Some departments were faced with having to extend coursework deadlines, due to adverse weather conditions at the beginning of the month.
Problems caused by the recent bad weather have been well documented, with stories of school closures and dangerous travel conditions appearing in the news every day. Although conditions had improved by the beginning of term in Lancaster, there was still the question of whether students who had coursework due for submission in week one would actually be able to get back in time to submit it.
This worry led to a small numbers of departments loosening the rules with regards to coursework submissions. The Department of Sociology/ Gender and Women’s Studies postponed the submission of essays from Monday 11th January to the following Monday, the 18th. In the Department of Linguistics and English Language there was question over whether students would be able to return by the 11th, and it was decided that paper copies of coursework could be delayed as long as a reason was given, and an electronic copy was submitted on time.
Linguistics and English Language Undergraduate Co-ordinator Vicki Haslam made it clear that this was not an extension, and that students were still required to have had their work done on time: “The rules were relaxed a little because of adverse weather, in that students were not penalised for late submission of the paper copy if their electronic copy was submitted on time and they contacted us in advance to notify us that they couldn’t get to Lancaster.”
Haslam went on to say that no other problems were encountered, that there were no more essay extensions that usual, and that none of these were because of the weather.
First year Linguistics student Emily Blanchard backs this up, saying that the advice given was very helpful and that because of it she knew of no one who encountered problems. Students had been informed through email of what they should do in the event of being snowed in, a week before the start of term.
