your role, even if means being pretty stern with your version of Bildy. Here are my tips on how to prepare for exams, set personal goals and make a study plan to help you meet all your deadlines, while still enjoying your life too.
I am usually very upbeat at the start of my semester. In the first lecture, I try to completely understand the course requirements and assignments, especially their due dates so that I can set some personal goals and start writing my study plan. But Bildy usually has other plans. “Look at the guy in the red shirt, he is playing with his iPad,” he whispered as I was about to note the assignment deadline. I shrugged him off, but he had already done the damage. I spent the rest of the session watching what everybody else was doing. I could see most of them had such a friend because they all were doing everything but paying attention to the lecturer.
Anyway, the best way to go about preparing for exams and coursework deadlines is to create a study plan for the semester. Now before I put you off, let me clarify what this means. I am not asking about designing a building. After Week 1 you should know exactly what your personal goals are, which assignments you need to complete, what exams you need to pass, when the deadlines are and roughly how much time you want to dedicate to each task. Planning in advance means you should have more time to prepare for each exam and work on each assignment, and will help you avoid pressure when the deadlines loom.
Create some personal goals for yourself. Reaching them will give you personal satisfaction, as well as helping you feel more prepared. While talking to Bildy in my first lecture, I decided that I would complete the assignments of all my other units earlier than their due date and then spend some extra time on the assignment for this subject. I had figured out that this one would be especially tough and require some extra attention. Believe it or not, I finished all my other assignments a month before the end of the semester and got a distinction average too. I am still figuring out how the latter happened.
I can tell you from experience that this is one of the most important aspects of preparing for exams and coursework. I usually mark my calendar with assignment deadlines and exam dates. That’s what I was doing when Bildy brought that iPad guy to my attention. 5 June was still three months away and I made up my mind to start working on the toughest assignment at the start of May. The only problem: once I had scored a distinction average in my other subjects, I found out that the deadline for this piece was actually 5 May. I hadn’t checked my information and realized only a week before the assignment was due that I had made a blunder. So a piece of work that needed at least a month had to be done in just a week. Even the brilliant guys find this hard. I am not even near them.
I did finish my assignment, but it was quite substandard. I wonder now what will happen to my prestigious distinction average. Sometimes, I just hate Bildy…
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How To Organize Assignments So You Never Miss A Due Date Again
If you aren’t a pro at organizing your assignments for school, I guarantee you will be after this! One of the first things a student should do before school starts is to make sure that they have a reliable way to organize their assignments. This is why I’m going to teach you how to organize assignments so you never miss a due date again!
Putting all of your assignments for the semester in at least ONE place will actively remind you of your due dates so you don’t ever forget them. I will go through some of the most popular methods to organize your assignments as well as let you know which method I prefer the best.
How To Organize Your Assignments As A Student
The three major ways you can organize your assignments include using a school planner app, using a physical planner, and using Google Calendar. All of these methods have their benefits and drawbacks, but they all have been proven to work and I know you will find the perfect method for you.
myHomework App
One of my favorite apps for college students is myHomework ! It is the ultimate app for organizing your assignments. You all do not understand how life-changing this one app was when I discovered it during my freshman year! Because of myHomework, I never missed an assignment due date. The best part is that it’s extremely easy to use! Check out the tutorial video below.
how to organize with myhomework:
- Download the app from your app store
- Create a free account
- Color code each class
- Put in what times you will take that class
- What type of assignment it is
- Priority level (how important/urgent it is to get it done)
- Reminders (so you don’t forget to actually do it)
- Attach any additional files (instructions, deadline timeline, etc.)
- And completing an assignment is as easy as swiping to the left and poof💨 it’s gone!
This is by far my favorite method because after you set everything, you’re done! Unlike a physical planner where you have to constantly refer to what you wrote, with this app, you can get automated notifications and reminders for each assignment. Spend a day before the semester begins to take a couple of hours to import all of your assignments. Seriously focus on customizing exactly how you want (reminders, priority level, etc). Once you’re done, you will have a complete look at every single assignment you will need to complete and any additional information right at your fingertips. It’s simple, straightforward, and reliable.
Why it works:
- Built-in structure for organizing classes and assignments
- See monthly, weekly, and daily views of assignments that you need to complete
- Your data can sync across multiple platforms
- Supports time-block and period-based schedules
- It’s 100% free
Related Article ⇾ The Best Essential iPhone Apps For Students
Planner Method
Another way to make sure you keep track of your assignments is to have a physical planner. This is the old-school way that still gets the job done. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are new planners with different and cool features popping up constantly. There’s a reason why… Planners work when you make them work! The steps for this method are very similar to the steps you would use with the myHomework app.
- Go through each syllabus and write the classes you will be taking (in the notes section of your planner)
- I would also highlight them in a particular color and write the days and times that you will take these classes
- Write down every single assignment that you will have to turn in throughout the semester on its due date
- Add in every quiz and test day as well as the day you will have to take them
Now the next thing you need to do is create reminders. As far as reminding you when things are due, there are many options:
- You can write reminders in your planner. If you have all of your due dates in your monthly view (as I instructed and recommended above), you can then use the daily or weekly view to insert reminders weekly of assignments/quizzes/projects/tests coming up.
- If you have all of your due dates in your planner, you can couple this method with using your phone for reminders. Using apps such as Google Calendar or the regular Calendar app can help you get instant reminders to work on assignments and study for tests.
I will have a post all about the best college planners soon! I have tried countless planners. So, I can’t wait to share what has worked a lot for me and how it can help you as well. So stay tuned by signing up for my email list to know when that post will be live!
- You’re more likely to remember things when you write them down
- Complete freedom in organizing and being creative with your planning
- You don’t have to worry about not having wifi
Google Calendar
Google Calendar is a God-send. I prefer this method right now in my daily life because it helps me stay organized and informed of my schedule at ALL times!! I have a complete tutorial on how I set up and organize my Google Calendar so I will have that linked below. But I want to give some great tips in this article as well for organizing your classes and assignments!
Related Article ⇾ How To Time-Block Your Life For Success
Google Calendar has an incredible feature that allows you to create different calendars. For example, I have a calendar that’s strictly for work-related things, I have one for getting random things done, which is appropriately named “Getting Sh*t Done”, and even a calendar strictly for family things. I can also subscribe family members to the “family” one so we all know what is going on.
Color coding helps keep everything more organized as well. Different colors mean different calendars. Choosing brighter colors can be for the more important calendars such as work and appointments and dimmer colors can be for more routine things.
How to apply this method to your classes:
- This allows you to color-code your classes to differentiate every class and their assignments
- This blends every class together, but you will be able to determine what’s school-related and what is not related to school in your schedule
- This helps you see a clear difference between when you have classes when things are due, and when you will work on the things that are due (study time)
- Complete organization of classes and assignments
Final Things To Consider
Choose what works for you. I like to give different options because I know everyone is different. What works for me might not work for you. So try one way of organizing your assignments. If it doesn’t work out, no biggie, just move on to a new method. The goal is to keep trying until you find that magic formula that helps you stay on top of your school life.
Don’t wait to import your assignments. This is a major pro tip. There was a time one of my professors added a random assignment that we had to complete that semester and I forgot to put it in the myHomework app, so I missed it 🥴 lol… This is why I encourage you to always put things in your planner when your teacher announces any extra assignments or extra credit opportunities that may not have been on the syllabus – right when it’s announced . Otherwise, you will most likely forget. Also, check out my post about how you can get every assignment, even new/random ones automatically imported into your Google Calendar if your school uses Canvas.
Related Article ⇾ How To Sync Your Canvas Calendar To Your Google Calendar
Lastly, make sure you insert reminders for every assignment. In the case that you do forget about a due date, you have enough time to complete it because you placed a reminder for that assignment. Whether you’re super busy or not, we constantly forget things throughout the day and it’s important to have that sort of virtual “personal assistant” to remind us of things. So use your phone to your advantage and make sure you keep track of your due dates.
Many classes, especially in college, won’t allow you to turn in anything late. Which makes organizing your assignments and due dates that much more important!
If you have any other ways that you organize your assignments and due dates, please leave them in the comments below. I’d love to hear how you organize your class dates. I hope you’ve found some awesome ways how to organize assignments in a way that works for you!
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This is great advice! I’m looking into these tools, I think they will help a lot. Thank you 🙂
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How to Email Professor About Late Work
Last Updated: April 12, 2024 Fact Checked
This article was co-authored by Alexander Ruiz, M.Ed. and by wikiHow staff writer, Caroline Heiderscheit . Alexander Ruiz is an Educational Consultant and the Educational Director of Link Educational Institute, a tutoring business based in Claremont, California that provides customizable educational plans, subject and test prep tutoring, and college application consulting. With over a decade and a half of experience in the education industry, Alexander coaches students to increase their self-awareness and emotional intelligence while achieving skills and the goal of achieving skills and higher education. He holds a BA in Psychology from Florida International University and an MA in Education from Georgia Southern University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 184,258 times.
With deadlines, jobs, activities, and relationships to juggle, managing your schedule as a student can be tough. If you’ve realized you’re going to miss a deadline (we’ve all been there), you might be wondering how to email your professor for an extension, to apologize, or to limit any late penalties. Don't worry, we've got you covered. Below, we'll walk you through how to email your professor, plus we'll give you some sample emails to inspire you, too. To learn how to email your professor about late work, read on!
Example Emails to Professors for a Late Assignment
Every now and then, it’s okay to miss a deadline. When this happens, send an email immediately and say something along the lines of, “I apologize for turning in this assignment late. Know that I take my work seriously, and I'll do my best to avoid this in the future. I would greatly appreciate an extension on this paper if possible.”
Tips For Late Work Emails
- Don’t say: “I’m just genuinely so, so sorry. I can’t believe I turned this in late, and you have no idea how long I prepped for this assignment. I really am so sorry that I missed the deadline, and you should know that I will do my best in the future, even when I have tech issues, to not let this happen again.”
- Instead say: “I apologize for turning in this assignment late. Know that I take my work seriously and I’ll do my best to avoid this in the future.”
- Don’t say: “Message from a student in Psych 104,” “Need an extension,” or “Hello from Randy Bernard!”
- Instead say: “Extension Request for Psych104, Paper 2: Randy Bernard”
- Use a formal greeting. “Dear Professor James,” and “Professor James,” are perfect. “Hey,” and “Hi,” are too informal and should be avoided.
- Same goes for your signoff—choose a formal phrase. “Best,” and “Sincerely,” are great picks.
- If you’re asking your professor for something, be sure to ask, not demand. Instead of saying “I need” an extension, say that an extension would be extremely helpful to you.
- Remember to use “Please” and “Thank you," too!
- This could hurt your relationship and increase penalties on your assignment.
- So instead, say you're sorry: “I apologize for my late assignment. I know you're busy, and I don’t want to waste your time.”
