Know Your Course Assignment/Testing Due Dates

One assumption that new students sometimes experience when taking ELI courses is that they assume all online courses are self-paced. To that end, they may put off getting started and learn that their professor has withdrawn them for not meeting course deadlines.  Don't let this happen to you!  

It is very important to understand that all ELI courses have strict deadline requirements such as logging into your course Blackboard site for the first time and completing certain course assignments by the census date.  Failure to follow these guidelines may result in being dropped from the course without a tuition refund.  (The Census Date is the last day that you can drop your class and receive a tuition refund.)  Online courses may be 16 weeks, 12 weeks, 10 weeks, 8 weeks, 6 weeks, or 4 weeks in length; each course has specific start, refund, first assignment due date, withdrawal, and end date that you should be aware of when you select a particular course.   

In addition to logging in and completing your first assignments (as referenced in your syllabus) by the census date, ELI courses also have regular weekly assignment deadlines.  When taking an ELI course, it is important to understand that assignment due dates as well as test and quiz due dates come quickly. Due dates are firm and in some ELI courses, assignments and tests/quizzes are sometimes removed after the due date.   

To avoid being dropped, be pro-active:

·       Read through your course syllabus on the first day of class. Understand all the deadlines that apply to your course and record them in your planner. 

·       Visit your class Bb daily and read all of your emails and course Bb announcements.  

·       Turn your assignments in on time.

·       If possible, take your test prior to the testing deadline—you never know what might come up at the last minute!

To ensure that you understand the ELI course deadlines, please click here for 'critical dates' and review the important dates to include census, first assignment due date and last day to withdraw with a grade of ‘W’.