Studies Committee policy on late penalties

These rules apply to LL.B. students.

In order to ensure that all students are treated equally and that no student is allowed to profit from taking extra time to complete an exam, paper or assignment, late penalties will be imposed for work that is not completed on time. The quantum of penalty imposed will vary depending on the amount of time allowed for the student to complete the assignment, the degree of lateness, and the existence of any mitigating circumstances.  Students are responsible for ensuring their assignments are time stamped by the receptionist when they hand them in.

1. The date for submission of major papers shall be announced orally and in writing by the instructor before the end of the course change period; the due date shall in no case be later than noon on the last regular day of exams.
2. The date for submission of other papers and assignments shall be announced in class with appropriate notice; the due date shall in no case be later than noon on the last regular day of exams.
3. The above stipulations apply equally in the case of optional course components, with the further proviso that the date for deciding whether to exercise the option shall be a time no later than the start of the final examination for that course.  (In the event that the instructor sets an earlier date for deciding to exercise the option, it is within the instructor's discretion to allow a student who has opted to do a non-compulsory component to opt out of that component as long as the decision to opt out is made no later than the start of the final examination for that course.)
4. At any time during the course, it is within the discretion of the instructor to grant a general extension for papers and/or assignments, with appropriate notice to the class, as long as the revised deadline does not
   extend past noon on the last regular day of exams.
5. Faculty members do not have the authority to grant individual requests for an extension.  Any request for an extension or to have a late penalty waived or moderated must be made to the Studies Committee, chaired by the Associate Dean, Academic.
6. Any request for an extension must be made as soon as the circumstances being relied upon arise, and in any event no later than the day on which the paper or assignment is due.   Students must contact the Assistant Dean, Aademic or the Associate Dean, Academic, promptly, should they anticipate that they will not be able to meet a deadline and they plan to seek a waiver of penalty.
7. Students should be aware that not all circumstances will be accepted as justifying an extension.  Where the Studies Committee is satisfied that an acceptable medical or other justification exists, the Committee will waive the late penalty for the period of time that, in the opinion of the Committee, was reasonably lost due to the factors outlined by the student and supported by documentation. It should be noted that making a request for an extension does not operate as a stay of late penalties.
8. Computer problems are not a justifiable excuse for lateness. 

The current late penalties are as set out below. 

Major papers:

The standard late penalty for a major paper is five points out of 100 per day of lateness or part thereof. Note that the penalty is out of 100. If the paper is worth less than 100 per cent of the grade in the course, the penalty should be adjusted accordingly. Thus, for a paper worth 75 per cent of the final grade, the late penalty would amount to 3.75 marks out of 75 per day of lateness. This calculation can be made either by marking the paper out of 100, subtracting the amount of the penalty and then converting the remaining number into a mark out of 75, or by calculating 75 per cent of the standard late penalty amount and applying it against the mark out of 75.

Examples: 
(Note that these examples apply to major papers)

1. Paper worth 100 per cent of the course is two days late: late penalty of 10 marks for the paper and the course
2. Paper worth 100 per cent of the course is five days late; late penalty of 25 marks for the paper and the course.
3. Paper worth 60 per cent of the course is five days late; late penalty of 25 percent for the paper, which results in a deduction of 15 marks from the final grade in the course
4. Paper worth 100 per cent of the course is nine days late; late penalty of 45 marks for the paper and the course.
5. Paper worth 75 per cent of the course is nine days late; late penalty of 45 percent for the paper, which results in a deduction of 33.75 marks from the final grade in the course.

Assignments:

The major paper late penalty is calculated based on the assumption that all students were given the whole term in which to write the paper.  In this context, lateness of a day or two is less significant. However, where an assignment is given with a shorter time frame for completion (such as, for example, two or three weeks), then a day or two of lateness is a much more significant extension of the time allowed for the work to be completed. The late penalty will therefore be more severe. As a benchmark, the late penalty for an assignment which students were given three weeks to complete, and which was late, would be 10 points out of 100 per day. Thus, an assignment worth 20 points would suffer a penalty of two marks per day. The penalties would be more severe for an assignment for which students were given less time to complete. As these penalties are more complex to calculate, it is suggested that faculty members either submit information regarding late assignments to Studies Committee for calculation of penalties, or request in advance a schedule of penalties to impose on the late submission of a particular assignment.

Take home exams:

Because take home exams are often written within a very limited time frame (such as 24 or 48 hours), a student who submits such an exam late may be gaining a very significant advantage over his or her classmates who submit their work on time. The penalties in these cases are generally calculated by the hour. For example, a 24 or 48 hour take home exam would be subject to late penalties of five points out of 100 per hour to a maximum of 50 points out of 100 for one day (based on 24 hours). This is a very significant penalty; however, given that a student who submits a take home exam 24 hours late has doubled the time that was available to other students to write the exam, it is felt that this penalty is appropriate. Again, as these penalties are more complex to calculate, it is suggested that faculty members either submit information regarding late take home exams to Studies Committee for calculation of penalties, or request in advance a schedule of penalties to impose on late take home exams.

Exams:

Sometimes students continue to write after the allotted time for writing an exam is up. While this is more likely to happen where students are writing in separate rooms, there may be students who continue to write in main exam rooms even after they have been told time is up. A student can, in a few short minutes, jot down enough information in response to a question to earn several points. Accordingly, the Studies Committee will impose penalties on exams where the student has taken extra time. The penalty will be calculated based on all the circumstances and all such cases should be referred to Studies Committee. Where students who write with their classmates continue to write after time is up, the professor should isolate the problematic exam when collecting the exams, taking care not to look at the exam number. The isolated exam and all other exams should be presented to Tiffany Coolen-Jewers or someone in the Office of the Associate Dean, Academic. This person will record the exam number and the circumstances and will forward the matter to the Studies Committee. The isolated exam can then be inserted into the pile of other exam booklets. The penalty will be recorded after the exam has been marked.