A lot of my students choose online and asynchronous courses because they need flexibility: they are working, caring for family, managing health issues, or working with brains that do not always fit neatly into a weekly schedule. As a neurodivergent person and former non‑traditional Ph.D. student, that was true for me as well, so it has never made much sense to assume everyone can—or should—work at the same pace and intensity every single week of a semester. As long as the work gets done and students are engaging with the course, I try to build in maximum flexibility in how and when they get there.

In most of my courses, students complete weekly reading quizzes, lecture quizzes, and short reflection papers, plus two multiple‑choice exams and a major paper. The core of my flexibility strategy is simple:

• All the “weekly” work is grouped into two hard due-date blocks, one before the midterm and one before the final.
• Within each block,  attach weekly due dates to the assignments in Moodle to help with pacing, but the real requirement is to finish everything before the block closes.

This gives students space to work ahead or catch up as their other courses, jobs, and lives allow. It also lets instructors be generous during the block and then firm at the midterm and final cutoffs, because by that point, they have had every chance.

How to Build in Flexibility

1. Two clear blocks instead of dozens of hard deadlines and late penalty policies

Tell students what their only recurring weekly graded work is (for example):

• reading quizzes
• lecture quizzes
• reflection papers

Then explain how the timing works (for example):

• Modules 1–7: All quizzes and reflections must be submitted before the midterm exam week begins. There is no late penalty for submissions before this deadline
• Modules 10–14: All quizzes and reflections must be submitted before the final exam week begins. There is no late penalty for submissions before this deadline

In Moodle, each assignment still has a due date, so the calendar shows a reasonable week‑by‑week plan, and so students who like structure can simply follow it.

 (It also seems to be the case that students who don’t read the syllabus carefully also follow the weekly due dates!) 

But students who have a big chemistry test, a family obligation, or a flare‑up of symptoms can shift work for my course earlier or later in the block. The message is, “You have from Week 1 until the midterm to complete this first set of work; here is a recommended path, but you get to decide how to use that time.” 

2. A late‑work policy that doesn’t make me a judge of need

One of the reasons this structure works is that it reduces the number of “Can I have an extension?” emails where students feel pressured to provide a story or documentation, and we feel pressured to be generous. 

Getting a doctor’s note, having a diagnosable condition, or being able to prove a disruption is a privilege not everyone has, and, beyond that, I am not interested in being the judge of whose reasons are “good enough” for an accommodation. 

A flexible policy helps avoid a “squeaky wheel gets the extension” system, because flexibility is built in for everyone rather than reserved only for students who feel able to ask.

Students do not have to convince instructors that something “really happened” to use that flexibility; the structure itself already assumes that life and brains are variable.

3. How this differs in my in‑person classes

For in‑person courses, deadlines are firmer because our discussions depend on everyone having engaged with the same readings at roughly the same time. That said, I keep the same spirit of flexibility around communication. 

On the first day, I invite students to let me know if they already know about recurring commitments that could affect their schedule. I tell them they do not have to share details, just the fact that there is something. That way, I tell them, when that “something” collides with a due date, it is much easier for me to say, “Yes, let’s shift this” because we already built that possibility into our understanding.

Students also get two free passes for each weekly assignment type, so they can skip a quiz or reflection when life is hectic without the extra burden of asking for permission (see one example of how late assignment tokens could work). I encourage them to come to the discussion even when they use a pass, and my sense is that, because there is no judgment or pressure, most students still show up and participate—even if they skipped that week’s reading.

Conclusion

In both formats, my rule of thumb is: if students come to me ahead of time, I almost always grant extensions. The online block structure just means that those conversations are needed less often because the course already has more breathing room. Stepping back from my own course, this aligns with what others are finding about flexible deadline models more broadly. Research on flexible deadlines and “extension without penalty” systems, along with reporting on disability accommodations, suggests that clearly structured, no‑questions‑asked flexibility offered to all students can reduce stress, support equity (especially for disabled and first‑generation students), and maintain academic rigor when it is built into the course rather than handled case by case.

References and Resources

• For anyone who wants to see the full policy as I give it to students: Due Dates For This Course
• Zannella, L., & Sutherland, J. (2024). Flexible Deadlines Impact Student Mental Health and Course Engagement: A Mixed‑Methods Exploratory Study.
• Inside Higher Ed. Study explores “extension without penalty” deadline policy.

About the Author

Jessica Cave is an adjunct in Philosophy at Oakland University and a Ph.D. graduate of Wayne State University. She teaches remote and in‑person Philosophy and is especially interested in course designs that work for neurodivergent students and instructors, because that makes courses better for everyone. Outside the classroom, Jessica has nearly thirty years of experience as a hairstylist and enjoys tabletop games, video games, and learning ceramics.

Others may share and adapt under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC.

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