What To Do When a Student Submits an Unworkable Assignment (Blank File, Corrupted Files, Assignment Guidelines, Etc.)

Sometimes, a student may submit an assignment for review that cannot be reviewed. Assignments that cannot be reviewed are referred to as 'unworkable assignments'. This article provides instructions on what to do when a student submits an unworkable assignment.

When you first claim an assignment, even if you plan to review it later, the best practice is to immediately open the file the student submitted to ensure the submission is not unworkable. Continue reading to learn about unworkable assignments!

What Is An Unworkable Assignment?

Here are a few reasons an assignment may be unworkable:

• The student submitted a blank file
• The student submitted an assignment with another student's name on it. 
• The file submitted is corrupted and cannot be opened
• The student only submitted the guidelines for the assignment
• The student submitted a draft with unresolved comments from another tutor
• The student submitted a duplicate

What To Do If a Student Submits an Unworkable Assignment

If you claim an assignment and see that the student submitted an unworkable assignment, you should first send a message to the student within the submission to ask them to correct the submission. For example, if the student submitted a blank file, you could post the following message to the submission:

"Hi [student]! I was trying to complete your assignment review but it looks like you uploaded a blank file. Can you try uploading your assignment again? The sooner I have it the sooner I can get my feedback to you!"

If you don't receive a response from the student within a reasonable time frame (between 3-5 hours), report the unworkable assignment to Tutor Management either by sending an email to [e-mail] or by making a post within the #async Slack channel so the issue can be resolved before the paper expires.

If you receive an unworkable assignment on the weekend (Friday evening - Sunday), you should alert Tutor Management within the #async Slack channel, as emails are not usually monitored on the weekends.

Lastly, as with any assignment, do not mark an assignment as complete unless you have conducted a review, as this action triggers payment. Once you've reported the unworkable assignment to Tutor Management, leave the assignment within your "Current Work" for us to resolve.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Tutor Management at [e-mail] -- we're happy to help!

Related to

• Information for Upswing Tutors