A student's residential college dean may grant confidential permission for a student to make up work missed or delayed because of an incapacitating physical or mental health condition, the death of a family member, or a comparable emergency. The residential college dean also has authority to give permission to make up work missed in person because of the observance of religious holy days and because of participation in intercollegiate varsity athletic competition. This permission is conveyed by means of a special form which, upon approval by the college dean, is sent to the student's instructor.

In all other cases of work missed during the term, permission to make up coursework can only be secured directly from the instructor of the course. Instructors have full discretion and authority to grant or deny requests for extensions for work due during the term for any reason. Instructors also have latitude in how they may accommodate students. For instance, rather than offer a make-up problem set, some instructors may drop a postponed problem set from their grading schema. Others may apply the weight of a missed midterm exam to the value of their final exam, or assign a comparable written assignment, or give an oral make-up exam. Whatever the accommodation, the expectation is that all students who received an extension for that same assignment are accommodated in the same manner.

Students participating in events of intramural or club sports, as differentiated from varsity events sponsored by the Department of Athletics, are not eligible for a postponement of work by the dean on account of those events.

Only the residential college dean has authority, for the reasons stated above, to grant 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. See Work Incomplete at the End of Term.