Mandatory Attendance Verification Procedures

Taking Attendance: Prairie State College aims to remain compliant with the state and federal financial aid regulations. When a student who never attended a course is not reported, the college is held responsible. Here are the steps on taking attendance. When a student is NOT on the roster: When you are taking attendance and you have a student sitting in class who is not on your roster, don’t ignore it! Immediately let the student know they are not on your roster, and they will need to officially enroll either online or in the Enrollment Services office. Once a student is registered for your course, they should be attending class. Please Note: If a student tells you their registration is “on hold,” inform them they are allowed to and should be attending your course. Click to view a > Video Scenario The board approved the college changing our longstanding refund table for credit courses. Now students will not be assessed a percentage of the tuition associated with a course (80 or 50%) when they drop Students are now able to drop a course for 100% up until the last day for a refund. This information is no longer in the schedule but can be accessed from the psc.edu under tuition refunds. This now allows students to drop and add courses without the concern of a financial burden hindering their decision.

When a Student is on the Roster but Never Attended:* Here is how to submit the information: Log into WebAdvisor. Select the Faculty tab. Select 10 Day Attendance Verification. Select the course you are reporting on. Locate the student’s name on the course roster. Click the Never Attended box for the student. Click the Certify Enrollment box. Click Submit. * PSC is required to identify students who are enrolled but never attended a course. Faculty are required to report students who have not begun and certify their course roster by the deadline date provided by the Vice President of Academic Affairs. The DOE required that we disburse the student refunds earlier into the semester. If a factor in the amount you are disbursed are the number of hours you are registered, that means the college had to modify the amount of time we allowed students to register and elect a course for audit. The last day to register has been moved up to about 2 weeks into the term. Students can still receive professor consent to register for a course, but they must officially register by the date listed on the academic calendar. Students wanting to enroll in courses after the last day to enroll will have to consider other options such as 14, 12 or 2nd 8week course. Students will not be able to sit in a course not on the roster and register at a later time. Students must be enrolled in the courses they are attending. Use “Request to Hold Registration” form.

When ALL students attend the course: If all of your students have attended class, you still must certify the roster. Here is how to submit the information: Log in to WebAdvisor. Select the Faculty tab. Select 10 Day Attendance Verification. Select the course you are reporting on. Go directly to the Certify Enrollment box. (Note: you will not be marking any student box.) Click the Certify Enrollment box. Click Submit.   NOTE: 10 Day Attendance Verification is available for a short period and WILL NOT open after it is closed. Now we have 4 different census dates due to our varied start dates The census date now directly follows the last day to add a course. The census date is no longer 6 weeks into the semester but its about 2 weeks. Since the census date takes a snapshot of the number of hours the student is enrolled, that is why it is so critical to ensure the students are technically registered and not just attending a course. This is important. We must give the refunds earlier in the semester, per DOE. So we pay you based on 12 hours but remember your registered hours are not locked in until we reach the census date. Danger zone is after a student receives their refund but before they reach the census date. If they drop courses during this time they could owe money back.

Critical to Note: Note: Click to view a > Video Scenario After the Attendance Verification deadline, students who are not attending will be dropped from their courses triggering an adjustment to the course roster, the student’s schedule, billing and financial aid. Note: If students no longer plan to attend their classes, please remind them to drop the course(s). Let them know their financial aid may be impacted and encourage them to speak with a staff member in Enrollment Services. Click to view a > Video Scenario Once again the financial aid census date was also moved earlier into the term to facilitate our compliance with federal regulations and decrease students owing money back to the college if they modified their schedule. Has anyone noticed the college now lists the financial aid census date in the calendar and provides information as to the significance of the census date. The financial aid census date locks in a students registration for that specific part of term as of that date. So it takes a picture of the number of hours as of that date. The amount disbursed is then officially based on the hours as of that census date 12 hours of 16 week classes --- 2000 paid If a drop a course and am now at 9 hours as of the census date I am no longer eligible for 2000 but now my award is 1500 because I am at quarter time

Why the entire process is critical: Prairie State College must remain compliant with the state and federal financial aid regulations. When a student who never attended a course is not reported, the college and students are impacted. Impact on College Inaccurate and false reporting to the federal government. Affects the college retention and graduation rates. Affects audit to program review due to compliance. There is a financial liability to college if determined student was ineligible. College in receipt of federal funds student were ineligible to receive. Impact on Students: Students will receive a failing grade. Student may need to return financial aid dollars to the college. They will not be able to enroll the next semester or obtain a transcript due to an outstanding balance.

Other critical factors to consider This process ensures: students are awarded and disbursed the correct amount based on registered hours. enrollment is accurately reported to state and federal agencies. students are accurately billed for instruction received from courses attended. student transcripts accurately reflects courses attempted. course roster is correct for grade reporting and/or in case of an emergency.

Questions about the attendance process, contact: Jaime Miller, Executive Director, Enrollment and Financial Aid Services at jmmiller@prairiestate.edu or (708) 709-3513