Course Extension Policy
If a student will not be able to successfully submit all course deliverables by the end of their course, the student may request an official extension by submitting the Course Extension Request form through their Student Portal; the course extension request must be submitted prior to the course ending. Extensions are reviewed and approved or denied at the instructor’s discretion. Extensions may be granted in cases where the student has made acceptable progress in the course, but has encountered an extenuating circumstance that will prohibit successful completion of the course on the scheduled end date. Acceptable progress is defined as “the student actively participating up to the point of the extenuating circumstance (i.e., the student is current with all assignment submissions) and having earned a grade of at least 70% for the work up to that point.” Extensions are not justified for lack of participation or failure to submit work on time by the student. Documentation of the extenuating circumstance will be required for every course extension request. This documentation should be emailed to the student’s faculty immediately following the submission of the extension request.
Extensions are limited to a maximum of one extension per course, available at the end of the course. Extensions for dissertation courses are four weeks in length; extensions in all other courses are two weeks in length. The course extension form is only available during the last two weeks of the course. The student is responsible for completing the Course Extension Request form in the Student Portal by the course’s scheduled end date. The faculty member reserves the right to approve an extension or not, based on the student’s effort in the course. Only official extensions are allowed at the University. Unofficial extension requests or approvals that are not requested through the proper form in the Student Portal will not be accepted.
When an extension is granted for an extenuating circumstance, it is the student’s responsibility to provide documentation to their professor to validate the reason for the extension request. Professors will not ask for specific documents. It is the responsibility of the student to provide documentation that a reasonable person would consider sufficient to explain the reason for the extension request. However, faculty can request follow-up information related to the completeness and validity of documentation for the extenuating circumstance. Students with course extensions are required to adhere to the Academic Progress and Participation Policy during their approved extension. If a student fails to demonstrate recognized academic participation for 14 consecutive days, they will be administratively withdrawn from the course.