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Course Settings

Course settings allow instructors to configure global preferences that apply across all course features.

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Time Zone Configuration

Pawtograder supports configurable time zones for displaying dates and times throughout the platform. This ensures that all deadlines, timestamps, and schedules are shown in the appropriate time zone for your course.

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Setting Your Course Time Zone

  1. Navigate to Course Settings in the course navigation menu
  2. Find the Time Zone setting
  3. Select your preferred time zone from the dropdown menu
  4. Click Save to apply the changes
Once set, dates and times throughout Pawtograder default to this time zone for all users in the course. Individual viewers may switch their display to their browser’s local time zone via the time-zone toggle in the user menu (Pawtograder prompts on first visit when the two differ). The preference is stored per-browser in localStorage; it does not change the course’s configured time zone or affect other users.

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Default Time Zone

If no time zone is configured, Pawtograder defaults to America/New_York (Eastern Time).

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Where Time Zones Apply

The configured time zone affects:
  • Assignment due dates: Deadlines shown to students and staff
  • Survey deadlines: When surveys close for responses
  • Poll deactivation times: Automatic poll closing times
  • Office hours schedules: Queue availability times
  • Gradebook timestamps: When grades were entered or updated
  • Discussion board posts: Post and reply timestamps
  • Self-review deadlines: When self-reviews are due
  • Submission timestamps: When students submit work
  • Export files: Timestamps in the configured time zone

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Time Zone Display

When a time zone is configured:
  • Dates and times default to the course’s configured time zone for all users; each viewer may opt to display them in their browser’s local time zone instead (per-browser preference, stored in localStorage)
  • Countdown timers automatically calculate based on the configured time zone
  • Date pickers use the configured time zone for deadline selection
  • Export files include timestamps in the configured time zone

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Admin View Default Time Zone

For system administrators viewing courses across multiple time zones, a default time zone can be configured for the admin view to ensure consistent time display when managing multiple courses.
The time zone setting is course-wide and applies to all students and staff in the course. Individual users cannot override this setting.
Set your time zone to match your institution’s location or the primary location where your course is taught. This ensures that due dates and times are intuitive for your students.

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Late Token Policy

Configure the class-wide late token policy that determines how many late tokens students receive and how they can be used for assignment extensions.

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Configuring Late Tokens

  1. Navigate to Course Settings
  2. Find the Late Tokens section
  3. Set the number of late tokens available to each student
  4. Configure how many tokens can be used per assignment (set per-assignment)
  5. Define the extension period for each token (typically 24 hours)
See Extensions for more details on late token configuration, and the Late Tokens and Extensions documentation for how students use late tokens.

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Grading Conflicts

Course staff can declare conflicts of interest to ensure they don’t grade assignments where conflicts exist. Graders can self-input their conflicts under Course Settings → Grading Conflicts, and instructors can review and enter conflicts for all graders in the class. See Grading Assignments for more details on managing grading conflicts.

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Course Display Settings

Additional course-wide settings may include:
  • Course name and description
  • Enrollment synchronization preferences
  • GitHub organization settings
  • Email notification preferences