- “I’m sorry for this late paper, especially because it communicates a lack of care and concern for my grades that I don't feel is accurate.”
- “If I had an extra 48 hours to complete this assignment, I’d be able to fully explore and structure my insights for this term paper.”
- “I would greatly appreciate an extension on this project. With a little more time, I could turn in my very best work and learn even more from this assignment."
- “Last night, my dog had a bar of chocolate without me realizing. I’ve spent the entire evening with her at the vet.”
- "To be entirely honest, I've been dealing with some mental health issues that are seriously affecting my schoolwork."
- If you can, avoid lying. If you're granted an extension and the truth comes out later on, you could face major consequences.
- Don’t say: “Honestly, it was out of my hands entirely. I’m a victim of circumstance, and that’s why my assignment is late.”
- Instead say: “It's true that I didn’t plan for this to happen. That being said, if I’d started earlier, this wouldn’t have been an issue. So I know, ultimately, this is my fault. I take full responsibility.”
- “This isn’t like me, and in the future, I promise to do better.”
- “I take my schoolwork very seriously. If it weren’t for my dog’s illness, I would have made getting this assignment in my top priority.”
Sample Emails
Why You Should Email Your Professor About Late Work
- Policies around extensions differ from school to school, but by writing an A+ email, you can only help your chances.
- Generally, professors only give you an extension under extenuating circumstances, like a major accident. They're going to be less inclined to extend an assignment if you had competing priorities, like work.
- Professors are people too, and they want to help! Especially if you don’t have a history of late work, when you plead your case, they may be more forgiving than you’d expect.
- Especially if you had a major, unforeseen factor pop up in the final moments before submitting your assignment, you may be able to explain and limit your punishment.
- By offering a respectful and honest apology for your late assignment, you can improve your relationship with your professor, earn their respect, and possibly limit your late assignment’s penalties.
Expert Q&A
You Might Also Like
- ↑ https://dean.williams.edu/files/2010/09/Guide-to-Emailing-Professors-1.pdf
- ↑ https://advising.yalecollege.yale.edu/how-write-email-your-instructor
- ↑ https://studentaffairs.loyno.edu/health-counseling/university-counseling-center/news-ucc/emailing-your-professor-tips-tricks-health
- ↑ https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/how-to-ask-for-an-extension/
- ↑ https://www.makemyassignments.com/blog/how-to-complete-your-assignments-before-the-deadline/
- ↑ https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2019/09/23/tips-handling-missed-deadline-opinion
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How to manage the 11:59 PM Deadline Comfortably
If you have ever had trouble submitting an assignment or received a penalty for minutes late submission, you understand how strict some professors can be. From losing an entire grade to losing a specific percentage of the grade or re-sitting a paper submitting an assignment (essay, discussion post, online quiz, homework, or research paper) can affect you as a student.
Late assignment submissions, albeit controversial, aim to make students learn the aspect of time management. Unfortunately, the immutable deadlines are sometimes biting lazy students, pushing them to begin working early and avoid even 1-minute late submissions.
Even though some educators might offer a grace period for a minimal time, some will apply a sliding scale late policy where they deduct a percentage of the score for each hour or day you are late with your assignments.
From the perspective of the professors, such policies ensure fairness for students who submitted their assignments earlier. We have tips and tricks to help you understand and manage minute late submissions to avoid being on the wrong side of the zero-tolerance late policy of your university.
What causes students to submit assignments late?
Different reasons can cause you to submit assignments late. We are addressing them here so that you are in the know and so that you can devise various strategies to avoid the associated late submission penalties.
Here are the top nine reasons students submit assignments late (you can use some when requesting a late submission from your professor or instructor):
1. Procrastination
Students sometimes find themselves missing submission due dates due to procrastination. Sometimes, procrastination can occur with the rigorous nature of studies and the fact that some students work and study. Furthermore, life outside of class, such as parties, festivals, movies, and meeting with friends, leaves one with little time to complete assignments on time. Having commitments and deciding to complete an assignment later can cause you actually to miss the deadline. Common ground is if you later learn that the assignment is demanding or complex or do not know what to write or hate writing essays.
2. Waiting for a response from a professor
Another reason students find themselves unable to meet submission deadlines is due to the late response from a professor. In most cases, especially when assignments are complicated, you can seek clarifications from your lecturer or professor. However, if your professor responds to your email late, the chances are that you will also submit the assignment late. We will see shortly how to manage such situations and avoid submitting your assignments late.
3. Lack of proper planning and time management
This happens mostly for working students. They often find themselves having too much on their schedule that they probably forget to complete and submit a school assignment early. For instance, if you are an undergraduate or MBA student working and studying, having assignments that require time at work can hamper your completion date for the assignments from school.
4. Writer's Block
Sometimes it is not about did I get the question right? or inadequate time management. Even with the right skills, time, and resources, you might still feel lazy to complete an assignment. With the fast-paced world around us, we get fatigued faster. Suppose you are one of those that like completing assignments last-minute; writers' block has probably messed you up before. We have tips to address this, as we shall see shortly.
5. Lack of knowledge about the assignment
Finally, lacking the knowledge to complete an assignment can make you submit it late. Sometimes, you will end up submitting a late assignment that is incomplete : two wrongs at a go. In addition, many classmates might not be willing to assist you with understanding the assignment.
6. Using shitty assignment help websites
Today, almost seven out of ten students use an assignment writing service. However, without choosing a reliable and legit service, you might run into problems with your submission deadlines. Mainly, this occurs due to the late submission of assignments by writers. Rogue writers are everywhere online, from Twitter to Reddit and now Facebook; they will approach you with sweet deals, and once you assign them to your homework and pay them to do it, they disappear on the internet. Putting too much trust in another person without a legit website to write your essay or assignment can mess you. We had a case where a client wanted to use our write my late assignment ASAP service because a previous writer from Twitter had held their paper ransom and requested more payment or expose them to their school and professor. Well, you can manage this by working with our custom assignment help website.
7. You just hate writing assignments
The assignment writing process is tedious and rigorous. For instance, when writing an essay, you begin by researching, then drafting an outline, and going all the way to proofreading and editing. As a result, if you hate writing homework, you might be slow and find yourself submitting an assignment late.
8. Unforeseeable Circumstances
Deadline violation often occurs when you face nasty circumstances that you cannot foresee as a human being. These circumstances include disasters, sickness, death, accidents, or injuries. Professors have a soft spot for accepting minutes late submissions if you face these issues, so you need not worry as long as you have proof. Sometimes it is your laptop that got either rained on, attacked by a virus, or stolen. Whatever happens to your computer or laptop, you probably do not have time to complete the assignment or begin doing it over and beat the deadline unless you are very fast.
9. Poor Internet
We have cases when you travel for the weekend, visit with others (friends or family), which can cause you to either forget submitting or, because you are in a hurry, to save the assignment on your laptop or phone and submit it later.
If you run into slow internet issues or poor coverage, you might find yourself turning in an assignment later than the 11:59 PM deadline or the deadline set by your professor.
Tips and Tricks to use to avoid minute-late submissions
To avoid submitting assignments after the deadline, missing full marks due to lateness, or earning a bad reputation, it is necessary to take precautions. Here are some tips and tricks that you can use to avoid turning in assignments later than the due date and time.
Do your assignment early enough
Even with one-minute lateness, submitting an assignment later incurs some loss as a student. Expressly, professors and lecturers set the dates on Canvas and Turnitin and set an automatic deduction once your work is late.
If you know that your deadline for a ten or 5-page paper is 11:59 Sunday or Wednesday, and you have been assigned the paper 3-5 days before the deadline, the best thing is to begin earlier.
Students who draft a research paper or essay plan often find it easier to complete assignments within the deadlines than those who do not. As soon as you are assigned a paper, make it a point to clarify anything unclear with the professor. This leaves you plenty of time to research, decide on a topic, write the first draft, edit, and submit the paper on time.
Write the fast draft early enough, then edit later as the deadline nears. Sometimes, submitting an assignment too early might be judged by the professor as a result of rushing the paper. Therefore, before you hit the submit button, ensure that everything is addressed per the instructions and the rubric.
Set your deadline early before the actual submission deadline
Apart from just beginning the paper early, another excellent strategy is to set your personal deadline for completing the paper early than the actual deadline. If an assignment is due in 5 days, set your deadline to 3 or 4 days. You can use the rest of the deadline to do other stuff or equally edit the paper thoroughly.
There is some deep joy and peace that comes with completing a paper. However, you can only experience the moment when you complete the paper.
Do not procrastinate editing and submitting the final draft.
Sometimes, students write the papers early enough and procrastinate editing and proofreading. Nevertheless, doing so might land you in trouble because you might experience unforeseeable circumstances. For instance, your laptop might crash, or you can fall too ill to complete the paper. However, if you have an unrefined paper, you can hire a proofreader or editor to paraphrase, edit, and polish your essay. It is, however, a great practice to completely do away with a paper before committing your time elsewhere. Instead, plan your time, have adequate rest, and allocate the time you have the highest concentration to completing your paper.
Have an accountability partner, group, or study buddy
Another great way to ensure that you complete assignments before deadlines entails having an accountability partner, study group, or a study buddy.
An accountability partner is an effective strategy that helps you set and achieve goals. It also helps you maintain the zeal to complete assignments, read course materials, and hone your writing/reading/research skills.
With a study group, you will have members who share interests. They will likely remind you about your unsubmitted assignments and keep you in check. They can also be helpful with research and sharing insights on how to approach an assignment.
Finally, a study buddy (a friend, classmate, or roommate) can help you maintain the morale of reading, studying, and completing assignments.
Having either of the three can help you begin working on your assignments early enough to avoid the last-minute rush.
Email your professor for a deadline extension
If you are very sure you have done your best to complete a paper, but due to unavoidable circumstances, you cannot complete the paper on time, you can request your professor to accept a late submission. Note that with such a request, you must have proof. For instance, if your excuse is being sick or a family member died or fell ill, you should produce credible hospital evidence. In most cases, if the email is not answered soon enough, proceed to call your professor.
If you have already submitted an assignment later than the set deadline, email your professor to convince them not to hit you with the 10-25% deadline violation penalty. You should apologize and then explain the reasons for submitting the assignment late. Also, suggest how being rated poorly might affect your GPA and convince your professor that you will never submit a paper late again.
Play around with Turnitin Settings
If you want to make your professor not penalize you for late submission, you can tweak some settings on the Turnitin website. First, you can modify the assignment link from the control panel. First, select the Course Tools, then pick the assignment whose link you wish to edit. Next, select the link to the assignment and then select Edit Assignment. You can then comfortably change the deadline so that your submission deadline is within the deadline.
Another common trick you can use is submitting a corrupted Word or PDF file of the assignment. In this case, since your professor cannot open the file, they will write to you requesting the original uncorrupted file. You can use the time in between to complete your paper and wait for their call or email request.
