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I was flying from Canada back home, after all the in-person classes and tests were canceled. So my country(Kazakhstan) has strict laws that were enforced in regard of the new pandemic. They include closing a passenger of an international flight coming in to Kazakhstan in a quarantine hospital. In my case there was only 1 city that had a working airport in the country, my only resort was going there and later traveling to my city. The whole process took place in a prisoner-like environment in which i was held for 4 days. By my release from the first city, i was already late on one of my assignments, and by the time I actually got home in my city, but without luggage and got back to relatively normal state, i was late on the second one. My question is, should I be contacting my professor about this messed up situation, or should i consider something else. Im asking this because the missed assignments could make me fail the course.

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    Sorry this happened to you. You should follow your university's procedures. We don't know what they are, but your professor will. Ask them. Apr 8, 2020 at 3:01
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    @AnonymousPhysicist. I think that comment is actually an answer (with the one proviso of checking all email first, just in case the university has already made any announcements on the subject).
    – origimbo
    Apr 8, 2020 at 3:03

2 Answers 2

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There will be some flexibility for the assignment(s) due around the closing / travel / quarantine times - all you have to do is talk to your professor.

However, you need to do this as soon as possible - if you wait 2 months it may not be accepted as people are making exceptions now.

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    Definitely +1 for "all you have to do is talk to your professor". That should always be your first step: communication is key. Also, if you present the professor with some documentation, like online tickets, notices of closure, etc, which you should have, they will have less reason to deny your plea. Apr 9, 2020 at 3:03
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The broad instructions Canadian professors have received is to be flexible, although how much may vary locally by unit. Universities are aware that students may return home to less than ideal conditions, and that students may be faced with unexpected delays or circumstances. So: the odds are reasonable that the instructor will be understanding (this is not a guarantee of course).

Many of the softwares used in the management and posting of online material allow for exceptions: it is possible for instructors to re-open the submission window on a student-by-student basis through the management tool. So: uploading an assignment past the closing date is possible.

Thus: send an email to your instructor and explain the situation. Be ready to submit your assignment if and as soon as such an exceptional window opens i.e. plan to scan pages or take pictures as soon as possible so you don’t waste time chasing a scanner if you get a positive answer.

It is much more preferable to upload to the course site than submitting via direct email since markers should have access to the course website and the designated folder to recover the appropriate assignment. Nobody wants to or can deal with 150 assignments submitted via email.

(Scanning to a single pdf is best else individual pictures or pages can get shuffled during the upload, which makes the job of markers that much harder.)

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  • Why are you talking about scanning? He doesn't mention that at all in this question, and it's plausible that the assignment in question might be entirely digital.
    – nick012000
    Apr 8, 2020 at 23:07
  • Documenting your situation helps with flexibility. Being "imprisoned" in a country with no internet is pretty extenuating even with inflexible standards. Apr 9, 2020 at 3:05

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