PROCEDURES FOR POLICY NO: 1-36
REVISED DATE: 06/27/2024

  1. Purpose:

    To provide guidance on college attendance standards for students and reporting requirements by instructors.

  2. Procedure and/or Process Definitions:

    Attendance certification: The Enrollment Census Campaigns, through Navigate, will be our new tool for monitoring attendance. Learn more about attendance certification in Navigate.

    Last date of attendance: the last date documented by the instructor of an academically-related activity such as attendance in class or completion and submission of a class assignment, exam, tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction.

    Last day to drop with a refund: the fifteen percent (15%) point in the semester or session. The specific dates are published in the respective Registration Information Booklet for a given semester.

    Never-attended student: a student who enrolls in a class and does not attend at least one class or actively participate at least once in a distance education class within the first fifteen percent (15%) of the course.

    Official drop: when a student informs the college of his/her drop from classes, by completing JSRCC Form No. 11-0002, Add / Drop / Withdraw from Classes, and submitting it to the Registrar’s Office on or before the published last day to drop a course for a refund or by dropping a course using the Student Information System at MyReynolds.

    Official withdrawal: when a student informs the college of his/her withdrawal from classes. The college’s policy for official withdrawals can be found in Reynolds Policy No. 1-10, Student Initiated Withdrawal from a Course(s). Students provide notice of their withdrawal by completing JSRCC Form No. 11-0002, Add / Drop / Withdraw from Classes, and submitting it to the Registrar’s Office on or before the published last day to withdraw.

    Unofficial drop: when an instructor informs college administration about a student who has not participated in or attended class during the first fifteen percent (15%) of the course. For the purpose of this policy and its procedures, students who have not attended or participated in classes during the first fifteen percent (15%) will be designated as having “never attended” or NVRA in the Student Information System.

    Withdrawal date for official withdrawals: the date for calculating the return of Title IV funds portion of earned financial aid, and which is the date the Registrar’s Office receives JSRCC Form No. 11-0002, Add / Drop / Withdraw from Classes.

  3. Procedures:

    1. Communicate instructions and deadlines

      1. Office of the Registrar provides a notice about the attendance certification procedures and deadlines to the vice president of academic affairs, school deans, and faculty 14 days before each semester.

      2. The Office of the Registrar provides a survey link, through the Navigate system to the instructors’ VCCS EMPL email address type, three to five business days before the deadline for each certification.

      3. The Office of the Registrar will monitor and confirm whether instructors have certified enrollment for each class within four days after the last day to drop and after the 60% point in the semester used to measure earned financial aid.

      4. Attendance Definitions as per VCCS Policy No. 5.6.8.1

        Course attendance requires active participation by a student in an instructional activity related to the course, after the course start date. Attendance is not equivalent to logging into the Learning Management System. Participation includes but is not limited to:

        1. Attending a synchronous class, lecture, recitation, or field or laboratory activity, physically or online, where there is an opportunity for predictable and scheduled substantive interaction between the instructor and students
        2. Submitting an academic assignment;
        3. Taking an assessment or an exam;
        4. Instructor documented participation in an interactive tutorial, webinar, or other interactive computer-assisted instruction;
        5. Participating in an activity group, group project, or an online discussion that the instructor assigns; or
        6. Documented coursework interaction with the instructor.

        Per the VCCS definition above, Reynolds added that attendance is not equivalent to logging into the Learning Management System or attending a synchronous class without substantive interaction.

    2. Attendance certification timelines

      1. Current class rosters are to be completed by the class instructor for the attendance certifications for all classes once each semester:
        1. Two days after the last day to drop classes with a refund or census date

    3. Faculty responsibilities for attendance certification process

      1. Academic school deans

        1. Ensure the instructors have completed a computer use agreement.
        2. Ensure there is an instructor assigned to each course in PeopleSoft.
        3. Ensure that instructors have completed SIS training and are able to obtain their class rosters from PeopleSoft.
        4. Ensure the instructors submit completed attendance certifications according to stated timelines.
        5. Ensure the VCCS EMPL email address type in SIS is the instructor's Reynolds email account.

      2. Instructors

        1. Accurately verify class rosters by submitting the Never Attended Students Survey by the deadline.
        2. When instructors complete the form stating that all students listed on their class roster are attending the course, except those listed on the Attendance Certification form as having never attended, they are certifying that everyone else on the class roster is regularly in attendance.
        3. If a student has already dropped/withdrawn from class, the instructor does not need to report them again as never attended or not attending.

      3. Requests to verify attendance beyond 60%

        1. Instructors may be contacted regarding students who receive a financial aid overpayment notice and/or student obligation invoice but believe they were eligible for the full amount of their aid because they attended more than 60% of the semester.
        2. In this case, the instructor should consult their attendance and/or grading records and determine if they have sufficient documentation to support a last date of attendance. A student’s last date of attendance is the last date documented by the instructor for an academically-related activity such as attendance in class or completion and submission of a class assignment, exam, tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction.
        3. The instructor should email the Office of the Registrar and school dean describing the evidence for the last date of attendance and request reinstatement for the student. Upon approval from the school dean, the student will be reinstated to the course.

      4. Academic school deans review the email sent by the Office of the Registrar and ensure faculty compliance. That email contains faculty who have not certified attendance.

        1. School deans, or their designee, are responsible for contacting faculty who fail to return the attendance certifications by the established deadline. These faculty will be reported to the vice president of academic affairs and the vice president of enrollment management and student success.

    4. Office of the Registrar updates PeopleSoft for never-attended students and withdrawals

      1. Never-Attended: Using the census date, attendance certifications that are submitted to them, the Office of the Registrar keys a drop action with a last attendance action reason of NVRA (never attended) for each student reported as never attended by the instructor. The drop action will remove the class from the student record. A refund will be issued to the student during the term for any courses for which they paid. Financial aid monies will be reduced according to the number of classes the student never attended. For example, if a student registers for 12 credits and never attends 3 credits, their full-time award will be reduced to three-quarter time. Keying must be completed within six business days after the last day to add/drop or census and should be completed prior to the disbursement of financial aid to reduce the number of student obligations resulting from over awards.

      2. Official withdrawals: The Office of the Registrar keys a drop action for each student’s class for which a JSRCC Form No. 11-0002, Add/Drop/ Withdraw from Classes, is received. The date keyed in the system should be the date the form is submitted to the Office of the Registrar or Advising Services. This will produce a W on the student record. No refund will be issued to the student during the term for any courses for which they paid. Official withdrawals should be keyed on the date the forms were submitted to the college by the student.

      3. Store documentation electronically: The Office of the Registrar archives submissions electronically by semester.

      4. Notify the Office of Financial Aid when complete: The Office of the Registrar notifies the Office of Financial Aid when the enrollment status changes for the students are completely keyed.

    5. The Office of Financial Aid processes for Never-Attended students

      1. The Office of Financial Aid will run the appropriate queries out of SIS to adjust or cancel aid as appropriate.

    6. The Office of Financial Aid processes for Return of Title IV (R2T4)

      1. See Section 9 Part IV of the Financial Aid Policies and Procedures

  4. Other Information:

    Reynolds Policy 1-36, Treatment of Federal Financial Aid When a Student Withdraws

    Reynolds Policy No. 1-10, Student Initiated Withdrawal from a Course(s)

    Reynolds Policy No. 1-37, Late Add

    JSRCC Form No. 11-0002, Add / Drop / Withdraw from Classes