Finally, you can also find a way to edit the submitted assignment by editing the content folder. In the case of Turnitin, you will find the link to the assignment and click on the Action Link tab to make the change.
Since these are not guaranteed tips to work because of ongoing updates, you should contact your professor because they are a person who has emotions. Alternatively, complete your papers early enough.
Work with a last-minute assignment service.
The ultimate trick to avoid minutes-late submission is hiring a fast essay writing service to write your last-minute paper. Gradecrest has experts who can write your last-minute essay faster. Our writers are experienced enough to write two pages within an hour or ten pages in 6-8 hours. Therefore, if you realize that the deadline is very close and you cannot complete your assignment, you can use our affordable academic writing services.
When someone is working on your paper, keep them on your toes, ask for progress, and involve yourself so that the final paper has much of your input and matches your writing style. Also, work with credible writing websites to avoid having papers that are traceable through Turnitin.
Understanding the 11:59 PM assignment submission deadline
11:59 PM, mainly on Sunday nights, is a dreaded time by many students. It is when all the discussion posts, assignments, essays, and most homework are due.
For Canvas, SafeAssign, and Turnitin, it is common to see the submission deadline set at 11:59 PM- a minute to midnight. If you do not take the precautions, we have highlighted above, the chances are that your 1-minute lateness might cost you a grade.
Submitting assignments at 11:59 means, you can submit your assignment at 11:59:59 PM. After the deadline, Turnitin, SafeAssign, or Canva automatically marks the submission as late.
Such lateness could be why you miss an A or B and get a poor grade for an otherwise easy paper. Therefore, complete your assignments on time, use writing services, plan your time, and consult with your instructor early enough to avoid late submission penalties.
You might incur risks when you submit an assignment later than 11:59 PM. First, you will face the consequences of being late. One of the consequences includes being undermarked. You can as well be requested to take a re-sit of the paper or lose the marks altogether. Either way, your final grade will be impacted by otherwise avoidable circumstances.
Note that 12-, 24-, or 1-hour late submissions are treated the same as 1-minute late submissions in terms of consequences.
Another risk of submitting an assignment late is facing technical hitches with the system. For example, your internet might act up, and also, because everyone is rushing to submit at the last minute, the chances are that the system gets overloaded and slow.
Before you close this Tab, ...
We have looked at some of the best strategies to avoid submitting your assignments late. However, if you are a frequent late assignment submitter, these tips and tricks can work well in your favor.
Related Reading:
- What is the acceptable Turnitin similarity percentage for essays and assignments?
Above all, you can always spare some cash to hire an assignment writer to assist if you have little time on your hands. However, if you have adequate time, avoid procrastination and writer's block by planning early, setting your own deadlines, and consulting with your instructor early enough.
We have experts if you have an online exam and want someone who can write your short answers in real time. They can save you from violating the exam deadlines.
Gradecrest is a professional writing service that provides original model papers. We offer personalized services along with research materials for assistance purposes only. All the materials from our website should be used with proper references. See our Terms of Use Page for proper details.
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Is it unreasonable to set assignment deadlines on Saturday/Sunday?
I read a similar question ( Knowing that most students submit assignments right around the deadline, is it advisable not to set deadline that is very late at night? ) about setting assignment deadlines at different hours of the day (e.g., 9 AM, noon, 5 PM, 9 PM, midnight).
At my institution, we use a learning management system to manage our courses. I require students to use it to submit all of the assignments for the course.
I am wondering if it is reasonable to set assignment deadlines on Sunday.
On the one hand, I don't want to ruin the weekend for students who may be working on my assignment at the last minute.
- However, I feel that Sunday deadlines have minimal conflicts with students' other commitments. If for example I were to set the deadline on Monday, students may skip classes to meet my deadline, or they may be busy with work from other classes.
Question: Is it unreasonable to set assignment deadlines on Saturday/Sunday, say 6 PM on Sunday? Would this be forcing students to work on the weekends?
- Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat . – eykanal Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 15:24
- "The assignment is due Friday by 5pm. However, I'll accept it until Sunday if you need extra time." – Mikey Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 15:37
23 Answers 23
Don't assume anything about your students' schedules. Set your deadlines so everyone can manage their time based on their own needs.
You are concerned about encouraging your students to do work on the weekends. Consider that many students have customer service jobs that require them to work on the weekends (retail, restaurants, etc). They might work nights or swing shifts. They might have children to care for at certain times. You have no way of knowing if doing homework on a Saturday or Sunday is convenient for them or not.
Don't arbitrarily pick a deadline based on what you perceive to be best for them. Give your students a full week to work on assignments if you can, because they might only have small chunks of time available to do homework. Make it due when it really needs to be done, such as when the next class starts.
For example, I worked 10 PM to 7 AM Thursday through Sunday for my first couple of years in college. I often worked on homework during my lunch breaks, which could be at 2 AM on Monday morning. I'm sure all of my instructors assumed I would/should be sleeping at 2 AM, but it was actually a perfect opportunity to finish up homework.
Since there will always be students that procrastinate, and some percentage will inevitably have an emergency at the last moment, you may want to make it clear at the beginning of the course that you are not able to grant any extensions for any reason, because the deadline is already at the last possible moment. Also give the reason why that's the case, whether it's because you will review it in class, or there will be a quiz on it they need to be prepared for, or whatever the reason is. Be clear that since you are already giving extra time, you expect them to manage that time properly, so that an unexpected difficulty does not make their homework late.
You can always choose to make exceptions later for truly exceptional circumstances, but having a clear policy that you don't make exceptions will discourage people from taking advantage of your already generous deadlines. I've taken many classes with this policy, and I've never heard anyone complain about it.
- 7 This all the way. There is no possible way you could anticipate what time would be most convenient for all students, since there are so many things factoring into that (course schedules, work schedules, family needs, religious observances, social engagements, ...). Let the students manage their own schedules. – NeutronStar Commented Feb 21, 2018 at 14:44
- I'd add the caveat that your deadlines need to take into account that some some submissions will be late. An example of where this matters is when you intend to release solutions in the next class. A deadline just before the class will run into problems when some students submit late. (And there's always a valid reason - death in family, institution-mandated extension due to disabilities, etc.) – beldaz Commented Feb 21, 2018 at 21:14
- 4 @beldaz are you proposing the deadline artificially be moved up so there's a period where assignments can be late and not cause any problems? Because I don't see how that would be helpful. If someone is supposed to get more time for homework, that doesn't mean you shorten the time for everyone else. If someone has a death in the family just before your earlier "soft" deadline, they're probably not going to get over it and get their homework done before class. Maybe I'm missing your point? – Kat Commented Feb 22, 2018 at 1:42
- 1 @Kat the example of death in family is just an extreme one I've encountered a couple of times, so don't get hung up on it. But it's pretty common to be required to grant ~1 day extension for students with disabilities (I get about 5 a year of those). So my point is to avoid making a submission policy that is so rigid that you create problems for yourself. Personally I prefer setting an earlier deadline, which I can then extend if many of my students say they are struggling to meet. – beldaz Commented Feb 22, 2018 at 5:07
- 2 @beldaz so what happens if students physically hand in their homework at the beginning of the next class? I maintain that artificially moving up your deadlines so you can give "extensions" instead of giving everyone more time is absurd and obviously against the spirit of the requirement of extra time, but I'll grant you that bureaucracy sometimes creates absurd situations. I don't think I will recommend that strategy in my answer, though. – Kat Commented Feb 22, 2018 at 19:37
It's fine. Students are expected to manage their time appropriately.
However , one of the things I despise most as a student is when the instructor doesn't finish covering the material needed for the assignment until shortly before it's due. So if, for example, you have a Friday lecture that contains information pertinent to the assignment (other than to answer clarifying questions and such for those who've waited that long), making the assignment due Sunday almost certainly eliminates the possibility of a free weekend.
- 14 The worst case I had of this was when the assignment was due at 5 pm, with our lecture covering important material from 2-3 pm! That was a stressful 2 hours ... – Jezzamon Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 16:33
- 47 What are these things you call "free weekends"? – Kimball Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 17:33
- 65 Some kind of theoretical construct. Clearly no practical applications. – Peter Schilling Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 17:45
- 4 @Jezzamon The worst case I had was an assignment due at 8 a.m., with the lecture covering the important material from 8 to 10... I skipped that class that year. Next year's instructor did a better job. – Alexander Commented Feb 22, 2018 at 0:52
It's absolutely valid to set deadlines on Sunday evening. You do not force the students to work on weekends. This is their own responsibility to manage their workload. They are still allowed to hand in their results on Friday and then they can have a free weekend. One may even argue that a deadline on the weekend gives even greater freedom to the students as they have two additional days.
Time management is one ability that is trained while attending university. Students should be allowed to make their own experience. In their future jobs, there will be quite a lot of deadlines such as "until next week" which is also a deadline on Sunday.
- 92 The assumption here is that it is reasonably possible to finish the assignment before the weekend. If that's the case, I agree with this answer. If not, it's better to postpone the deadline. – user25112 Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 12:34
- 5 Personally I always appeeciated weekend project deadlines as an undergraduate. – MooseBoys Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 17:03
- 3 If the weekend does not count toward the amount of time allocated for the assignment, why not put it on Friday ? Putting it on Sunday would only make it seem as if they have more time than they actually have. (If student are expected to work on weekends, that's a different story). – zakinster Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 17:13
- 1 Even with good time management it is nice to have some backup time in the deadline when I am guaranteed to be free if needed. – user45501 Commented Feb 24, 2018 at 9:47
- Yes. And if any student complains about it, you can always say "well, you can hand it in on Friday if you'd prefer that". – Dawood ibn Kareem Commented Feb 26, 2018 at 11:21
Is IT support available on Sundays at your university? Is there somewhere students can go or somebody they can call if they run into technical difficulties submitting?
If your deadline is, say, noon on Monday or 5pm on Wednesday, then students can get help if they run into trouble. If your deadline is midnight on Sunday, then, on my campus that would mean anybody attempting to submit in the last 55 hours available would be unable to access anything but the out-of-hours hotline. Not only is the existence of this very new, it is of limited help at best. I wouldn't want to be a student relying on this in the face of an imminent deadline.
Note that technical issues can affect even the most adept and experienced users of virtual learning environments. A web browser or OS update, some change to the VLE itself can cause problems or some service can go down. Class policies should assume that Sod's Law has special applicability out of business hours.
