Faculty Guidelines

The Office of the Registrar is charged with maintaining accurate records of class enrollment. Faculty Attendance Verification and Final Grade Reporting serve two important purposes. One purpose is to ensure that college records are accurate and complete and that faculty have reliable class lists on which to post student grades at the end of the term. The reporting may also trigger information about financial aid implications. The second purpose is to comply with state and federal regulations regarding financial assistance. All faculty are required to report attendance and final grades according to procedures and schedules defined by the Office of Academic Affairs and the Records Office. Each session, a memo is sent to all faculty from their department chair notifying them of the deadlines and procedures for reporting attendance and final grades.

Questions about these processes may be directed to your Chairperson or the Records Office at (386) 506-3876.

Daytona State College takes attendance twice within each session of a term. This process is referred to as “Attendance Verification.” The initial attendance roster (Roster 1) is completed following the add/drop period of each session (A, B, and full term) as indicated on the Academic Calendar. Financial aid students who are marked as not present during this time will be dropped from the course for non-attendance because attendance in the course is required to apply that class to their financial aid eligibility.

A second roster (Roster 2) goes out after the withdrawal deadline for each session. Students who are reported as not attending up to the withdrawal date will be administratively withdrawn from the class and assigned a grade of "W1." A last date of attendance will be reported and used to calculate the return of any Title IV aid (including Pell grant, Stafford Loans, etc.).

Each semester, the Records Office provides a memo including instructions and deadlines for attendance verification to the Vice President of Academic Affairs/College Provost and Department Chairs, who then forward it to all faculty via email. Faculty are required to monitor attendance during the specified time periods and update the attendance information via the Faculty Center ⇒ Attendance College Credit on the MyDaytonaState portal.

Roster 1 and Roster 2 attendance verification is required. Attendance throughout the rest of the term is the instructor's option for undergraduate programs. However, for Adult Education and clock hour programs, faculty are required to verify daily attendance. This verification may be accomplished via the Faculty Center ⇒ Daily Attendance on the MyDaytonaState portal.

It is good practice to take attendance routinely throughout the semester. Many faculty members link student class attendance to the grading policy in the course to emphasize the importance of being in class. This practice, too, is beneficial, but the link must be clearly articulated in the written course syllabus.

(a) Verifying Attendance – All Faculty

• Go to My.DaytonaState.edu and select Falcon Self-Service
• Login using your college credentials
• Select “Faculty Center”
• Select “Attendance College Credit”
• Mark students as Present or Not Present
• Save to submit
• Progress will show as ‘Completed’ if successful

(b) Verifying Daily Attendance for Adult Education and Career and Technical Programs Only

• Go to My.DaytonaState.edu and select Falcon Self-Service
• Login using your college credentials
• Select “Faculty Center”
• Select “Daily Attendance”
• On your daily attendance roster, mark students as Present or leave blank if absent. Once you have entered daily attendance for all students that are present for that class, click save.

Refer any student who is attending your class but whose name does not appear on the roster to the Registration Office immediately. It is possible that the student is registered for a different section of the course.

If you indicate a student is not attending but the student later re-registers or continues enrollment be sure the student has been reinstated to your class. The Registration Office will update the student's attendance record to Present when the student is reinstated.

(c) Administrative Withdrawal (effective Spring 2017)

Students may withdraw themselves from a class at any point before the published Withdrawal date and receive a grade of W. The process described here is an administrative withdrawal, initiated by the college because you reported the student as Not Present on Roster 2. An administrative withdrawal will appear as a grade of W1.

Directions for faculty to report students who have stopped attending:

1. The following statement should be included in your syllabi and course shells in regards to Roster 2 attendance verification:
   Students who stop attending this class will be withdrawn from the class and receive a final grade of W1 (Withdrawn). Attendance includes participating in online or face-to-face environments as required.
2. Discuss this policy and its impact with students at the beginning of the term.
3. Roster 2 opens for submission after the published Withdrawal date for your class sections. Open your rosters, mark your students as Present or Not Present with the last date of attendance (LDA) for any student who has stopped attending more than two weeks prior to the withdrawal deadline.
4. Turning in the report is mandatory, even if there are no students who have stopped attending a particular class. In those cases, the instructor will mark all students as Present and click save and submit. Your roster status will update to Completed if submitted successfully.
5. If a student asks to be reinstated, they must submit a reinstatement request appeal form (Reinstatement Instructions). The appeal form must be approved by the Department, Student Accounts, and Financial Aid prior to the student being reinstated. Tuition must be paid or covered by their financial aid prior to the reinstatement.
6. Consequences for the student who is administratively withdrawn are serious, especially for those on financial aid. Accuracy in reporting is very important.

