One of the federal rules that governs the eligibility of students to receive federal financial aid, as well as the eligibility of an institution to award and accept that aid, is verifying that students begin attendance in each course for which they are registered.
NOTE: Beginning the Fall 2015 semester, faculty are required to indicate whether students have been "academically present" in their class at least once in order for the students to retain their eligibility for federal financial aid.
"Academically present" means that the student has either attended the class or has participated in some form of academic activity at least once. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
- submitting an assignment
- posted in an online chat about a class topic
- emailed questions about the academic subject matter to the instructor
- participated in any academically related activity
Faculty are NOT required to keep attendance records throughout the semester. Faculty only need to verify that the student has been academically present at least once in the class.
The Academic Presence Verification Roster for each course (undergraduate and graduate levels) will be open on the start date of the course according to the university's schedule of classes. Completed rosters are due by the end of the fourth week of a 15-week standard term (prorated for flexibly scheduled courses). The Office of the University Registrar will send email reminders to complete the Academic Presence Verification rosters.
Students will be eligible to receive federal aid for only those classes in which their academic presence has been verified. Full instructions regarding the Academic Presence Verification Roster is located on the Registrar's website.