Attendance

Seminaries care about presence — many programs require students to actually be in the room, and accreditation often hinges on it. The Attendance module covers the whole arc: recording who was Present, Tardy, or Absent at each class meeting (by the instructor, or by students themselves with a check-in code), turning that into a standing against a per-course absence limit, warning everyone before a student is in trouble, and — when a seminary's policy calls for it — letting the registrar fail a student for absences even when their scores would otherwise pass. Like the rest of the system, nothing fails a student automatically: the limit raises flags and sends warnings, and a human makes the call.

Overview

Attendance has four layers, each building on the one before:

1. Capture     — mark Present / Tardy / Absent per meeting (instructor or self check-in)
2. Policy      — how many absences are allowed (Program % → per-course limit)
3. Standing    — each student's running tally vs. their limit, with warnings
4. Consequence — the registrar's "Fail for Absence" (FA), a deliberate human step

• Capture happens on the course's attendance page, on a printed sheet, or through student self check-in with a rotating-per-meeting code.
• Policy is set once at the Program level as a percentage and resolves to a concrete number of allowed absences on each Course Schedule.
• Standing is computed for every student and shown to them (on their course status), to instructors (on the attendance page), and to the registrar (in a cross-course report), with notifications when a student nears or crosses the limit.
• Consequence — failing for absences — is never automatic. It's a registrar action that stamps a special FA grade.

Capturing attendance

The instructor opens Attendance from a course and sees the class roster with a three-way control for each student: Present, Tardy, or Absent. Pick a meeting date on the left, mark everyone, and save. A running Absences (used / allowed) column shows each student's standing at a glance, coloured amber when they're at risk and red when they're over the limit (this column only appears once an absence limit is in force — see Policy).

Tardy is a first-class status. It isn't just a note — tardies can count toward the absence limit at a configurable rate (e.g. 3 tardies = 1 absence), so marking someone Tardy rather than Absent is meaningful.

The printable sheet

For classrooms where taking attendance on a screen isn't practical, a Print blank sheet button produces a clean roster — student names with empty Present / Tardy / Absent boxes and a signature line. Print it, mark it by hand during class, and key it in later. The sheet is generated from the live roster, so it's always current.

Student self check-in

Instead of (or alongside) the instructor marking everyone, students can record their own attendance. The instructor projects a short check-in code (and/or a QR code), students enter it from their phones, and a Present (or Tardy) record is created for them.

Showing the code

On the attendance page, Show check-in code generates a short, human-readable code for the selected meeting (e.g. 9WBH5) and displays it large on screen, together with a QR code. The QR deep-links students straight to the check-in page with the course, date, and code already filled in — so scanning it is the fastest path; typing the code is the fallback. The code is generated on demand and stays stable for that meeting.

Checking in

Students check in from Mark my attendance on their course card, or by scanning the QR (which opens the check-in page). What they see depends on the seminary's time-window setting (below):

• Time window enforced (recommended): the system auto-selects the meeting happening right now and either records attendance in one tap or asks for the code. A student who checks in after the grace period is marked Tardy automatically.
• Time window not enforced (catch-up mode): the student picks any past meeting they have no attendance for. No clock, no code — useful when you can't rely on the server clock matching local class times.

The clock matters. Time-window check-in compares "now" against the meeting's scheduled time in the site's time zone (System Settings → Time Zone). If your site time zone doesn't match where classes actually happen, a live class can read as "closed." When in doubt, set the site time zone correctly, or turn the window off and use catch-up mode.

Self check-in settings

All under Seminary Settings → Course Attendance Self Check-in:

Setting	What it does
Enforce meeting time window	On = time-based auto-select (window + code + Tardy apply). Off = catch-up mode (pick any past meeting; no clock, no code).
Require check-in code	Students must type the meeting's code to check in.
Check-in Opens Before (mins)	How early the window opens before the meeting start.
Check-in Closes After (mins)	How late the window stays open after the meeting end.
Tardy After (mins)	Grace period after start; a check-in later than this is recorded Tardy. 0 = never auto-Tardy.

Self check-ins only ever mark Present or Tardy — the instructor still reviews the roster and finalizes any absences.

The absence policy

A seminary expresses its rule as a percentage of meetings a student may miss, and the system turns that into a concrete number for each course.