- 5 This seems like a non-issue. It's perfectly possible to have a contingency plan for such cases. On the off chance there are problems with the submission system during the hours before the deadline, you can always extend the deadline by a few days (or even just a single day) to give students another chance to submit. – Tom van der Zanden Commented Feb 20, 2018 at 10:41
- 4 @TomvanderZanden You can, but it is an avoidable complication and the OP didn't say anything about actually having thought about this or having communicated such a policy. Not communicating such a policy leaves students to panic if they have difficulties. Communicating such a policy risks giving students an easy excuse if they want to delay for other reasons. I'd rather not have to arbitrate those kinds of cases. And extending the deadline in such cases risks unfairness, too. So I think you invite complications easily avoided. – cfr Commented Feb 20, 2018 at 16:48
- 1 The IT department may even have maintenance to facilities or VLEs scheduled during out-of-hours so that it would be least disruptive. – anotherdave Commented Feb 24, 2018 at 12:31
So, set the deadline for 8AM Monday morning - needs to be convenient for you though, but it does mean that it won't conflict with classes - does depend on the "late hand-in" policy though...
This also depends on the submission method - it sounds like you have an online system in place in this case.
Some students will want the weekend to work on it, others will accept a hand-in on Friday 5PM...
Whatever time you set - stick to it (obviously there are some external factors that can change this ie a fire alarm etc)..
I have peer assessments that have a final closing time of 23.55 Sundays - there are always some students who say it closed too early...
- 5 Students who don't have morning classes tend to get up at noon and stay up all night. I like start of class session X for due. – Joshua Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 18:51
It is reasonable to set deadlines on Sunday night or the like. I've had midnight Sunday deadlines for quizzes and assignments (in math & computing) for about 8 years now; the last lecture each week occurs on Wednesday or Thursday. I've only had one or two student complaints in that time (those from students also holding a full-time job through the weekend). I almost always manage to grade them all in the 10 PM - 1 AM zone Sunday night, so I can turnaround with feedback immediately at the start of Monday. Works well for me.
Edit: A comment by Mehdrad got me curious as to the exact distribution of submission times leading up to the end of Sunday. Below is a chart for one introductory programming assignment from Spring 2017 (N = 25), when I temporarily set the cutoff for 10 PM (thinking that I needed extra time to grade the submissions). In this example, about 55% of submissions are made before 6 PM Sunday; 20% come in 6 PM to 9 PM; and 25% come in the last hour (two being within the last possible 2 minutes). Two faulty attempts were submitted on Wednesday (not shown here) and subsequently cancelled/replaced; and another fourteen students submitted nothing.
- 1 They actually turn it in a full 2 hours early so that you can begin grading at 10pm? That sounds lucky for you! And also sounds like the assignments aren't that long... :-) – user541686 Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 22:35
- 1 @Mehrdad: I think the majority tend to come in by the 7-8 PM hour or so. At 10 PM about two-thirds are submitted and I can usefully get started and pick up the remainder as I'm finishing. (I actually just started experimenting with grading before the deadline last semester and was pleased how it worked.) – Daniel R. Collins Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 22:42
- 1 The "Yes" confused me because I thought it was an answer to the question in the question title (then I realized that the one in the question body is the complete opposite). – nomadictype Commented Feb 20, 2018 at 1:14
- 1 @nomadictype: Ack, I hate it when that happens. Expanded the first sentence to clarify. – Daniel R. Collins Commented Feb 20, 2018 at 1:24
- For your statistic, Is it possible the someone has finished the task but waited until the last hour to submit it, to have the chance to review or improve it. – Shuangistan Commented Feb 21, 2018 at 17:15
Allow the students as long as you possibly can from when they have all required information for the assignment to when it must be turned in. The turn in time should be based on when you need to start grading in order to return the assignments when you plan to do so.
Every student has their own life, schedule, work commitments, classes etc. A narrow window that is fine for one student may be very inconvenient for others. Making the window as wide as possible increases the chances that every student will have an opportunity to concentrate on your assignment, and get the most benefit from it. Making the window narrower than necessary will lead to some students trying to do the assignment during a work lunch break, or cutting into their sleep time.
The students who choose to leave each assignment until just before its deadline are not your problem. They are adults making a sub-optimal choice. Look after the students who are doing their best with time management, but may not have a free hour until Saturday afternoon.
Leaving the assignment at the last minute, especially in order to enjoy the weekend, sounds more like a choice than an obligation. I don't think it's your responsibility to do time and goal management for your students, especially if they are adults.
Otherwise I want to agree with Solar Mike, just pick something and stick to it. Your student will manage their time to make things work for them.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with that, especially since the submission of the assignment is done online. Saturday and Sunday are only two days. If the students have to sacrifice their weekend to complete the assignment, that is usually because they didn’t manage their time wisely during the days before.
It seems that your options are to either set a deadline on Friday evening or over the weekend. Let's turn the question around. Suppose you enforced the Friday deadline. Would you actually mark the submitted work over the weekend, or would you wait until Monday?
If the answer is that you'd take the weekend off and start marking on Monday, then it's the Friday deadline that's unreasonable. Why would you demand that students hand in work so that you can ignore it for two full days? Set the deadline for Sunday night (or even early Monday morning) and let the students manage their own time. If keeping the weekend work-free is important to them, they'll make sure their work is finished by Friday.
Conversely, if you would spend the weekend marking, a Friday deadline would make sense. Whether or not it would make more sense than a Sunday/Monday deadline depends on other factors.
Sometimes it's important as a teacher to do things that are unpopular with the students. However, unless there's a good reason otherwise, why not do what the students want? They'll be happier, you'll be happier because they're happier, and you'll get better evaluations. And you can think of this as banking some popularity that you can spend when you need to do something important that's unpopular. In this case I'm pretty confident that the students would prefer a deadline on a weekday, but if you're not confident why not ask them?
As a student I hated nothing more than deadlines before midnight. I would be happy with a deadline on either Sunday 11:59pm or Friday 11:59pm, Sunday would better because that means two more days to do work where I don't have lectures to exhaust me. Trust me when I say that to a student free weekends don't exist anyways/
However Friday 5pm would be horrible. Considering lectures can run until 6pm, a Friday 5pm deadline is equivalent to a Thursday midnight deadline. Unless you are deadset on marking that evening I don't see why the deadline couldn't be moved to midnight.
Would it really make a big difference for you, it sure would to a student, thats a good few hours lost, and making deadlines harder to hit simply because 'students need to learn time management' is a terrible reason.
- 1 If I set you a Friday 5pm deadline, it's because I intend to give up a good chunk of my weekend to mark your work. – David Richerby Commented Feb 20, 2018 at 16:10
- If your assignments are taking a good chunk of a weekend, they're too big to be assignments or your class is too big to be marked by one person in a reasonable time. – Nij Commented Feb 21, 2018 at 8:52
There are two major concerns with setting weekend deadlines,
a number of students may not have access to a computer in order to submit online, at that time. Beware of disadvantaging groups of students that tend to face this restriction. This can be avoided by ensuring sufficient computer availability on campus, which is likely to be true.
the times over the weekend may be inconsistent, disrupting regular schedules for some students. In particular this will affect students who have significant work or family commitments while studying that they cannot just "time management" away. This can be avoided by setting every assignment to the same time every time e.g. Sunday at 1700 local.
Apart from considerations to ensure all students have an opportunity to meet this submission time, the actual submission time itself is largely irrelevant.
Students who are ready earlier can submit earlier or improve their work over the weekend. Students who are not ready earlier will appreciate an educator who doesn't respond to issues in the learner's life with "too bad, you should have been perfect like I want to pretend I was".
A colleague of mine recently included a question about deadlines in the course evaluation survey. The deadlines for the assignments were set on Saturday at midnight. The students (~40) overwhelmingly commented that deadlines on Saturday were "perfect", "not a problem", "very convenient". Only one student was dissatisfied with having the deadline on Saturday and commented that they would have preferred Sunday!
So, at least from the students, it seems there are no objections. Moreover, you are not "forcing" them to work during the weekend, but, by setting a weekend-deadline, you know that many of them will choose to. However, when you set the deadline does not affect the total amount of work : if they choose to work on the assignment during the weekend, they have more time off during the week.
- 2 " when you set the deadline does not affect the total amount of work" That is far from certain. – Acccumulation Commented Feb 20, 2018 at 16:34
- Hmmm "Saturday at midnight" Is that midnight the first moment of Saturday or the last? As various people interpret "Saturday at midnight" differently, suggest a less ambiguous deadline. Deadline by "the end of Saturday" – chux - Reinstate Monica Commented Feb 23, 2018 at 5:26
The common argument is that you are simply giving students a choice; if a student is still working on Sunday, that's their choice. While this argument certainly has some validity, taking it to its logical conclusion, if a sporting event were to allow steroids, then they are simply offering a choice, and if anyone takes steroids, that is simply their choice. Clearly, anyone competing against people using steroids would not feel that they have a "choice" whether to use steroids or not. Similarly, a student whose work is going to be evaluated in comparison to someone who worked the whole weekend may not feel that they have a "choice" whether to work the weekend as well. A central issue is how much of an impact extra time has on the result. The more sharply the assignment runs into diminishing returns with additional time spent, the less of an issue this is. (Note that if your assignments do offer a significant advantage to those who spend a lot of time on them, you should be taking a serious look at whether you can design the assignments differently and reduce time without reducing academic value; students should be evaluated on how well they understand the material, not how much time they're willing to spend on assignments. Sometimes spending a lot of time on assignments is necessary, but as an instructor, one of your obligations is to work towards optimizing the value received/time spent ratio.)
Another argument is that you should not be doing time management for your students. While time management is primarily the student's obligation, that doesn't mean that instructors shouldn't consider it. Instructors should design their courses to support student learning, and that means taking students' challenges into account. There seems to be an undercurrent to this argument that procrastination is a form of mental weakness, and making accommodations for it is coddling students. However, procrastination is quite often a result of anxiety or other conditions that should be taken seriously, and not dismissed as merely being character flaws. There are going to be some people for whom dashing off a paper on Friday and turning it in knowing that they did the best they could because that's when the deadline is, is significantly less stressful than having a Sunday deadline and spending the weekend feeling like they "should" be spending the time polishing the paper and worrying whether there's some flaw that they could fix if they just spent more time on it.
These are issues that you'll have to weigh. There's no universal answer; I'm not saying that you definitely shouldn't have a Sunday deadlines, I'm just pointing out that there are valid concerns with such a deadline.
The only reason I can think of where this would not be "reasonable" is if the students weren't being given ample time to do the assignment.
If you were assigning the work on Friday, for example, and asking for it to be due on Sunday, that may not be reasonable. Why not let them have Monday morning to do the work? However, assuming the assignment only takes an hour or so to complete, there should be no problem with assigning something on, say, a Wednesday and having it due Sunday.
So long as there is enough lead time, that bit about students potentially procrastinating until Sunday is their problem, not yours. If you assign it on a Wednesday and it's not due until Sunday, it's not your fault if they elect to wait until the last minute just because you gave them extra time. If they don't like doing the work on Sundays, they will learn to carve out some time to get it done before the weekend.
