The University of Sydney has announced it will be extending its academic special consideration policy to cover students who “just don’t feel like” submitting their assignments on time.
In a move prompted by the University’s review into academic extensions, the new scheme will see students able to extend their assignment deadlines by proving a lack of desire to complete their work by the due date.
The university’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) Philippa Pattison told The Garter the change to procedure was prompted by student demand.
“We found there were a number of students who were looking for an extension on their assignments, but were unable to find a listed category that covered their particular needs,” she said.
“Students who didn’t have a disability, or faced the death of a loved one, or an unexpected illness were being left behind under the old system. Some students simply just cannot be arsed to produce 1,500 words by Week 4, and we need to be mindful of the particular needs of this group.”
Fifth-year Arts student Jack Long – who told The Garter he was “considering Honours next year” – said he was really grateful the university had decided to redress this issue, which he said severely impacted his studies in the 2016 academic year.
“Prior to that I would just, like, email my tutor saying my cat died, or something. But the new centralised simple extension did not allow for that.
“These changes mean I won’t have to pretend to be something I’m not.”
