It is expected that instructors will require all course assignments, including term papers and term projects, to be submitted at the latest by the last day of the final examination period. In submitting term grades the instructor should apply appropriate penalties for missed or incomplete work, unless the tardiness of the work has been authorized by a student’s residential college dean. If an instructor reports a mark of “Incomplete” for a student for which there has been no authorization from the student’s residential college dean, the Incomplete will be recorded by the registrar as a grade of F.

Only the residential college dean has authority to give confidential permission to a student to submit work, other than term papers or term projects, in a course after the last day of Reading Period. The college dean may give such permission because of an incapacitating physical or mental health condition, the death of a family member, or a comparable emergency. In such cases the residential college dean may authorize a mark of Temporary Incomplete for a period not to exceed one month from the beginning of the final examination period, including the time needed for the instructor to grade the work. The residential college dean will notify the instructor promptly when a student has been given a mark of Temporary Incomplete in the instructor’s course.

Note that a Temporary Incomplete refers to unfinished coursework, not to a final examination missed for any reason; see Postponement of Final Examinations. The mark of Temporary Incomplete is not intended for assignments (such as lab reports, problem sets, reading responses, etc.) originally due prior to the closing weeks of the term.

In authorizing a mark of Temporary Incomplete, the residential college dean will stipulate the date on which the student’s late work will be due and the date on which the instructor is expected to submit a course grade to the registrar. The residential college dean may not set this second date later than one month after the beginning of the final examination period. If the student’s work has not been completed in time for the instructor to report a grade to the registrar by the deadline stipulated, then the instructor should submit a grade for the student that reflects the absence of the missing work, or the registrar will convert the mark of Temporary Incomplete to a grade of F.

Permission for a mark of Temporary Incomplete to last beyond one month from the beginning of the final examination period can be granted only by the Yale College Committee on Honors and Academic Standing. Such an extension may be given only for a brief period of time, usually one to two weeks, and only in response to extraordinary circumstances, usually of a medical nature.