One other recommendation I'd make: if there is a good reason for having a six PM Sunday deadline, then share that reason with your students. If I told my class, "I like to look over the homework submissions on Sunday night while I'm preparing my Monday lecture; that way, I can see if there is anything we might need to revisit," I think my students would respect that.
It is common for assignment due dates to be specified in the course outline/syllabus. Then the due dates are generally discussed during the first class period or two as the students become acclimated to the course. Since the students know well in advance what is expected of them it is their responsibility to decide when to get things done.
It is often wise to avoid changing due dates as this can be surprising for students. The exception to this is to provide additional time to complete the assignment. For example, if the assignment was originally due on Friday but you extend the due date to Sunday night few will complain. However, if the due date was originally Monday and you move it to Sunday night before this could cause problems. Of course, if there was no original due date this does not apply but it would be strange to have no general idea of when you want an assignment submitted when planning a course. I'm sure we all complain if the Dean changes the due date of various administrative task and students are no different.
Therefore, it is best to stick to the due dates specified in the course outline (if they are there) or to extend the due date but to avoid moving the due date up.
As most others have said, the main thing is: give students enough time to get the assignment done. Given that, no deadline is too bad.
Other than that, I think a good deadline should be at or near the "end of working hours" (or at the very start, which basically is the same). Because that maximises the student's capacity for time management. Most of us like to "flow", so planning a full day for a given assignment is normal. And if they need to use the whole last day (not the best idea but still a possibility) allow them. For most people that is at/after sundown. People working nights know they are doing it different and will adjust as usual for them.
As to the day. Do you do classes on weekends? So fine, make a deadline on sunday. You do not? So, why would you expect students to be working on a sunday then? Students may have days off too, no? Set the deadline for a regular working day, please. Sure, students use weekends (I did, I do, I will, I hope) but it is their choice not your's
Just to throw my own two cents' worth in: I like to try to pretend that I won't necessarily demand anything of students (even grad students) outside of some sort of reasonable work-week. Otherwise, I'd feel that I was pretending to command more of their life than I'd really feel I have any right to.
So all due dates are "within the work week". Yes, this has implications for due dates that are early in the beginning of the work-week... Regardless of rationalizations about planning... I don't do this.
Also, by the way, all due dates are known at least two weeks or so prior, so there's hopefully no abusive creation of conflicts or sacrifices and so on.
- 1 Good point about announcing due dates two weeks prior so that students can plan their time appropriately – I Like to Code Commented Feb 23, 2018 at 0:56
- @ILiketoCode :) .... – paul garrett Commented Feb 23, 2018 at 1:04
As a student, and being the few ones that had a good computer at home at the time, I joined a few colleagues and often we did work at night for several reasons . I also had a couple of side jobs in my first few years of University.
One of the reasons, is that it can get pretty hot in the Summer time, and besides the night silence, you work cooler and focus more at night.
For me at the time, an assignment deadline of 0800AM Monday would allow me both to work during the day/or enjoy the beach in Summer time and working towards the assignment during the night.
If you intend to start grading the assignment when you get to your office on Monday morning, what would be the point in NOT allowing students until midnight Sunday? (And, of course, accepting work that arrived in the early hours of Monday morning, as long as it WAS 'on your desk' by start of work hours Monday.)
Clearly a Saturday/Sunday deadline is more generous than the previous Friday, but less generous than the following Monday. If a deadline on the previous Friday was not unreasonable, then an extension to a deadline on the Saturday/Sunday cannot be unreasonable. (After all, students can always hand it in on the Friday if they prefer.)
- This is not at all clear to me. It seems you are missing the psychological component here! – user111388 Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 10:47
- It is not the job of academics to pander to the irrational psychological foibles of their students. – Ben Commented Sep 8, 2020 at 22:37
- This "irrational psychological foible" seems to be widespread among students, researchers, industry people and so on. While it may or may not be part of academic's job, it is still not "clear" that it is more generous. – user111388 Commented Sep 9, 2020 at 8:33
This is probably not a major concern for most of your students, but I mention it because it would have affected me as a student, and it has not yet been addressed by any of the other answers: Some students may belong to religious faiths in which doing work on Saturday or Sunday is prohibited. For example, observant Orthodox Jews and Seventh Day Adventists generally would not do homework from sundown Friday evening until sundown Saturday night. (I am not sure of specific Christian denominations that would have a similar prohibition against working on Sundays, but I have no doubt that they exist.) For such a student, making an assignment due on the weekend neither constitutes extra time nor a temptation to procrastinate; rather, it effectively means that they have one less day to get their work completed than the rest of the class.
Now, I don't think faculty should feel obligated to accommodate every student's religious observances -- Sabbath-observant people are used to living in a world that is not designed around our needs. But in the same way that you would probably not schedule an exam on Christmas day or Rosh Hashana, you might want to consider whether weekend deadlines place any of your students under a disadvantage relative to their classmates.
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Understanding Assignments
What this handout is about.
The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more tips.
Basic beginnings
Regardless of the assignment, department, or instructor, adopting these two habits will serve you well :
- Read the assignment carefully as soon as you receive it. Do not put this task off—reading the assignment at the beginning will save you time, stress, and problems later. An assignment can look pretty straightforward at first, particularly if the instructor has provided lots of information. That does not mean it will not take time and effort to complete; you may even have to learn a new skill to complete the assignment.
- Ask the instructor about anything you do not understand. Do not hesitate to approach your instructor. Instructors would prefer to set you straight before you hand the paper in. That’s also when you will find their feedback most useful.
Assignment formats
Many assignments follow a basic format. Assignments often begin with an overview of the topic, include a central verb or verbs that describe the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to get you started.
An Overview of Some Kind
The instructor might set the stage with some general discussion of the subject of the assignment, introduce the topic, or remind you of something pertinent that you have discussed in class. For example:
“Throughout history, gerbils have played a key role in politics,” or “In the last few weeks of class, we have focused on the evening wear of the housefly …”
The Task of the Assignment
Pay attention; this part tells you what to do when you write the paper. Look for the key verb or verbs in the sentence. Words like analyze, summarize, or compare direct you to think about your topic in a certain way. Also pay attention to words such as how, what, when, where, and why; these words guide your attention toward specific information. (See the section in this handout titled “Key Terms” for more information.)
“Analyze the effect that gerbils had on the Russian Revolution”, or “Suggest an interpretation of housefly undergarments that differs from Darwin’s.”
Additional Material to Think about
Here you will find some questions to use as springboards as you begin to think about the topic. Instructors usually include these questions as suggestions rather than requirements. Do not feel compelled to answer every question unless the instructor asks you to do so. Pay attention to the order of the questions. Sometimes they suggest the thinking process your instructor imagines you will need to follow to begin thinking about the topic.
“You may wish to consider the differing views held by Communist gerbils vs. Monarchist gerbils, or Can there be such a thing as ‘the housefly garment industry’ or is it just a home-based craft?”
These are the instructor’s comments about writing expectations:
“Be concise”, “Write effectively”, or “Argue furiously.”
Technical Details
These instructions usually indicate format rules or guidelines.
“Your paper must be typed in Palatino font on gray paper and must not exceed 600 pages. It is due on the anniversary of Mao Tse-tung’s death.”
The assignment’s parts may not appear in exactly this order, and each part may be very long or really short. Nonetheless, being aware of this standard pattern can help you understand what your instructor wants you to do.
Interpreting the assignment
Ask yourself a few basic questions as you read and jot down the answers on the assignment sheet:
Why did your instructor ask you to do this particular task?
Who is your audience.
- What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas?
What kind of writing style is acceptable?
- What are the absolute rules of the paper?
Try to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your instructor has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to you at a particular point in the semester. In every assignment, the instructor has a challenge for you. This challenge could be anything from demonstrating an ability to think clearly to demonstrating an ability to use the library. See the assignment not as a vague suggestion of what to do but as an opportunity to show that you can handle the course material as directed. Paper assignments give you more than a topic to discuss—they ask you to do something with the topic. Keep reminding yourself of that. Be careful to avoid the other extreme as well: do not read more into the assignment than what is there.
Of course, your instructor has given you an assignment so that they will be able to assess your understanding of the course material and give you an appropriate grade. But there is more to it than that. Your instructor has tried to design a learning experience of some kind. Your instructor wants you to think about something in a particular way for a particular reason. If you read the course description at the beginning of your syllabus, review the assigned readings, and consider the assignment itself, you may begin to see the plan, purpose, or approach to the subject matter that your instructor has created for you. If you still aren’t sure of the assignment’s goals, try asking the instructor. For help with this, see our handout on getting feedback .
Given your instructor’s efforts, it helps to answer the question: What is my purpose in completing this assignment? Is it to gather research from a variety of outside sources and present a coherent picture? Is it to take material I have been learning in class and apply it to a new situation? Is it to prove a point one way or another? Key words from the assignment can help you figure this out. Look for key terms in the form of active verbs that tell you what to do.
Key Terms: Finding Those Active Verbs
Here are some common key words and definitions to help you think about assignment terms:
Information words Ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why.
- define —give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning
- describe —provide details about the subject by answering question words (such as who, what, when, where, how, and why); you might also give details related to the five senses (what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell)
- explain —give reasons why or examples of how something happened
- illustrate —give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject
- summarize —briefly list the important ideas you learned about the subject
- trace —outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form
- research —gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you have found
Relation words Ask you to demonstrate how things are connected.
- compare —show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different)
- contrast —show how two or more things are dissimilar
- apply —use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation
- cause —show how one event or series of events made something else happen
- relate —show or describe the connections between things
Interpretation words Ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Do not see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation.
- assess —summarize your opinion of the subject and measure it against something
- prove, justify —give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth
- evaluate, respond —state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons
- support —give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe)
- synthesize —put two or more things together that have not been put together in class or in your readings before; do not just summarize one and then the other and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together that runs all the way through the paper
- analyze —determine how individual parts create or relate to the whole, figure out how something works, what it might mean, or why it is important
- argue —take a side and defend it with evidence against the other side
More Clues to Your Purpose As you read the assignment, think about what the teacher does in class:
- What kinds of textbooks or coursepack did your instructor choose for the course—ones that provide background information, explain theories or perspectives, or argue a point of view?
- In lecture, does your instructor ask your opinion, try to prove their point of view, or use keywords that show up again in the assignment?
- What kinds of assignments are typical in this discipline? Social science classes often expect more research. Humanities classes thrive on interpretation and analysis.
- How do the assignments, readings, and lectures work together in the course? Instructors spend time designing courses, sometimes even arguing with their peers about the most effective course materials. Figuring out the overall design to the course will help you understand what each assignment is meant to achieve.
Now, what about your reader? Most undergraduates think of their audience as the instructor. True, your instructor is a good person to keep in mind as you write. But for the purposes of a good paper, think of your audience as someone like your roommate: smart enough to understand a clear, logical argument, but not someone who already knows exactly what is going on in your particular paper. Remember, even if the instructor knows everything there is to know about your paper topic, they still have to read your paper and assess your understanding. In other words, teach the material to your reader.
