Extensions on Assignments

Extensions on Assignments

The Extensions on Assignments accommodation provides reasonable flexibility with assignment deadlines when disability-related functional limitations interfere with a student's ability to complete work by the applicable deadline.

This accommodation is approved by OALA on an individualized basis. It does not exempt students from completing assignments, provide unlimited extensions, or automatically modify every deadline in a course.

Communication and Course Specific Planning

Since course structures, assignments, and academic requirements vary, implementation of this accommodation requires communication between the student and faculty member.

Students should communicate with faculty as soon as reasonably possible when disability-related limitations affect an assignment deadline. When the student's disability permits, advance communication is encouraged so that an adjusted deadline can be established with as little disruption to the course as possible.

OALA provides an Extensions on Assignments Planning Worksheet during the intake process to help students and faculty discuss course-specific expectations. The worksheet is recommended but is not required for the accommodation to be approved, activated, or used.

Disability-Related Flare-Ups

Some disabilities are episodic or unpredictable and may affect both a student's ability to complete an assignment and their ability to communicate before a deadline.

When disability-related circumstances prevent timely advance notice, the student should contact the faculty member as soon as reasonably possible once they are able to do so to discuss a plan for completing the work. Failure to provide advance notice does not, by itself, automatically disqualify a student from consideration under an accommodation that was already active at the time of the deadline.

What the Accommodation Covers

The accommodation applies specifically when disability-related functional limitations covered by the student's approved accommodation interfere with an assignment deadline. 

Extension requests arising solely from circumstances unrelated to the student's disability, such as bereavement, family emergencies, unrelated temporary illness, personal travel, work obligations, or technology problems, should be addressed through the same course, departmental, or Baylor processes available to other students.

Course Requirements and Adjusted Deadlines

Additional flexibility is not automatic. Students remain responsible for completing required coursework and for meeting original or adjusted deadlines whenever they are able to do so. Course structure, sequencing, group work, presentations, laboratories, clinical experiences, and other academic requirements may affect how an extension can reasonably be implemented. These factors do not automatically exclude an assignment from consideration.

If a faculty member believes that an extension may affect an essential academic requirement, or if the established parameters of the accommodation are no longer effective, the student or faculty member should contact OALA for individualized review.

Prospective Application

Accommodations are not retroactive. A student who did not have an active Extensions on Assignments accommodation when a deadline passed may not use a later approval to retroactively change the consequences of that prior deadline.

When the accommodation was already active, however, an inability to provide advance notice because of a disability-related flare-up should be evaluated under the student's existing accommodation rather than automatically treated as a retroactive request.

For complete expectations regarding use of this accommodation, adjusted deadlines, disability-related flare-ups, essential academic requirements, and the optional planning worksheet, please review the: Extensions on Assignments Policy and Planning Worksheet

Questions regarding implementation may be directed to OALA@baylor.edu.