Late submission reduces the grade for the submitted step.
Late submission frequently also reduces the grade for the next step, since there is often not enough time between feedback and due date for work of sufficient quality to be completed.
Late submissions are read last by the essay mentor, so late submission puts the student in a weakened position. Depending on the step, you may have to wait an additional 10-14 days for feedback when you are sent to the bottom of the reading stack.
Late submissions associate your name with those who are struggling with the essay process in general since they appear at the bottom of the list.
Because of the unexpected complexity of this assignment, more students miss the Step 00 submission deadline than any other step in the essay writing process for this class. Please make every effort to submit this step on time. The special late penalties associated with this step reflect the difficulty I have every semester in encouaging a small number of students to complete Step 00 in a timely way or at all.
Unlike the other steps, Step 00 does not have to be completed to receive a passing grade for this class. However skipping Step 00 reduces the course grade automatically and can lead to a failing grade on the paper, which means a failing grade for the class. This is because later step requirements that are given a "dry run" in this step are still poorly understood by the student.
Although Step 00 itself is not given a numerical score, Step 00 is assessed late penalties.
One of these — SKIPPED ASSIGNMENT — is the most severe of any late penalties given in this class.
The very best strategy for this assignment is definitely to read the instructions well and submit on the early side a thorough essay that meets the basic requirements. Any other course of action leads to grade penalties of one sort or another. You can see here a decision tree that graders use to score your submission.
Because this is the only assignment in the class that is sometimes returned to be redone, the login, and thus the time stamp that determines when a submission was made, is different for this step than RPs or other essay steps. Step 00 is logged in ("ACCEPTED") provisionally but is not considered successfully submitted until whatever was submitted receives a PASS. In other words, if the submission was so partial as to receive a REDO, it is considered as not yet submitted, that is, as late. A redone document that does not receive a pass is considered as a failure to submit a sufficient document and so the student is considered to have skipped the assignment.
Below are the three different late penalties recorded in the gradebook. Please note that, since graders are not required to finish grading until one week after the due date, nearly all REDOs will be returned to the student too late for the student to avoid falling into the past 7 days overdue category. In other words, REDOs are almost certain to have late penalties assessed on the next step, Step 01. Graders grade in order of accepted submission, so those who submit very close to the deadline are more likely to be confronted with this problem than those who submit early.
amount late gradebook designation consequences 0 – 7 days LATE I just take note of this grade. It may make me less forgiving about future late submissions, it may indistinctly lower future paper grades when it seems part of a pattern of partial effort, it may mean nothing at all in the case of students who have established a pattern of good effort in the class. 7 – 14 days LATE WITH PENALTY A late penalty is incurred and recorded on the next step, Step 01. This is in addition to whatever late penalties Step 01 itself might incur. The past due penalty pattern is the same as for Steps 01-04 (see other table, below). after 14 days ASSIGNMENT SKIPPED This designation has ALL of these consequences:
- The student can no longer submit Step 00 for a grade, although it can be submitted for advice.
- The COURSE GRADE itself is reduced one notch: A final grade of "A" becomes "A–" and so on. This is because, on the one hand, we do not have time to continually work with reluctant students to submit Step 00 and, on the other, I value this course's writing component and not completing Step 00 indicates that the student has not applied him- or herself to this important portion of the course.
- Future steps will be graded carefully and strictly on the many aspects of the paper that are first covered in Step 00. Even an otherwise "A" paper might slip down to a "B" or "C" when these portions of the paper are not handled well. Step 00 is the time to learn these things; it is what provides a safe, ungraded first chance. Do not expect a second chance to fix things if you have skipped Step 00. It is possible that you will not even receive comments or advice because the graders are instructed to assume that you have indicated a limited desire to learn this aspect of paper writing and so they should budget their time to work with those who have indicated more interest in the topic.
Students should not be late in submitting any of these three paper steps. In order for us to fulfill our role as paper mentors we need everyone to be following the same flow of submission and feedback. The paper mentor must have time to read/view and comment so the student can have time to meet the next deadline.
Special note for Step 03 — Why the late penalty is assessed on BOTH of the grades of Step 03: While I understand that this is a difficult step to complete on time it is, for the essay mentors, by far the most difficult step to grade. Late submissions vastly complicate our grading process and these complications arrive at a very busy time of the semester for us. We ask that everyone work on time so that we can manage the challenge of grading Step 03. The penalty is meant to be a clear message of how serious we are about this request.
Last submission for Step 04 is not possible. Step 04 includes THREE of the seven graded components of the essay process and so three zeroes will be entered in the gradebook. Please submit on time so that I do not have to type those three zeros! If you find yourself in a difficult situation, you should write Wallace (not your essay mentor) about this, definitely, and do so before the deadline, not afterwards.
Many students leave campus shortly after submission, or move on to other classwork. However, your Step 04 submission is not complete until you have received a "ACCEPTED" email from Wallace.
Special note for Step 04 — Because Step 04 submissions arrive at the very end of the term when the final grade is being calculated, there are no late penalties for Step 04. Submissions not in on time receive an "F" (0 points). In the past this was an automatic "F"; however, the RRR period has allowed me to set an earlier final submission time. It is still very difficult to complete all the grading on time, and on-time submissions are, fundamentally, the only submissions accepted. However, you can try writing me in extreme cases. Note that, like Step 03, late penalties apply to all three graded components of the paper.
There is no grace period! A paper due at 2:00 PM is due then, not at 2:01 PM. I am strict in order to honor the students who follow the rules. Everyone is confronted with time management challenges. Only in very unusual cases do I not assess late penalties.
Please keep in mind that email servers do not necessarily deliver emails immediately. Waiting to the last minute is not at all a good idea. Consider at least a ten-minute buffer if you are the "last minute" type of paper writer.
Corrupt files are treated without courtesy. Read the below.
For Step 00: Unlike the other steps, when a submission is sent back for resubmission it is as if the student has not submitted.
Although it is unlikely that students will err in the submission process this late in the term, what if a Step 01-04 submission is late because it was returned for resubmission? Read this.
0-24 hours after due time 2 points deducted from grade after it is scored example: a paper that scored a 12 (A) would receive a 10 (B+) 24-48 hours after due time 4 points deducted from grade after it is scored example: a paper that scored a 12 (A) would receive a 8 (B) 2-4 days (48-96 hours) after due time up to 50% deducted from grade after it is scored, at the discretion of the grader or Wallace example: a paper that scored a 12 (A) might receive a 6 (C) more than 4 days (96 hours) after due time up to 100% deducted; the grader or Wallace might score this stage as an "F" and also block acceptance of the submission of the next step until the overdue step is complete.