Aiming a paper at your audience happens in two ways: you make decisions about the tone and the level of information you want to convey.
- Tone means the “voice” of your paper. Should you be chatty, formal, or objective? Usually you will find some happy medium—you do not want to alienate your reader by sounding condescending or superior, but you do not want to, um, like, totally wig on the man, you know? Eschew ostentatious erudition: some students think the way to sound academic is to use big words. Be careful—you can sound ridiculous, especially if you use the wrong big words.
- The level of information you use depends on who you think your audience is. If you imagine your audience as your instructor and they already know everything you have to say, you may find yourself leaving out key information that can cause your argument to be unconvincing and illogical. But you do not have to explain every single word or issue. If you are telling your roommate what happened on your favorite science fiction TV show last night, you do not say, “First a dark-haired white man of average height, wearing a suit and carrying a flashlight, walked into the room. Then a purple alien with fifteen arms and at least three eyes turned around. Then the man smiled slightly. In the background, you could hear a clock ticking. The room was fairly dark and had at least two windows that I saw.” You also do not say, “This guy found some aliens. The end.” Find some balance of useful details that support your main point.
You’ll find a much more detailed discussion of these concepts in our handout on audience .
The Grim Truth
With a few exceptions (including some lab and ethnography reports), you are probably being asked to make an argument. You must convince your audience. It is easy to forget this aim when you are researching and writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details and focus on learning or simply telling the information you have found. You need to do more than just repeat what you have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Sometimes instructors call this sentence a “thesis” or a “claim.”
So, if your instructor tells you to write about some aspect of oral hygiene, you do not want to just list: “First, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some peanut butter. Then, you floss with unwaxed, bologna-flavored string. Finally, gargle with bourbon.” Instead, you could say, “Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Association.” Or, “From an aesthetic perspective, moldy teeth can be quite charming. However, their joys are short-lived.”
Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of academic writing. It doesn’t have to say “argument” anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Look at the assignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about it instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information you have to present. For help with understanding the role of argument in academic writing, see our handout on argument .
What kind of evidence do you need?
There are many kinds of evidence, and what type of evidence will work for your assignment can depend on several factors–the discipline, the parameters of the assignment, and your instructor’s preference. Should you use statistics? Historical examples? Do you need to conduct your own experiment? Can you rely on personal experience? See our handout on evidence for suggestions on how to use evidence appropriately.
Make sure you are clear about this part of the assignment, because your use of evidence will be crucial in writing a successful paper. You are not just learning how to argue; you are learning how to argue with specific types of materials and ideas. Ask your instructor what counts as acceptable evidence. You can also ask a librarian for help. No matter what kind of evidence you use, be sure to cite it correctly—see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial .
You cannot always tell from the assignment just what sort of writing style your instructor expects. The instructor may be really laid back in class but still expect you to sound formal in writing. Or the instructor may be fairly formal in class and ask you to write a reflection paper where you need to use “I” and speak from your own experience.
Try to avoid false associations of a particular field with a style (“art historians like wacky creativity,” or “political scientists are boring and just give facts”) and look instead to the types of readings you have been given in class. No one expects you to write like Plato—just use the readings as a guide for what is standard or preferable to your instructor. When in doubt, ask your instructor about the level of formality they expect.
No matter what field you are writing for or what facts you are including, if you do not write so that your reader can understand your main idea, you have wasted your time. So make clarity your main goal. For specific help with style, see our handout on style .
Technical details about the assignment
The technical information you are given in an assignment always seems like the easy part. This section can actually give you lots of little hints about approaching the task. Find out if elements such as page length and citation format (see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial ) are negotiable. Some professors do not have strong preferences as long as you are consistent and fully answer the assignment. Some professors are very specific and will deduct big points for deviations.
Usually, the page length tells you something important: The instructor thinks the size of the paper is appropriate to the assignment’s parameters. In plain English, your instructor is telling you how many pages it should take for you to answer the question as fully as you are expected to. So if an assignment is two pages long, you cannot pad your paper with examples or reword your main idea several times. Hit your one point early, defend it with the clearest example, and finish quickly. If an assignment is ten pages long, you can be more complex in your main points and examples—and if you can only produce five pages for that assignment, you need to see someone for help—as soon as possible.
Tricks that don’t work
Your instructors are not fooled when you:
- spend more time on the cover page than the essay —graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
- use huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length —these tricks are immediately obvious to the eye. Most instructors use the same word processor you do. They know what’s possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the instructor has a stack of 60 papers to grade and yours is the only one that low-flying airplane pilots could read.
- use a paper from another class that covered “sort of similar” material . Again, the instructor has a particular task for you to fulfill in the assignment that usually relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not cover this material, and turning in the same paper for more than one course may constitute an Honor Code violation . Ask the instructor—it can’t hurt.
- get all wacky and “creative” before you answer the question . Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a simple assignment can be good, but you must do what the assignment calls for first. Again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but it will not get you a good grade if you have not fulfilled the task.
Critical reading of assignments leads to skills in other types of reading and writing. If you get good at figuring out what the real goals of assignments are, you are going to be better at understanding the goals of all of your classes and fields of study.
You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Beat Assignment Deadlines: 9 ways to Meet Homework Due Dates
- by Michael Smart
- January 11, 2024
- Study Tools
You must be able to eat assignment deadlines as a student. Other than being instrumental in your grades, beating deadlines show that you observe time and manage yourself well. It is usually not an easy task to keep time and submit your assignment on time.
Strategies to Beat Assignment Deadlines
1. start immediately.
Always start an assignment immediately you receive it. Avoid postponements which encourage more postponements. Starting your assignment early will help you stay focused throughout your assignment.
Make sure that you don’t start early and stop. This will be the same as postponing. Start your assignments early and finish them early.
2. Avoid Multitasking
Avoid doing multiple assignments at a time. It is usually easy to do each assignment on its own than combining many. Combining many assignments at a time will lower your productivity and concentration.
You are likely to spend more time on the assignment as compared to doing each at a time. Multitasking can easily make you use mix-up ideas in assignments.
Correcting these mistakes consume time and may cause unnecessary delays that can lead to late assignment submissions. If you have several assignments, do not panic.
Plan on how you will handle each on its own. It will be easier and you will not strain your mind. You are likely to finish all the assignments on time.
3. Take Timely Breaks
Doing an assignment continuously can drain your energy and tire your brain. Brain fatigue lowers your productivity and concentration. This is may make you take longer breaks than expected.
Taking timely breaks is important. You can give yourself a one or two-hour break and then resume doing your assignment. Reward yourself these breaks.
They will help you complete your work on time as well as produce quality work. Always ensure the breaks are not too long.
Long breaks can make you focus on other things and start postponing your assignments which may expand the duration you take to complete your assignments.
4. Make a Schedule
This is very important in making sure that you manage your time well and beat deadlines. Time management requires you to be organized. This is why you will need a timetable or a schedule.
Make a schedule on how long you will work on your assignment in a day and complete it using the deadline provided and the amount of work you are required to do as the determining factors.
Diaries, calendars, and print timetables can help you make proper schedules for your assignments. Following your schedule to the latter will help you keep your work and time organized and avoid last-minute rushes.
5. Set Personal Homework Deadlines
Using the deadline set by the instructor is a bit risky. Something might come up that may delay you and finding time to fix it may be hard. This can be avoided by setting your deadline.
Use the instructor’s deadline to set your own. It can be a day or week before the actual deadline. If there are hitches, you will have plenty of time to fix them.
An early deadline will also avoid you from final day rushes. Mistakes that may negatively affect your grade will also be avoided.
6. Write During Sensible Times and Places
Some students are fond of doing their assignments late in the night. This may work for some students and be counterproductive to other students.
It is good to do your assignments during the day when your brain is not exhausted. The night of a day that has been full of lectures and activities is not good to do your assignment.
The library is a more conducive environment for doing your assignments compared to your room. Areas, where you can see students around you working, will help maintain your positivity and productivity.
7. Set Targets to Complete your Homework
Apart from personal deadlines, targets will also help you complete your assignment in time. To set targets you can break down a project into individual steps and set the days that each step should be completed.
In a research proposal, for example, you can set dates where the introduction, literature review, and methodology parts are to be completed.
This also helps you manage and pass your projects because you can send regular drafts to your lecturer for feedback.
8. Keep Away Distractions
With the advancement of technology, several distractions may hinder students from concentrating and finishing their assignments before the deadline. Mobile phones are owned by many students.
The access to social media completely withdraws the student’s attention from the assignment. Video games are also very popular. Also, avoid any excuses for late homework unless when such are genuine and necessary.
Students spend hours and hours playing video games and forget about their assignments. Avoiding such distractions increases your chances of finishing assignments early.
9. Online Writing Services
This is an option for students who can’t get time to do their assignments. If you provide for yourself as a student, you may not get enough time to do your assignment and work.
Online writing services can be a good option. All you will need is to place an order and wait for the assignment to be done and delivered as you continue with your job.
Why Students get Late with Assignments
1. early deadlines.
Some instructors do not consider that their students have other activities to do and give them heavy assignments which are to be completed in a short period.
Not every student will get to complete the assignments. Instructors should always be considerate when setting deadlines for their assignments.
2. Distractions
A lot of students spend much time on social media and video games and forget that there is an assignment which needs to be done. Video games and social media platforms are addictive.
If a student doesn’t limit the use of these platforms they are likely to have difficulties completing their assignments because those activities take the most time of their day.
3. Postponing Assignments
Students who see that they have a lot of time to do the assignment and keep postponing it are likely to postpone the assignment to a point where completing the assignment on time is something next to impossible.
Such students will panic and rush to do their assignments. Even if they can complete it, the assignment is likely to be shoddy.
4. Unforeseen Events
Events that the students can’t control can hinder them from completing an assignment before the deadline approaches. These are events that affect everyone or at least most people, not just the student.
Sickness and accidents can make a student lose concentration and fail to complete an assignment on time. Power outages also can delay assignment submission by students. This is one of the reasons why students should not be penalized for late homework , at least not until the instructor establishes the reason for lateness.
5. Lack of Time Management
Students who don’t manage their time well are likely not to meet the deadlines. Managing time involves setting personal deadlines and personal targets considering the workload and time given by the instructor.
Time management without these mini targets is hard. Disorganization may lead to late submissions. Below, find a few tools that I found to be very helpful to manage your time and help finish your assignments before the due date.
Best free time Planning Apps for Students
This app helps students organize projects that they are working on. With the Trello app , you can easily separate tasks on your to-do list, tasks that you have completed, and tasks that you are still working on.
This app helps keep your assignment and thoughts organized. You can easily sync checklists and notes across devices enabling the switch of devices you are working with without losing any information.