Three places, one number

1. Seminary-wide defaults — Seminary Settings → Attendance Policy:
   • Tardies per Absence (default 3) — how many tardies equal one absence toward the limit. 0 disables the conversion.
   • Warn Within (absences of limit) (default 1) — how close to the limit a student must be before they're flagged "at risk."
2. Program → Attendance Policy → Default Max Absence % — the policy itself, e.g. 20%. 0 means "no attendance limit by default for this program."
3. Course Schedule → Attendance Policy — where the percentage becomes a number. Editable only by the registrar / Program Chair (instructors see it read-only):
   • Auto (from program) — limit = round( the student's program % × scheduled meetings ).
   • Custom — a fixed number of absences that applies to everyone in the course.
   • Disabled — no attendance limit for this course.

The limit is per-student, on purpose. A course doesn't belong to a single program — different students in the same class can be in different programs with different percentages. So under Auto, each student's allowed number is computed from their own program's percentage. A 14-meeting course with a 20% program rule gives those students a limit of 3 (20% × 14 = 2.8 → 3); a student from a 10% program in the same class gets 2. Custom and Disabled apply uniformly to everyone.

Virtual courses are exempt by default. When a course's Modality is Virtual and the policy is Auto, the limit is automatically disabled — online courses often have only one or two listed meetings, which would make a percentage meaningless. Presential and Hybrid courses keep the limit.

What counts as an absence

• Effective absences = recorded Absent records + (tardies ÷ Tardies per Absence, rounded down). With the default of 3, a student with 4 real absences and 6 tardies has an effective total of 4 + 2 = 6.
• Approved leave is excluded. An Absent record linked to an approved (submitted) Student Leave Application does not count toward the limit.
• Auditors are exempt. Students auditing a course (not graded) are never flagged.
• The denominator is the course's scheduled meetings, so the allowed number is stable from the first day — even before all attendance has been taken. (The limit recomputes automatically when you add meeting dates later.)

Standing, warnings & notifications

Once a limit is in force, every student gets a standing that updates as attendance is recorded:

• At risk — within the warning band (e.g. with a limit of 3 and a buffer of 1, a student reaches "at risk" at 2 effective absences).
• Over limit — past the allowed number.

Where the standing shows up:

• Students see an Attendance panel on their course status page — "X of Y absences used" — plus an amber banner when at risk and a red one when over the limit.
• Instructors see the per-student Absences (X / Y) column on the attendance page, coloured by standing.
• Registrar / Program Chair get the Students At Attendance Risk report (Desk) — every at-risk and over-limit student across all courses, with their count, limit, and status.

Notifications fire once per crossing. When a student first enters the warning band, and again when they first cross the limit, a notification goes to the instructor(s), the registrar / Program Chair, and the student. Each fires once — correcting attendance back down won't spam anyone, and the alert won't repeat on the next nightly recompute.

Failure for Absences (FA)

Some programs fail a student who misses too many classes regardless of their grades. This is a deliberate, registrar-driven step — the absence limit only flags; failing is a human decision.

Setting up the FA grade code

On the Grading Scale (Desk → Grading Scale) two fields, beside the existing withdraw-pass / withdraw-fail notations:

• Code for Failure for Absences (default FA) — the grade code stamped on the transcript when a student is failed for absences.
• Consider FA in GPA — whether the FA row counts toward GPA.

The default Numeric Scale ships with FA already set, so the action works out of the box.

Failing a student

The Fail for Absence action is available to the registrar / Program Chair in two places:

• On the Scheduled Course Roster (Desk), right next to Grade Student.
• On the Students At Attendance Risk report — tick the row(s) and choose Fail for Absence.

Applying it:

• Forces the student's final grade to the FA code with a Fail result, regardless of their scores — and it's sticky, so re-running grades (or the instructor's Send Grades) keeps the FA rather than recomputing a passing grade.
• Updates the transcript (Program Enrollment Course → status Fail, grade FA) and removes the course's credits from the student's total if they had been counted as passed.
• Is fully reversible — Undo Fail for Absence clears it and restores the real computed grade.

Passing scores, failing grade. That's the whole point of FA: a student can have a B average and still receive an FA on the transcript because they missed too many classes. The numeric score is preserved for the record; the grade code and pass/fail are overridden.

