Undergraduates

Instructors have the authority to grant undergraduates an extension of time for medical reasons and other special circumstances up to the end of the Examination Period. Ordinarily, students requesting an extension of time to complete course work must have received the consent of the instructor before the midyear or final examination or before the final meeting of a course in which there is no midyear or final examination.

In deciding the length of an extension granted for medical reasons, the head of the course should apply the principle used by the Administrative Board when it votes extensions beyond the Examination Period: Extensions are granted for a period commensurate with the time missed during an illness, without penalty. Questions about an appropriate extension for an individual undergraduate may be addressed to the student's Resident Dean.

If a student submits work after a grade has been filed with the Registrar but before the end of the Examination Period, and if acceptance of that late work results in a grade change, the instructor should submit a grade change request to either the Office of Academic Programs (for an undergraduate) or the Dean of the Graduate School (for a graduate student), c/o The Registrar, 20 Garden Street (617-495-1545). (See Grades: Changes in Grades.)

An extension of time to complete course work beyond the end of the Examination Period can be granted to an undergraduate only by vote of the Administrative Board of Harvard College and only in exceptional circumstances. Instructors may not accept work from an undergraduate after the end of the Examination Period without the explicit authorization of the Administrative Board.

Graduate Students

Instructors may grant graduate students an extension of time until the end of the next regular term. However, such extensions of time for completion of course work must be granted before the assignment of the course grade.