Calendars are apps available on all devices. Using calendars, you can plan the days that you will use to tackle your assignment. You can also set a time for each task which you can clear once you are done.
This is a free app on Android and iOS. Through this app, students can set alarms that remind them of the time they have set to do their assignments.
I am an educational writer and blogger focussing on tech, education, and life improvement.
Viewing your assignment's deadline
You can view the deadline for an assignment at any time through the README of your assignment repository.
In this article
About assignment deadlines.
Your teacher can set an assignment deadline for assignments on GitHub Classroom. If your teacher makes a deadline a hard cutoff, unless you or your group have received an extension, you will lose write access to your assignment repository after the deadline passes. You can easily monitor the deadline for an assignment through the README in your assignment repository.
Viewing an assignment's deadline
- Navigate to your assignment repository.
- On the main page of your repository, scroll down until you see the repository's README, then click Review the assignment due date . Your assignment deadline is visible below the link to your assignment repository. The deadline shown updates automatically any time your teacher alters the assignment deadline.
An approaching deadline is a source of worry for most students! What if you realize you have an assignment due for submission tomorrow, and you haven’t even started writing it? It will put you in a state of worry! Right? 90% of students, in this case, started searching google or asking friends how to do an assignment in a day?
Well! It’s time to put your worries aside as you have hit the right place. We have written this blog solely to answer this query and help you get stress free. After reading this blog, you can quickly write your assignment in a day. It seems Interesting, right? Keep reading to find out the recommended tips by experts!
13 Tips for you- How to do an Assignment in a Day!
With no further ado, you can dive right into the steps to know, “How to do an assignment in a day?”
1. A Productive Start to Your Day
When you ask how to do an assignment in a day, the first step would be to give a productive start to your day. Start your day off with a nutritious and energizing breakfast to provide your body and mind with the energy to stay organized and productive. You are now ready to begin working on your task. The most crucial step is to choose a suitable workplace, as this will ensure that you complete the task on time. It is preferable to turn off your phone and go somewhere peaceful, where you will not face any disturbance.
2. Plan Your Time
When your deadline is approaching, students often start writing assignments. But it is not the right way! To achieve optimal productivity, create a plan of action by dividing the time left in hand for doing different tasks. For example, if you only have 8 hours available, allocate an hour for research, two hours for brainstorming ideas and organizing points, four hours for writing the assignment, and an hour for proofreading and editing.
3. Overcome the Distractions
Do you feel that social media consumes all your time, but you can’t stop using it? Let me share a fact! Studies have shown that social media sites and other texting applications are two of the most common roadblocks to completing your homework before the deadline. To meet the deadline, you must try to overcome distractions in your life. Log off of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and do not speak with your buddies on Whatsapp for some time, as they will stop you from completing your assignment on time.
4. Understand the Topic and Read the Guidelines
Every assignment is usually centered on a single topic, and depending on the nature of the topic, students must provide an objective or subjective response. As a result, it’s critical to comprehend the problem and know what you’re supposed to write in the assignment. Also, read your professor’s directions carefully because you get all the requirements you must follow while completing the assignment. Therefore, you can prevent making serious errors in your assignment by spending a few minutes comprehending the topic and reading the instructions.
5. Establish Deadlines
Establishing deadlines helps you effectively manage your time. Effective time management can make a huge difference in your ability to succeed. Set a deadline for every task you perform (for example, brainstorming, generating an outline, writing the entire assignment, and complying with the specific guidelines of your professor) and stick to your schedule. Remember to take some time out to refresh your head. Otherwise, you will not be in a position to complete your work.
6. 1-hour Extensive Research on the Topic
Although it may appear counterintuitive, students can conduct significant research on any topic in just one hour. Read all you can get your hands on regarding the subject to add to your knowledge bank. It will help if you read multiple perspectives and viewpoints on the same issue by skimming through pages of books and articles online. It guarantees that you have compiled all the essential details regarding the subject without going into extensive analysis. In less than an hour, you’ll have read all of the resources on the subject that will help you create your perspective. It is the best technique to conduct research when short on time.
7. Make a Rough Note of all the Points you want to Include
After you’ve completed your research and written all the vital points, it’s time to brainstorm and consider the facts and data that will help you create your perspective. Make a list of all the points you wish to cover in your assignment. This stage ensures that you don’t get caught in your thoughts and don’t waste time reiterating your opinions when writing.
8. Form a Skeleton of your Assignment
Do you know what the skeleton of an assignment is? An introduction, a thesis statement, the body of the assignment, and a conclusion. Therefore, before you begin writing, make a skeleton by outlining all of your ideas and points on paper.
9. Spend Time Creating a Good Hook for your Introduction Paragraph
It is finally time to write after completing the preparation, researching, brainstorming, and constructing the skeleton of the paper. The way you begin an assignment significantly impacts your score. It is critical for you to develop an intriguing first sentence or the hook to make your assignment enticing. Avoid introduction paragraphs to ensure originality and creativity.
10. For Writing Assignments, Logically Listing Points in Order
Following the introduction, you must logically list all the points to support your argument. It will ensure content flow in the assignment.
11. Conclude Strongly
Always make it a point to finish your assignment with a strong note, especially while writing a research paper. It would help you score high if you reiterated the main ideas in your assignment conclusion.
12. Take Small Breaks When you Feel Exhausted
When you work till the wee hours to finish an assignment at the last minute, your mind and body will be exhausted. As a result, it will affect the quality of your work. Therefore, it’s critical to take small pauses now and again to avoid fatigue.
13. Proofread and Edit
The last step to how to do an assignment in a day. Proofreading is a must if you are dealing with Online Assignment writing services . After you’ve completed the writing process and taken a small break, proofread your piece to look for and correct grammatical and logical errors. If you find any issues, trim them immediately to ensure that your assignment is error-free. Besides, you must dwell time to ensure that your assignment is factually correct.
Hassle-Free Assignment Writing Experience with TutorBin!
If the fear of deadlines does not let you write your assignment in a day, we have a piece of good news for you. At TutorBin, we relieve all your stress and give you a hassle-free assignment writing experience. Our assignment helper ensures that all your requirements get fulfilled. If you have a question like “How to do an assignment in a day?”- TutorBin is the solution to your query. We have a pool of expert tutors in here for making impeccable assignments for you.
They will craft your assignment to the instructions given by your institutes & help you fetch high grades. Not just that, they understand the consequences of missing deadlines. Hence, they ensure to deliver it before the deadline.
Final Verdict
Though we don’t advocate leaving your assignment till the last minute, we hope that this post will assist all students who are terrified of deadlines. It will be a boon for the students who don’t know how to do an assignment in a day.
If you found this article helpful and are searching for similar content regularly, TutorBin is there for you. We share such content regularly to help you with your studies. We wish you luck in your academic endeavors!
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How to Write an Email About Missing a Deadline
In the professional world, deadlines are crucial. Unfortunately, there may come a time when you must write an email about missing a deadline. This article will guide you through how to write an email about missing a deadline , offering step-by-step guidance and practical advice.
Table of Contents
What To Do Before Writing the Email
What to include in the email.
When crafting your email, it’s crucial to include specific components for clarity and professionalism:
Email Templates
Here’s a basic template you can customize:
Use Case: Unforeseen Technical Issues
I must unfortunately report a setback in our progress on [Project/Task Name] due to unforeseen technical issues. I sincerely apologize for the disruption this may cause to your plans.
We are currently working hard to resolve these problems and are targeting [New Proposed Deadline] to have the project/task completed. Rest assured, we are taking all necessary steps to maintain the quality of our work.
Your understanding regarding this matter is greatly appreciated. We are grateful for your patience as we work through these technical difficulties.
Use Case: Illness or Personal Emergency
Subject: Personal Emergency Impacting [Project/Task Name] – Need to Reschedule Deadline
I am writing to you with a heavy heart to inform you of a personal emergency that has directly affected my ability to complete [Project/Task Name] by the initially agreed upon deadline.
Due to [Brief Explanation of Personal Situation], I am currently unable to fulfill my work commitments as planned. This was an unexpected situation and I am deeply sorry for any inconvenience this delay may cause.
Thank you for your empathy and understanding during this challenging time. Your support is invaluable.
Use Case: Overlooked Workload or Resources Mismanagement
Dear [Recipient’s Name],
On reviewing our workflow, it became clear that due to [Brief Explanation of Overlooked Workload/Resources], we will not be able to deliver by the original deadline. This was an oversight on my part, and I take full responsibility for not anticipating these constraints earlier.
To ensure we can provide you with the standard of work you expect from us, we would like to propose a new deadline of [New Deadline]. We are actively reallocating resources to prioritize this project and mitigate any further delays.
[Your Name]
Use Case: Unexpected Team Changes
I am writing to convey my apologies and inform you of recent team changes that have impacted the timeline for completing [Project/Task Name].
Your comprehension and support during this transitional period are much appreciated. Please rest assured that we are fully committed to overcoming these challenges swiftly.
Writing an email about missing a deadline can be daunting. However, with honesty, sincerity, and a clear plan of action, it can be handled professionally. The key is not to panic but to communicate effectively and promptly.
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The US Corporate Transparency Act Compliance Deadline is Approaching: What Companies Need to Know
The deadline for Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) compliance is fast approaching. Companies formed or registered to do business in the United States prior to January 1, 2024 must file initial beneficial ownership reports with the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) by January 1, 2025, unless exempt. With only months left before the deadline, companies should act now to ensure compliance with the CTA’s reporting requirements.
This LawFlash provides a high-level Q&A overview of the CTA and its beneficial ownership reporting requirements.
What Is the CTA?
On January 1, 2021, the US Congress enacted the CTA to establish a reporting regime to make beneficial ownership information (BOI) of certain entities available to law enforcement and, in some circumstances, financial institutions for use in combating money laundering. The CTA applies to both domestic and foreign entities that are formed or registered to do business in the United States.
Who Is Required to Report BOI?
Under the CTA, a “reporting company” must report certain BOI to FinCEN. A “reporting company” is defined as any corporation, limited liability company, or similar entity that is (1) created by filing a formation document with the US Secretary of State or a similar office under the laws of a US state or American Indian tribe, or (2) is formed under the law of a foreign country and has registered to conduct business in the United States by filing a document with the Secretary of State or a similar office under the laws of a US state or American Indian tribe.
While the definition of “reporting company” is broad, there are 23 exemptions to the definition. The exemptions include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Public companies
- Certain highly regulated financial institutions, such as banks, credit unions, brokers, dealers, and exchanges and clearing agencies
- Investment companies and investment advisers
- Insurance companies operating within the United States
- Public utility companies
- Accounting firms
- Pooled investment vehicles
- Tax-exempt entities
- Entities that (1) employ more than 20 employees, (2) filed a federal tax return demonstrating more than $5 million in gross receipts or sales for the previous year, and (3) have an operating presence within the United States
- Wholly owned subsidiaries of certain exempt entities
All potential reporting companies should carefully review the exemptions to determine whether any may be available to them.
