Attendance Policy
When must a school terminate a student for attendance? Can a student make up time from an absence?
Nikki,
Loa reasons must be within guidelines outlined in your catalog. Historically; military, medical (student or immediate family), jury duty are valid. I suggest avoiding overuse of LOAs as many students don't return and you may be prolonging the inevitable (drop). TWC expects you to follow your own policies. You don't want a high amount (more than 5%) of loa students at any time on your rolls.
Thanks
What are some acceptable LOA reasons per the TWC?
Ricardo,
Yes- the level of documentation is high but we have to play by all the rules. Since we are preparing students for (ultimately) career employment, we must also hold them accountable as an employer would.
Thank you,
JP Mehlmann
In about six months as a director, as it relates to attendance matters, I'm finding that precisely documenting attendance for make-up can be a bit of a challenge for instructors and staff in making sure that every step of documentation is properly taken care of.
The school is obligated to terminate a student when he/she misses more than 20% of the program, (if the program is over 200 clock hours) or 10 consecutive days. Also if the student does not come back to school from an approved Leave of Absence.
Jennifer,
Jennifer,
Thank you for your question. First, the school's make-up policy must be approved by the TWC CSC. Second, the student must make up the hours before he/she violates the attendance requirements. Regarding documentation; the TWC rules state: "...(4) be documented by the school as being completed, recording the date, time, duration of the make-up session, and the name of the supervising instructor; and (5) be signed and dated by the student to acknowledge the make-up session. Therefore, a sign-in/out sheet that contains the above information is one way to comply.
JP Mehlmann
What are some acceptable forms of documentation for make-up work?
Audrey ,
Yes - but technically, the TWC CSC rules states the student must be dropped if he/she misses "more than" 10 consecutive days. Therefore, the student could return to class at the beginning of the 11th day (provided your published attendance policy includes the "more than" verbiage). PS: Absences may only be made up if the school has an approved make-up policy and the student has not exceeded 20% absence.
JP Mehlmann
When a student misses 10 consecutive days of class, misses 20% of the program, or when a student does not return from an LOA.
Audrey N
The school withdraws a student after the 10 consecutive rule; new rules through the Dept. of Ed requires for our school, a 90% completion rate.
Arturo,
In addition, the school may offer attendance make-up if the make-up policy is approved by the TWC CSC.
JP Mehlmann
TWC mandates state that a student must be dropped from a 200 hour clock program or more when the student has exceeded mopre than 10 consecutive absences, misses more than 20% of their clock hour program or does not return from an LOA.
This is precisely what we do at my school. However, as you say, advisement that is documented and close weekly monitoring of this student's attendance is needed. As a School Director I am pulling an attendance breakdown in our reports system that shows the entire spread of attendance on each student since Day 1 of the term.
James,
Unfortunately, students sometimes work the system and miss the 9 or 10 days before showing up for class again. The key wording in the TWC CSC policy is - "...more than 10 consecutive school days". So 10 days absence is OK but any amount over 10 is not.
JP Mehlmann
Interesting. I have learned something. It has always been my understanding that the student must sign attend class before the end of the 10th day or be terminated. Our policy has been written around this understanding. Perhaps we do this in order to not take a chance on the student being late on the 11th day. I am sure our policy won't change, but nevertheless I learned something.
Angie ,
The TWC is particular that the number of contact hours in the program are delivered. If the student does not attend the full make-up period, they would receive attendance credit for time attended. I agree that the same objectives should be covered in the make-up as in the class time that was missed although I don't see that this is in the rules. The TWC, School Director Resource Guide states: "A school may elect to have a make-up policy. Schools must submit make-up policies to TWC for approval before they implement the policies and publish them in the school catalog. If the school elects to have a make-up policy:
• A student may make up no more than 5% of the total clock hours of a program.
• The student must make up the hours before he or she violates the attendance requirements.
JP Mehlmann
Having reached out to several different campuses with regard to 5% makeup policy, it appears there are multiple attendance practices in place. It is my understanding that a 'make-up' is to be the exact length of class time that was missed with the same objectives covered. Am I missing something?
Ronald,
Students sometimes show up on the 11th day, (or the 10th day to avoid being dropped). The school has a LEGAL obligation to drop the student if they are late on the 11th consecutive day. The rules are specific on this. The situation of mis-marking attendance is the exception rather than the norm. The school's attendance records, whether manual or computerized are subject to review and must be accurate. The burden of proof does not rise to the level of a court proceeding - if the student says he/she was present and the records show absent, then they were absent. If a mistake is made and caught quickly, the school must document any action taken to remedy the situation. Students should be well aware of the attendance policies from receipt of the catalog, orientation, and other communications. Dropped students who dispute the attendance records are free to follow the school's grievance policy. I suggest they attempt to re-enter classes at the next start date or as soon thereafter as possible. Attendance monitoring should be the responsiblility of a registrar or administrative person, in addition to the Dean of Education (i.e. NOT someone whose job performance is evaluated on retention). It is black and white and must be done correctly since this is a very critical area of compliance.
JP Mehlmann
It would seem that the instructor then has the moral obligation to drop the student if they are late on the 11th day. Is "late" subject to interpretaton as not all classroom policies regarding tardiness are not equal; at least at my school. What if the class at some point had a substitute instructor and mis-marked someone who was in class but was counted as absent? What recourse would that student have and who would be liable for the burden of proof; the student or instructor?
