Course Extension Policy

Michigan Virtual™ instructors and administration strongly recommend that all students finish their online courses by the deadline of each given term. In the event a student is unable to complete the course in the given timeline, an extension request may be submitted. Delays in enrollment, perceived difficulty of the course, not earning the desired grade, or not using effective time management skills will not be considered as the basis for an extension. The active engagement and score criteria must be coupled with a circumstance that would have prevented the student from completing the course in the traditional time frame. For extensions that are granted, there will also be a $50 extension fee to cover the instructional and administrative costs involved in the extension.

To be considered for an extension, the following conditions must be met:

1. The student must have earned 45%-59% of the total points available in the course.
2. The student must be actively engaged in the course (weekly attendance, completed homework/quiz/test submissions in the last week, weekly communication with the instructor, etc.).
3. Extension requests cannot be provided for Essentials courses due to the unique nature of their term.
4. Extensions must be requested by the mentor by submission of the Extension Application Form.
5. The Extension Application Form must be submitted at least five business days prior to the end of the term.
6. Previous extension approval does not provide basis for future extension requests. Further, repeated requests term to term will require a formal meeting with local school administration.
7. The student, guardian, mentor and school administrator must write, agree to, sign and submit a course completion plan that explicitly documents the student’s plan to complete the course prior to the last day of the course. This could include a discrete number of assignments per day, points per day, hours spent in the course per day, etc. (see example below).
8. Extensions can be granted for up to two weeks, with a monitoring review at the end of the first week. If adequate progress is not made in the first week, the extension may be terminated.
9. In exceedingly rare occasions, extension requests beyond two weeks will be considered Extenuating Circumstance Extensions. The host district must document and present extenuating circumstances to Michigan Virtual. The decision to grant Extenuating Circumstance Extensions will be made on an individual basis. In exceedingly rare situations, a maximum extension of four weeks (28 days) past the original end date for the term may be considered.
10. No extensions will be granted during summer session due to end of the year maintenance in preparation for the fall session.

Once the extension request is received, the procedure is as follows:

1. The extension coordinator will review the request and completion plan and respond within two business days. If the course completion plan is approved, the agreed upon extension will be given an “extension hard due date” for both the instructor and student, with progress monitored in one-week increments. An invoice for the extension fee will also be processed at this time.
2. If the extension coordinator denies an extension request, s/he will document justification for why the extension should not be granted. This can include, but is not limited to:
   • Failure to meet any or all of the conditions above, with detailed, supporting evidence, and
   • Rationale explaining why an extension is not in the student’s best interest.
   • Denied extension requests may be appealed if additional rationale can be provided. The Director of Student Learning Services will make all final decisions for denied extension appeals.

* Extenuating Circumstance Extensions include life altering events for the student involved. These may include but are not limited to an unpredicted serious medical issue that occurred during the term extension is requested, death of immediate family members, or significant changes in living arrangements (loss of or removal from home) that occurred during the term extension is requested and could not have been foreseen.