What Is Required to Be Reported and When?
Reporting companies must file a report with FinCEN containing the following information with respect to the entity:
- Full legal name
- Any trade names or “doing business as” (DBA) names
- Complete current address of principal place of business in the United States (if a domestic reporting company) or primary location in the United States where the company conducts business (if a foreign reporting company)
- Jurisdiction of formation
- The state or tribal jurisdiction where the company first registers (if a foreign reporting company)
- Taxpayer ID
Additionally, reporting companies must report the following information for each beneficial owner:
- Date of birth
- Current residential or business street address
- US passport
- State driver’s license
- Identification document issued by a state, local government, or tribe
- A foreign passport
The CTA defines a “beneficial owner” as an individual who, directly or indirectly, (1) exercises substantial control over the entity or (2) owns or controls not less than 25% of the ownership interests of the entity. The deadline for compliance with the CTA depends on the date a reporting company was formed: (1) reporting companies formed prior to January 1, 2024 must file initial BOI reports by January 1, 2025; (2) reporting companies formed after January 1, 2024 must file initial BOI reports within 90 days of the date of formation; and (3) reporting companies formed on or after January 1, 2025 must file initial BOI reports within 30 days of the date of formation. If any information in the reports filed with FinCEN changes, an updated report must be filed within 30 days.
Failure to comply with the CTA’s reporting requirements can result in both criminal and civil penalties, including fines of $500 per day (not to exceed $10,000) and up to two years in prison.
Who Are the Key Parties with Access to BOI?
BOI reported to FinCEN will be stored in a secure, nonpublic database using rigorous information security methods and controls typically used by the federal government to protect non-classified yet sensitive information systems at the highest security level.
FinCEN will permit federal, state, local, and tribal officials, as well as certain foreign officials who submit a request through a US federal government agency, to obtain BOI for authorized activities related to national security, intelligence, and law enforcement. Financial institutions can access BOI in certain circumstances, with the consent of the reporting company. Their regulators will also have access to BOI when supervising the financial institutions.
How We Can Help
Our lawyers stand ready to help companies analyze the CTA’s impact on their business and assist with any CTA-related questions.
For more information, including the latest insights and developments around the CTA and its impact on companies, visit our page on the US Corporate Transparency Act .
If you have any questions or would like more information on the issues discussed in this LawFlash, please contact any of the following:
Arizona Voter Guide: What you need to know ahead of the November 2024 election
PHOENIX — The general election is quickly approaching! Here's what you need to know heading into the crucial presidential election.
ABC15 has created this comprehensive voter guide to help cut through the political noise and provide what you need to know, including summaries of propositions and key races on the Arizona ballot. The guide will be updated with new information and reporting ahead of the November election.
AMERICA VOTES 2024: See local ABC15, national election reporting
Select the corresponding image below for more voter guide breakout information:
What matters the most to you this election season? With ABC15's Voice of the Voter series, we want to make your voice heard ahead of the 2024 election. Learn more here.
SELECT A TOPIC (or scroll below): How to register | How to vote | Where to vote, drop off your ballot | Important deadlines
HOW TO REGISTER TO VOTE:
Before registering by the October 7 deadline, make sure you qualify to vote in Arizona, as listed on the Arizona Secretary of State's website :
- You must be a U.S. citizen.
- You must be an Arizona resident and the county listed on your registration 29 days before the election.
- You must be at least 18 years old before November 5.
If you meet all of the qualifications, there are multiple ways to register:
- Once completing online registration, you will get an email confirmation that you are registered.
- Paper form: You can pick up a paper registration form at any county recorder's office, motor vehicle division office, along with most libraries, city clerk offices, and public assistance agencies. You can also download a paper or find more information on the registration process by clicking here .
Once you are registered, you will receive your voter registration card a few weeks after you sign up.
HOW TO VOTE:
There are multiple ways you can vote and make your voice heard, as listed on the Arizona Secretary of State's website :
- By mail (make sure it is in the mail by October 29 )
- Drop off at designated ballot drop-off boxes (if available in your area)
- Drop off at any early voting location in your county.
- Drop off at the county recorder or elections office.
- Drop off at any voting location on election day (NOTE: You do not need to wait in line to drop off your ballot on Election Day)
- You can vote early at your county recorder's office or any early voting site in your county.
- You must bring a valid ID.
- Early voting begins on October 9.
- All voting locations will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day (November 5).
- You can find your voting location by clicking here .
To see what forms of valid ID will be accepted at the polls, click here .
Once you have voted , you can track your vote by clicking here.
WHERE TO VOTE/DROP OFF YOUR BALLOT:
Starting October 9, those who are registered to vote have the option to vote early in-person at designated locations in Arizona.
For those who sign up for a mailed early ballot, voters have the option of returning their ballots via mail or dropping them off at a designated location.
Click on each point in the interactive map below to find more information about in-person voting and ballot drop-off availability, according to Maricopa County Elections. This map is current as of September 25, 2024.
Looking for locations to vote outside of Maricopa County? The Arizona Secretary of State's office has a website to help locate the locations nearest to you.
IMPORTANT DEADLINES:
Below are some important deadlines to be aware of as you plan your vote for the November election, as listed by the Arizona Secretary of State :
- To vote in the November 5 election, voters must be registered by October 7. If you are not registered by this date, you will not be able to vote in this election in Arizona.
- Voters are NOT automatically enrolled in mail voting. Voters must request to be on the Active Early Voting List or ask for a one-time early ballot to vote early by mail.
- The last day to request a ballot by mail is October 25.
- Voters must have their ballots in the mail by October 29.
- All ballots must be received no later than 7 p.m. on November 5.
What matters the most to you this election season? Hear from those in YOUR community with ABC15's Voice of the Voter series.
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COMMENTS
Reset your course deadlines If you miss two assessment deadlines in a row or miss an assessment deadline by two weeks, you'll see a Reset deadlines option on the Grades page. Click it to switch to a new schedule for the course with updated deadlines. You can use this option as many times as you need.
Colleges typically require instructors to include a calendar of assignment due dates in every course syllabus. But most syllabi also include a disclaimer that assignment deadlines are subject to change.
0 I want to know due date for my assignment which is given by teacher. In this situation, is it correct to say When is the due date for this assignment? or What is the due date for this assignment?
Learn professional and polite ways to request deadlines over email and keep your projects on track. Discover ten effective phrases for better communication.
What is the difference between assignment due dates and availability dates? In addition to setting a due date for an assignment, instructors can specify a specific date range when students can submit the assignment. These dates are called availability dates. These dates are optional and can be set depending how you want to manage the assignment.
Students' first class for the day usually begins at 8 a.m. For the last few years, I put the deadline for assignment acceptance at midnight, with plenty of time (2-3 weeks) to do the work, so each student can handle his/her workload as they wish. These are young adults aged 18-25, and are in theory very much responsible for their acts.
If your assignment is due soon and you cannot beat the deadline, seek help. You can hire an essay writing service to help you complete and submit your assignments on time.
Students often underestimate the time needed for assignments. Here's an assignment time calculator to get an idea of how to manage your time.
The Importance of Effective Deadline Management Effective deadline management transcends mere schedule adherence; it's about optimizing your academic performance and minimizing stress. Let's explore why mastering strategies for managing assignment deadlines is pivotal: Academic Success Timely submission of assignments is a cornerstone of academic achievement. Adopting organizational ...
After Week 1 you should know exactly what your personal goals are, which assignments you need to complete, what exams you need to pass, when the deadlines are and roughly how much time you want to dedicate to each task. Planning in advance means you should have more time to prepare for each exam and work on each assignment, and will help you ...
How To Organize Your Assignments As A Student The three major ways you can organize your assignments include using a school planner app, using a physical planner, and using Google Calendar. All of these methods have their benefits and drawbacks, but they all have been proven to work and I know you will find the perfect method for you.
Follow these templates to get your professor to accept late work. With deadlines, jobs, activities, and relationships to juggle, managing your schedule as a student can be tough. If you've realized you're going to miss a deadline (we've...
Apart from just beginning the paper early, another excellent strategy is to set your personal deadline for completing the paper early than the actual deadline. If an assignment is due in 5 days, set your deadline to 3 or 4 days. You can use the rest of the deadline to do other stuff or equally edit the paper thoroughly.
77 I read a similar question (Knowing that most students submit assignments right around the deadline, is it advisable not to set deadline that is very late at night?) about setting assignment deadlines at different hours of the day (e.g., 9 AM, noon, 5 PM, 9 PM, midnight).
This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more tips.
You must be able to eat assignment deadlines as a student. Other than being instrumental in your grades, beating deadlines show that you observe time and manage yourself well. It is usually not an easy task to keep time and submit your assignment on time. Strategies to Beat Assignment Deadlines 1. Start Immediately Always start… Read More »Beat Assignment Deadlines: 9 ways to Meet Homework ...
Review the assignment guidelines thoroughly to understand the requirements and deadline. Evaluate your current progress on the assignment and determine if an extension is truly necessary. Check if your professor or instructor has specific guidelines or procedures for requesting extensions.
About assignment deadlines Your teacher can set an assignment deadline for assignments on GitHub Classroom. If your teacher makes a deadline a hard cutoff, unless you or your group have received an extension, you will lose write access to your assignment repository after the deadline passes.
Instructor-paced courses have a fixed schedule. Course materials may be published periodically, and there may be fixed due dates. After an assignment's due date passes, you will no longer be able to complete the assignment. If you join the course late, you cannot make up any due dates you missed, but you may still be able to earn a passing score.
Learn how to ask your professor for extra time on a project or assignment, with examples of the best (and worst) ways to request an extension.
A student's life is full of deadlines. Learn the best strategies for approaching your professor to ask for an extension on an assignment.
To meet the deadline, you must try to overcome distractions in your life. Log off of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and do not speak with your buddies on Whatsapp for some time, as they will stop you from completing your assignment on time. 4. Understand the Topic and Read the Guidelines. Every assignment is usually centered on a single ...
In the professional world, deadlines are crucial. Unfortunately, there may come a time when you must write an email about missing a deadline. This article will guide you through how to write an email about missing a deadline, offering step-by-step guidance and practical advice.
What are the deadlines for absentee voting. Nov. 1: Deadline for the Department of Elections Offices to mail absentee ballots for the Nov. 5 general election. Nov. 4: Deadline for the Department ...
The deadline for Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) compliance is fast approaching. Companies formed or registered to do business in the United States prior to January 1, 2024 must file initial beneficial ownership reports with the US Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) by January 1, 2025, unless exempt. With only months left before the deadline ...
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on five federal charges related to bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy and soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, according to a 57 ...
Before registering by the October 7 deadline, make sure you qualify to vote in Arizona, as listed on the Arizona Secretary of State's website: You must be a U.S. citizen.