Attendance Procedures
Submitting accurate attendance is important since marking a student present when the student is not in class can impact financial aid, and such a practice may put the University out of compliance with federal and state regulations.
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Courses 199 and below:
- attendance must be submitted up to the last day to withdraw with a “W” grade.
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Courses 200 and above:
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attendance must be submitted for the first two weeks of the semester and session.
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After these dates, the Attendance Application will disable the ability to submit attendance; however, alerts may still be cleared up to 48 hours after and you can still review attendance. If you need need an alert cleared after the 48 hours please email attendance@davenport.edu.
Student information for attendance is on the Attendance Practice page.
| Link | More Information |
|---|---|
| Attendance Application | Also found on the Faculty Connection page under Course Tools. |
| Training/Instructions |
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| Excluded Courses | Courses are excluded from the Attendance Application for various reasons |
Best Practices
| Delivery Modality | Student Requirements | When Attendance can be taken | Best Practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campus and Live Stream Courses | Student must attend at least 50% of the class time to be marked present per the instructor's discretion. |
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If a class meets from 8-10 am on Mondays and Wednesdays, attendance should be taken on Monday by 10 am and again on Wednesday by 10 am. |
| FLEX | FLEX course attendance is defined as completion and submission of at least one gradable course activity by the end of the posted class meeting day and time |
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| Absence Type | Directions |
|---|---|
| Present |
Bubble under date with no color means nothing has been recorded for that student on that day
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| Absent |
Bubble under date with no color means nothing has been recorded for that student on that day
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| Excused |
If you are still within the day the absence occurred:
If you are past the day the absence occurred:
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| Reinstate | Send email or approved Attendance appeal form to attendance@davenport.edu |
| Absence Type | Student Requirements | When can/should you take attendance | Directions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | At least one gradable assignment was completed during the week attendance is being recorded |
Can be recorded once a student has completed a gradable assignment for that week The exact date the assignment was completed is not required, the date you are taking attendance or the last day of the week is recommended for consistency and ease of use |
Bubble under date with no color means nothing has been recorded for that student on that day
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| Absent |
No gradable assignment completed during the week attendance is being recorded |
Student should be marked as absent on the first day of the week attendance is being recorded Last date of attendance needs to be entered in the notes box and the date will be from the week prior |
Bubble under date with no color means nothing has been recorded for that student on that day
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| Excused | Student contacts an instructor before or after an absences |
If attendance has not yet been taken, the excused absence can be recorded on any date during the attendance week. Notes are strongly suggested If attendance has been recorded, the absence needs to be changed to excused by clicking on the "Absence notified" check box and notes are strongly suggested |
If you are still within the day the absence occurred:
If you are past the day the absence occurred:
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| Reinstate | Student contacts instructor to be put back in the course and instructor approves | Send email or approved Attendance appeal form to attendance@davenport.edu |
| Question | Campus, Livestream, and FLEX Courses | On-Demand Courses |
|---|---|---|
| When should an instructor mark a student "present"? | The student must be present for 50% of the class time to be marked present. |
The student must participate in the class at least once a week (7 days) by submitting an assignment for grading. Attendance will be defined as participating in an academic activity within the classroom, which includes posting in a graded discussion board or submitting a written assignment or Voiceboard for grading |
| When should an instructor mark a student "absent"? | When the student is not present for 50% of the class time, he or she should be marked absent per the instructor's discretion. |
When the student does not participate in the class at least once a week (7 days) by submitting an assignment for grading, he/she should be marked absent. Attendance will be defined as participating in an academic activity within the classroom, which includes posting in a graded discussion board or submitting a written assignment or Voiceboard for grading. The Last Attendance Date (LAD) LAD is the last date the student turned in a gradable activity. |
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What do I do when a student notifies me before class/deadline they will be absent? | When a student requests an absence in advance of a class meeting and the instructor approves the absence, the instructor would mark the student Excused (Absence Notified). |
| What happens once an instructor marks a student "absent"? |
The student, student’s advisor, instructor and coach (if applicable) will receive an email informing them that an absence alert has been submitted and the 48 hour countdown to the administrative drop/withdrawal has begun. The student has 48 hours to submit a valid excuse to the instructor so it is expected that the instructor will be checking voice-mail and Davenport email a minimum of once every 24 hours after marking the student absent to allow the student an opportunity to submit a valid excuse. If a student submits a satisfactory excuse before the administrative withdrawal takes place, the instructor must go back into the attendance application and mark the student excused or as attending. |
| What happens to Blackboard access when a student's class is dropped/withdrawn due to the Attendance Application? | The student will be unable to access the class in Blackboard once the drop/withdrawal has occurred. |
| What should an instructor do when an error has been made when submitting attendance? |
If you are still within the day the absence occurred:
If you are past the day the absence occurred:
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Attendance FAQs
Q: can I submit attendance early?
