There have been times when I have encouraged a student to turn in work even if it is late. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't work, the student has usually already made up his/her mind to drop or not do the work. They're just intending to get by on attendance.
We contact them both by email, and by phone. I would say that students like to hear from us as it shows we do care.
there are advisors for each individual program, as well as a team of advisors for attendance alone.
We have advisors in student services that work with students who are assigned students alphabetically. The instructors are our front line eyes and ears. My function is to work as a liaison between the education department, the instructor, the student, and student services. Depending on the circumstance, if the student misses a day, and returns, the instructor may advise the student of the impact of the missed attendance on their grade. If the student stops attending I may get a message from the instructor, and will personally try to reach the student by phone. The job of insuring students have every opportunity to succeed is shared by all staff members at our campus.
I think the staff members realize that student success is our livelihood, and see the incentive to take the extra effort to work with challenged students.
Is there a single advisor for a student or is each faculty member responsible for contacting the students who are in jeapordy in their class? How is the contact made - phone, email, in person? Does this extra student involvement serve as a disincentive for faculty members in their grading?
Online programs face some very different challenges. It's real hard to read body language of a virtual student. Do you ever get negative push back from students when you contact them after four days? Do they feel that you are hovering too much? What do you say in the contact? Is it by email or phone?
I work at a ground campus. We encounter the same kind of issues when students just stop attending. Generally, if we are able to contact them, and get to the root of the issue, they stand a good chance of resuming class. We have an advisement system where our instructors inform the students when they are in jeopardy of attendance or academic failure. This helps the student understand where they stand, and gives the faculty a heads up when a student is at risk of dropping.
