Creating and Managing Assignments > Assignment Creation Overview > Setting the Due and Unavailable Dates

Setting the Due and Unavailable Dates

When creating or editing an assignment, many instructors use the same date for the Due Date and Unavailable Date. Once this date arrives, the assignment auto-submits if the student has not yet submitted it for a grade (even if the assignment is in progress or has not been started). If the assignment Due Date and Unavailable Date are different, the assignment auto-submits on the Unavailable Date.

If you want to give students the opportunity to complete assignments after the Due Date for partial credit, then the Unavailable Date needs to be set for a reasonable period of time after the Due Date passes. Also see Penalty when due for information on setting a late penalty.

For example:

• You create a Homework assignment with a Due Date set for 9/10/16.
• The Unavailable Date is set for 12/12/16 (the last day before final exam).
• The Penalty when due option is set for a 50% late penalty. So now, if a student completes the assignment after the Due Date and scores a 100%, he will actually receive a score of 50% in the Gradebook.

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Note: Students cannot retake a submitted assignment after the Unavailable Date, because it is likely the late penalty will lower their score. However, you can get around this by customizing the Due Date and Unavailable Date for one student or a group of students, if necessary.

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version 8.00.06.30.17