Students’ Canvas assignments could soon be due at 5 p.m., rather than 11:59 p.m. While midnight has been the default due time for assignments since 2013, a recent email from Student Services and Retention informed faculty that the default due time will soon be moved up.

Ashley Ireland, assistant provost and director of online learning, said the change is set to begin during the upcoming winter term.

“Ultimately, we see this as a real benefit for students,” Ireland said. “However, it is important to clarify that this change affects only the default assignment time. Currently, the default Canvas due time is 11:59 p.m. when any assignment is created, unless instructors select otherwise. This change does not mean that all assignments will now be due at 5 p.m. This simply means that unless the instructor changes it when creating an assignment in Canvas, the due time will reflect 5 p.m.”

The change comes at the recommendation of the University’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) on student mental health committee and is intended to encourage more consistent and healthy sleep habits.

“The recommendation stemmed from discussions that late-night due times may encourage students to postpone sleep and other healthy behaviors; due times in a more regular hour of the day may help with time management,” Ireland said. “We know that students tend to submit assignments in the hours leading up to when they are due. We also know that students tend to work on assignments up until they are submitted. Our hope is that for instructors that use this new due time, that those hours of productivity occur when students are doing their best work.”

Ireland said the new default time is set at the end of the typical work day so that students will be finishing assignments during a time when instructors are more readily available to answer questions and offer support.

In addition, the Canvas support Help Desk is only available until 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, meaning students will be able to receive technical support if they encounter glitches or issues when trying to turn in assignments.

While the upcoming change aims to have a positive effect on student learning and health, some students said they are unhappy with the announcement, including Hannah Choate, junior public relations major who said she feels the new deadline is impractical for college students.

“It’s kind of known that a lot of people like to stay up late at night to do homework, so to move that to 5 p.m. seems very unusual, especially because most college students have a job, so I don’t really know how we’re supposed to work around that,” Choate said. “I’m kind of a night owl so I feel like this so-called ‘encouraging positive sleep habits’ will cause me more stress.”

Stephanie Nica, senior business administration major, shares Choate’s concern that this new deadline time won’t be compatible with the work schedule of many students. She said the current due time of 11:59 p.m. gives students both more time and less stress.

“Think about it; some students may have events or family gatherings,” Nica said. “If something comes up, you may not have enough time to do your assignment until 11:59 p.m. … So many of us have so much to do, and (the midnight) deadline gives us enough time. Why cut the day in half for your students?”

Nica said since students are used to the later deadline, they may not feel comfortable with the upcoming switch. She said she imagines it will deregulate her schedule.

“(The new change) may help in some ways, but it’s going to increase stress for sure,” Nica said. “Okay, it may help with sleep habits, but stress will be the main factor because I’ll have to change so much throughout the day to fit assignments in by 5 p.m.”

Olivia Hudgin, senior public relations major, has experience taking a class with a professor who’s made the deadlines earlier in the day. While she said she loves the class, she sees the due time as a negative.

“I have a class that makes everything due at 5 p.m., and I think I stay up later the night before [an assignment is due] making sure it’s done than I would if it was just due at midnight,” Hudgin said. “Being a full time student and trying to work as much as I can, 5 p.m. is just a very inconvenient time to have things due, so I don’t think [the change] will help me at all.”

Hudgin said she doesn’t see the point in making assignments due sooner if professors aren’t going to grade them sooner. If assignments won’t be graded that evening, then why cut the hours students have to work on them? Hudgin said nighttime is when she has the most freetime, making earlier deadlines difficult to meet.

“I just feel like I can have more time to do assignments and put more effort into them [when they’re due later],” Hudgin said. “I’ve missed a lot of events trying to get stuff done by 5 p.m.”

Ireland said there was student and faculty representation on the QEP committee and the President’s Commission on Retention and Persistence, which informed the deadline recommendation. She said discussions leading up to the decision were positive and reflected broad-based support.

After the new default due time goes into effect, it will be up to professors to decide whether they want to keep deadlines at 5 p.m., per the QEP committee’s recommendation, or alter the due times for their assignments to a later time.

Students are encouraged to check the due times of assignments on Canvas and check with professors to ensure they aren’t caught off guard by the potential new due times next semester.