Reporting a disciplinary incident instead (or as well)

Attendance problems often belong in the Discipline module too. When Seminary Settings → Instructors create Disciplinary Incident is on and an Attendance-category Disciplinary Reason exists, a Report Disciplinary Incident button appears:

• On the instructor attendance page, next to any student who is at risk or over the limit (only for reasons marked Instructor Portal).
• On the Students At Attendance Risk report, for the registrar — it opens a new incident pre-filled with the student and an Attendance reason.

Failing for absences and filing a disciplinary incident are independent: use one, the other, or both.

Worked examples

Example 1 — A standard 20% rule with self check-in

Goal: in-person courses allow students to miss 20% of classes; students check themselves in with a code.

1. Program → Attendance Policy → Default Max Absence % = 20.
2. Seminary Settings → Attendance Policy: Tardies per Absence 3, Warn Within 1.
3. Seminary Settings → Course Attendance Self Check-in: Enforce meeting time window ✓, Require check-in code ✓, Tardy After 10.
4. A Presential course with 14 meetings (Auto policy) gives each 20%-program student a limit of 3 absences.
5. In class, the instructor clicks Show check-in code, projects the code + QR. Students scan/enter it; anyone checking in more than 10 minutes after the start is marked Tardy.
6. When a student reaches 2 effective absences they're flagged at risk (everyone is notified once); at 4 they're over limit (notified again).

Example 2 — Failing a student for absences

Goal: a student with a passing average has missed too many classes and the program fails them.

1. The student shows over limit on the Students At Attendance Risk report.
2. The registrar ticks the row and clicks Fail for Absence (or opens the Scheduled Course Roster and uses the button next to Grade Student).
3. The student's grade becomes FA / Fail; their transcript records FA and the course's credits are not counted. If the instructor later runs Send Grades, the FA sticks.
4. If it was a mistake, the registrar clicks Undo Fail for Absence and the real grade returns.

Example 3 — An online course with no attendance limit

Goal: a Virtual course with two listed meetings shouldn't be subject to the percentage rule.

Nothing to do. With Modality = Virtual and policy Auto, the limit is automatically disabled — students see no attendance panel, the instructor sees no absences column, and no one is flagged. If a particular online course does need a limit, the registrar sets its policy to Custom with an explicit number.

Day-to-day

• Take attendance. Open a course → Attendance → pick the date → mark Present / Tardy / Absent → save. Or print a blank sheet and enter it later.
• Run self check-in. Click Show check-in code, project it (and the QR), and have students check in from Mark my attendance.
• See who's at risk. Registrar: run Students At Attendance Risk (Desk). Instructors: the Absences column on the attendance page. Students: the Attendance panel on their course status.
• Fail (or un-fail) for absences. Registrar / Program Chair: Fail for Absence on the roster or the at-risk report; Undo to reverse.
• Set the policy. Program → Default Max Absence %; override per course on the Course Schedule (registrar only).

Quick reference

If you want to...	Do this
Record attendance	Course → Attendance → mark Present / Tardy / Absent
Print a sheet to mark by hand	Attendance page → Print blank sheet
Let students check themselves in	Show check-in code (project code + QR); students use Mark my attendance
Require a code / set the window	Seminary Settings → Course Attendance Self Check-in
Make tardies count toward absences	Seminary Settings → Tardies per Absence (0 disables)
Set the absence rule for a program	Program → Default Max Absence %
Override the limit for one course	Course Schedule → Attendance Policy → Custom (registrar only)
Turn the limit off for a course	Course Schedule → Attendance Policy → Disabled (Virtual auto-disables)
Exclude an absence (approved leave)	Link the Absent record to an approved Student Leave Application
See at-risk students across courses	Desk → Students At Attendance Risk report
Fail a student for absences	Fail for Absence on the roster or at-risk report (registrar / Program Chair)
Reverse a Fail for Absence	Undo Fail for Absence
Choose the FA transcript code	Grading Scale → Code for Failure for Absences
File an attendance disciplinary incident	Report Disciplinary Incident on the attendance page or at-risk report

Related

• Discipline — file attendance-related incidents; progressive sanctions for repeated absence.
• Grading — how final grades and Send Grades work; FA overrides the computed grade.
• Withdrawal & Separation — approved leave that excuses absences.
• User Roles — who can set policy, fail for absences, and adjudicate.