Student attendance monitoring – Derby’s journey

1. Student attendance monitoring – Derby’s journey

2. Aims of this session • Hear about Derby’s approach • Hear about the growth and development of Derby’s systems • Share our experiences, barriers to success and explore possible solutions

3. What are Derby’s aims? • Students at the heart of what we do – we build in support • We want to re-engage the student with the module and engage the student with the University – we get dialogue going • Take away some of the administrative burden from academics whilst still giving them autonomy for notifications – academics trigger communication

4. What do we mean by student attendance monitoring? Knowing and recording whether the student’s present at ‘taught’ sessions that are described as an essential part of the module And if they’re not, showing that we’ve noticed!

5. Where we came from? • Our evolution from 2004 • History and growth • Paper based form with academics • Time consuming and protracted • Hit and miss who bothered • Not recorded in a cohesive way

6. 05/06 moving forward • Retention strategy sees benefits of attendance monitoring for supporting students • Started using Student Record System but not fully integrated • Logging on different systems to keep track • Still mostly paper based and long winded • Introduced texting and emailing – started seeing opportunities for using technology

7. 06/07 to now • New SRS (Peoplesoft) opened up opportunities to develop more integrated system • Quicker, better reporting • Introduce electronic capture of attendance • Momentum starts to grow with academic buy in

8. The contract Extract from Student Participation Policy ‘… I undertake to participate fully in those activities which are described in each module as essential and that I will inform the Module Leader if circumstances oblige me to miss any of these activities. I recognise that failure to participate adequately in these essential activities may lead to termination of my enrolment in the module(s) concerned or my programme of study I understand that I will be invited to explain my failure to participate before termination on the module(s) or programme We are the ‘invite’ …

9. The basics

10. Now Directorate support Attendance monitoring compulsory Choice of systems Activity recorded on monthly KPI and Benchmark information across Faculties Small but perfectly formed team with attendance notifications as their sole workload Developing our warning systems Academics are realising the benefits but … Recognise this?

11. The systems – electronic attendance collection • Cheap and cheerful • Uses bar code already on student ID card • Started as a small, academic led pilot • We’ve developed our own system • 250+ in regular, full-time use and phased roll out of another 200 over 09/10 and 10/11

12. The menu

13. The time prompt

14. Modify data

15. Email notifications

18. Reporting out

20. The student record system • Through Peoplesoft academic view ‘Faculty Centre’ • Notifications received from either system leads to: text, email = response, back in class no response = follow up letters no response = deregistration with full implications outlined for student and others worst case scenario = withdrawal from programme (but recorded in a timely way!)

21. UKBA? • School of Technology has highest proportion of Overseas students: they all use scanners • 10 expected contacts? Different for different students – % engagement across modules will be our warning trigger for checking in with the student, support first • Reporting available to extrapolate overseas student attendance, developing ‘traffic lighting’ for % engagement with modules across a semester

22. Our model is … • Academic instigated • Constant throughout teaching year • Choice of systems • Impartial • Transparent • Supportive • Encourages dialogue • Quick response time • High success rate

23. What’s been difficult • http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=408470&c=1 • Complex module delivery • Ancient PCs • Scanners don’t work with Apple Mac • ‘Let me concentrate on those who are there’ • ‘It’s not my job’ • Inconsistency about how often to ‘report’ non-attendance • People still ‘doing it themselves’ • Being seen as the ‘tidy up’ for student profiles • Changing landscape: UKBA, HEFCE funding

24. Successes • I consider that without the sterling efforts of the Attendance Monitoring Team student engagement and, I argue, student attainment would be adversely affected. I always find this team responsive, professional and diligent in their endeavours to encourage student involvement. A shining example of teamwork and partnership! Assistant Subject Head, Criminology • “Thanks for being so "alright" about it all, would've thought you'd been some bloke in an office loving every minute of sending these letters out to get at the students, but you seem to understand the situation I'm in. I do appreciate the offer to speak to [tutor] though. Hopefully this will be the last I hear of the Attendance Monitoring Team and I would've bucked up my ideas in the university.” First year undergraduate student

25. Stats: growth in confidence from academic staff

26. What we achieved

27. Success rate for ‘now attending’ notifications

28. Notifications per student (3291 students)

29. Summary • Increased academic engagement • Directorate support • Improved non-completion rates (HEFCE and programme) • Improved accuracy of student record • Increased retention rate • Recording withdrawal in a timely way • Establishing that ‘attendance does matter’ with students • Students supported and strong links with support services • Traffic lighting for supportive intervention • Driving the system(s) forward into 10/11 and beyond

30. Student attendance monitoring – the Derby model • Over to you …

31. Student attendance monitoring – the Derby model • Bev Matthews, Programme Advisory Service Co-ordinator 01332 591919 b.j.matthews@derby.ac.uk • Richard Tarplee, Student Liaison Officer 01332 591659 r.g.tarplee@derby.ac.uk www.derby.ac.uk/attendance www.derby.ac.uk/attendance-monitoring