Why is attendance information required?
The University does not require instructors to take attendance. However, the U.S.
Department of Education requires the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship Services
to determine if a student, who receives financial aid and fails to earn a passing
grade in a course, has actually attended and/or completed the course, or if they withdrew
from a course without providing official notification to the University. For students
who officially withdraw, we are required to document that they also began attending
the course(s) from which they withdrew in order to determine the type and amount of
financial aid they may be eligible to retain. Because a student could be a financial
aid applicant at any point during the academic year, we must collect this information
for all students, so that financial aid eligibility can be accurately determined.
Who must provide the attendance information?
Since the instructor is the only person at the institution who can document whether
a student attended class or participated in an academically related activity, this
documentation must come from the instructor.
What if I do not take attendance?
If you do not take attendance, you should provide the date of the last known *academically-related
activity. If there is no documented attendance or academically-related activity,
you must select "Never Attended."
*Examples of academically-related activities are: taking an exam or quiz; tutorials;
computer-assisted instruction; completing an academic assignment, paper, or project;
or attending a study group required by the university where attendance is taken.
What if I do not know if the student attended and I have no record of academic activity?
Indicate the student did not attend. If attendance cannot be documented through actual
attendance records or an academically-related activity, you must report that the student
never attended.
I teach an online class, how do I document attendance?
If attendance is not taken, provide the date of the last *academically-related activity.
The student is considered to have not begun attendance if the institution is unable
to document the student's attendance.
*Examples of academically related activities are: taking an exam or quiz, tutorials,
computer assisted instruction, completing an academic assignment, paper, or project,
or attending a study group required by the university where attendance is taken.
Where do I find class rosters?
Class rosters can be found in SOLAR under the Faculty Center.