Guidance for Supporting Late-Arriving Students
Overview
When students arrive well after the start of semester, due to no fault of their own, it can be a challenge for all. Late-arriving students want to succeed, but can be overwhelmed by the work they have missed. Students who were there from the beginning of the course understandably want to move forward with their learning. And, as the professor, you are juggling the needs of both groups of students.
While the most appropriate strategies for these important needs will vary depending on your course and its configuration, most strategies that are effective for late-arriving students also benefit the class as a whole. Below are suggestions for helping students catch-up on course content and assignments, consolidate their learning to succeed moving forward, and form supportive relationships with you and with their peers.
Catch-up on Course Content and Assignments
Provide a comprehensive collection of course materials, organized by week, in Canvas. You can create a Canvas module for each week that includes key materials such as slides, handouts, and session recordings if available. Consider including a glossary of foundational concepts or terms. Comprehensive, organized collections of material in the learning management system are useful for all students: those encountering content for the first time and those who want to review. If you want to record your classes or lectures, Panopto is a video recording tool that can easily be embedded in your Canvas course. View the Panopto overview tutorial or Contact Academic Technologies if you need support.
Identify what must be done at a minimum. What is most essential for the student to accomplish? Are there any previous assignments that could be modified without unduly compromising learning outcomes? Are some readings more important than others, or would it be possible for students to do a subset of the readings?
Use AI to brainstorm possibilities and identify course-specific options. Upload your syllabus to Claude and ask for suggestions tailored to your course. For example, use the prompt:
I am teaching the class with the attached syllabus. I will have some students join up to three weeks late. What are some ideas I can use to help them succeed?
Claude will identify key elements that need to be addressed, given the timing.
Meet with the student to develop a catch-up plan as soon as possible after the student joins your class. Setting clear expectations, in writing, will be useful for both you and for your student. A catch-up plan will also make it easier to monitor progress.Things to include in the plan might include a timeline for completing missed work, negotiated priorities for previous work such as readings, content triage (e.g., most important 5 pages from each reading), assignment alternatives or adaptations as appropriate, and a checklist of tasks. If you have Teaching Assistants, share the plan with them and involve them in regular check-ins with the student. If you are concerned about progress, reach out to your department chairs or academic support such as advisers.
Consolidate Learning to Succeed Moving Forward
Incorporate “Integration Sessions” into the Class Schedule. Revisit key concepts from the previous weeks (e.g., in weeks 4, 8, and 12), which will both help late arrivals and reinforce learning for everyone. You may even want to partner with a team of students in preparing and running the integration portion of the class. Students who have been in the class from the beginning could go first, presenting their understanding of the work so far, and late-arriving students could collaborate with you and their peers to lead subsequent integration sessions.
Allow students to improve their course assignment and assessment work. Consider allowing students opportunities to redo or revise early coursework in response to your feedback, which will help late-entry students and also be fair to students who were there from the start. Include a redo option for the first major deliverable after late-comers arrive, which helps late-arrivals calibrate expectations and how work in your course is assessed. If appropriate, allow students to drop their lowest score.
Create additional ways for students to get their questions addressed, such as an ungraded Questions and Answers discussion area in Canvas. Encourage students to help answer each others’ questions as appropriate. If a student sends an email with a non-personal question, encourage them to post it to the discussion so that everyone can benefit from your response.
Form Supportive Relationships
Share information about academic support services such as tutoring and writing centers. Include a link to Academic Resources in your syllabus, in Canvas, and tell them about it verbally.
Integrate new students to pre-existing groups. If students do semester-long projects in teams, have a plan for onboarding late-arriving students into their groups intentionally. Which team is best equipped to support a new student? This may be a team that is doing the strongest work, or it may be a team that you think has the social skills to welcome newcomers. Help the class understand that in the workplace people join and leave teams all the time, and therefore the skills they develop in integrating a new person will be valuable in their lives beyond the class.
Ask the new student to review any written work done to date by their group or team, write a reflection about what they observe, and compose a list of follow-up questions they want to ask their team. You can review their write-up to see what they are observing and whether they are “getting it.” The questions they ask of the team will demonstrate interest in their work, setting the stage for positive group dynamics.
Create a buddy system. At the start of the semester, briefly mention that some students may need to join late and encourage the class to welcome newcomers. If a significant number of students join late, you may want to set up a buddy system that pairs newcomers with existing classmates. In addition to making space for buddies in class, suggest they meet outside of class to connect.
Be mindful of the stress that the late-arriving student may be experiencing. Students who have experienced visa delays have dealt with a lot of logistical challenges and uncertainty. U.S. academic conventions such as office hours may be new to some students, and meeting with you to catch up may be intimidating. Be explicit in communicating that you are invested in their success and supportive of their efforts to do the work. Offer flexibility where feasible. CATLR’s resource on supporting international students may give you ideas, and the Office of the Provost also has a resource for faculty on supporting student mental health.