A: You cannot mark attendance for a future date, you can only go backwards. To mark people absent for Sunday you would need to access attendance on Sunday or the Monday afterward.
Q: For On-Demand will we have to mark each day or is once within the week good?
A: One day is sufficient for On-Demand and if attending it doesn't matter what day. Thus as soon as a gradable assignment is submitted you can mark them present. This means that if everyone completes the discussion boards on day three you could be done with attendance that day!
Q: If marked absent it didn't ask me or prompt me for Last Attendance Date (LAD):
- For On-Demand:
- A: you can now mark the student absent any day during the week, the day you mark the student absent automatically becomes the LAD. If they have never attended use the first day of the week in which they did not attend.
- For in-seat or livestream:
- A: the session they did not attend becomes their LAD
Q: No overall submit or save button?
A: Save/submit is per item and occurs automatically upon completion of that action. This allows you to take attendance as the course progresses
Q:What should an instructor do when an error has been made when submitting attendance?
If you are still within the day the absence occurred:
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Click the bubble under the applicable date:
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Click on the bubble to clear it, then
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One click = attended & green check mark
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Two clicks = absent and a red bubble
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If you are past the day the absence occurred:
- You need to click on the date/day picker or lick the header of the date in question
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Type or click on the calendar the day the absence occurred
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You can now click on the row of the student in question
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Click the bubble under the applicable date:
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Click on the bubble to clear it, then
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One click = attended & green check mark
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Two clicks = absent and a red bubble
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Q: What happens to Blackboard access when a student's class is dropped/withdrawn due to the Attendance Application?
A: The student will be unable to access the class in Blackboard once the drop/withdrawal has occurred.
Q: Clearing Attendance Alert, Monday - Wednesday classes. If a learner in gone Monday and arrives Wednesday. If I mark Present for Wednesday does the earlier Monday automatically clear? Do I need to go in and manually clear the Monday missed class?
A: For multiple days a week classes being present on the second or greater meeting removes them from the Drop list. No need to clear the original absence
Emails are sent to Students and the instructor, advisor and coach are copied, when the following occur:
- Student is marked absent (two reminder emails are sent in the 48 hours following the absence)
- Attendance Alert is cleared (this includes an instructor marking the Absence Notified or cleared by attending a multiple day a week class)
- Student is dropped from a course
- Student is reinstated back into a course
Emails are sent to instructors when the following occurs:
- Daily summary email is sent if the Instructor has students who were marked absent
- The instructor misses taking attendance, supervisor is copied
What happens when a campus is closed and classes are cancelled?
Instructors can use the "Cancel a Class" button to automatically notify students and remove the attendance requirement for that meeting.
How can an instructor request a student reinstatement after the student has been dropped due to an attendance absence?
An instructor can request to have a student reinstated after an attendance absence drop (when no documentation is required from the instructor), by emailing attendance@davenport.edu, stating their approval and including the student name, ID, Class, and five digit CRN.
How is an Attendance Withdrawal Appeal handled?
If a student challenges the withdrawal, the student may fill out and submit an Attendance Withdrawal Appeal to the instructor within 2 business days of the date of the email notice of withdrawal. If the instructor approves the appeal, he/she must check the Appeal Approved box, date it, provide rationale, sign it (electronically is fine) and forward the form to attendance@davenport.edu and to the student - (directions are on page 1 of the form). The student will then be readmitted to the class and email notification sent to the student, advisor and instructor.
When does Blackboard access resume after reinstatement?
After a student is reinstated back into a class that was dropped due to the Attendance Application, access to Blackboard will become available after the next automated upload occurs and all information will be restored.
When should an instructor mark a student / student athlete excused "absent notified"?
- Student athletes should review their academic and athletic schedules at the beginning of each semester and session to determine if conflicts exist. It is the responsibility of the student athlete to communicate directly with his/her instructor(s), and make the necessary arrangements to complete the required work. The Athletic Department can provide a written notification that can be submitted to the instructor for each absence. Failure to notify the instructor at least 24 hours in advance will be treated as an unexcused class absence and the student may incur academic consequences.
- No class time can be missed for athletic practice or activities which would include on-field practice, training room time, team meetings, and conditioning (weight training/running).
What happens when an instructor has to have a substitute submit attendance?
By the end of the class period or immediately after, the substitute should complete the Substitute Attendance Form. The form will ask you to confirm if all students are present or create a list of who was absent and/or excused from a drop down list. Once submitted the Absent Instructor will receive a record of the substitute attendance and the attendance team will add the data to the attendance app. Note it could take 24-48 hours for the attendance to reflect in the attendance app and corrections or updates can only be made by the Absent Instructor or by submitting a new form.
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