Guidelines for determining whether a student has stopped attending:

• If the student hasn’t participated or contacted you in the last two weeks, they should be reported as Not Present.
• Please note that this process is to be used for students who have stopped attending, not for students who are attending but failing the class. Attending students should receive the grade they have earned from grades on all assignments.
• This may impact how you structure your assignments. Especially for online classes, you may want to include an assignment near the withdrawal date to have a final “check” participation before reporting students as non-attending. All classes should be structured in such a way that enables you to quantify attendance and identify a date the student last attended/participated.
  • In face-to-face classes if a student is physically coming to class but not turning in work, they are still considered to be attending and should be reported as Present.
  • In online classes, attendance must be measured through some type of required participation (quizzes, homework, discussion board postings, etc.). A student that logs into Falcon Online, but does not submit work, is not considered participating and should be marked as Not Present.
• You know your students best, so there may be special circumstances where you are in contact with the student and have agreed to let them make up work, etc. In those cases, it is OK to report them as Present.
• Students will be notified by Enrollment Services, via email, that they have been dropped from Roster 1, or assigned a “W1” grade from Roster 2. This process takes a few days from the time they are marked as Not Present. Withdrawn students will appear on your PeopleSoft class roster as W1 through the remainder of the term.
• A student may not continue to attend the class after they have been withdrawn unless they are approved for reinstatement. 

(d) Assigning a Grade of F for non-attendance (effective Fall 2020, FN grade will NOT be used)

Students who attend enough to avoid being withdrawn, but then stop attending for the remainder of the semester and fail the course because of that, should be assigned the grade of “F” for non-attendance. The F grade should be used for a student who did attend after the withdrawal date, but failed the class.

In face to face classes you are encouraged to take daily attendance, but you may use other information available to you to determine the appropriate date to enter, such as test dates, quiz dates, submitted papers, lab participation, or any other evidence of an academically related activity. In online classes attendance must be measured through some sort of required participation (quizzes, homework, discussion board postings, etc.)

Early Alerts

The college’s early alert system gives faculty the opportunity to send messages directly to students and advisors with requests for intervention, recommendations for action, and commendations. You can access the early alert system via the following URL using DSC credentials:

https://daytonastate.inspire.civitaslearning.com

When should I submit Early Alerts?

While we have created early alert windows, faculty can submit alerts at any time during the semester. If the suggested dates do not align with the assignments in your course, submit as needed when it makes sense for you. There is no need to request an extension. Your chair will send an updated early alert calendar at the beginning of each semester.

How do I submit Early Alerts?

This helpful video demonstrates the process of submitting alerts and commendations through Inspire. (Big thanks to Krissy Leonard!)

Please complete each section of an alert, especially indicating whether the student should speak directly with their instructor, or if an advisor needs to connect with the student – this allows us to focus on the students who really need advising. You can access the early alert system via the following URL using DSC credentials:

https://daytonastate.inspire.civitaslearning.com

What is a Commendation?

Do you have students who are doing well?  This is a tool to let them know!  Please take advantage of the ability to send commendations. This is a simple nudge to motivate students to keep up great work, and an opportunity to remind them that they belong here and matter to the institution. Students are extremely grateful for these simple efforts to recognize their successes.

What happens after I send an alert?

Students receive an email as soon as alerts are submitted, so they will see your recommendation.  If you indicate that an advisor should follow up, they will reach out to the student.  Advisors receive a daily digest of students who need follow-up.

Any Questions about Inspire Early Alerts? Please contact: 

Karla Moore Karla.Moore@daytonastate.edu

Michelle Goldys - x.3331, Michelle.goldys@daytonastate.edu

 All faculty are required to submit final grades no later than midnight on the last day of session. The Academic Calendar for each term indicates the date by which grades are due. Each semester, the Records Office will provide a memo including instructions and deadlines for grade submission to the Vice President of Academic Affairs/College Provost and to all Department Chairs, who will then forward it to all faculty via email.