V. Attendance II
Background

Attendance is not just a matter of compliance with Title V - it's also becoming a big issue with financial aid. The financial aid office is taking a hard look at students who receive financial aid but are not serious students.

According to Kevin Harral, Director of Financial Aid at Foothill College:

"There have been some ongoing issues around processing drops that impact financial aid students and the Financial Aid Office perhaps more than others.  When a student is disbursed financial aid funds, it is based on the numbers of units they are carrying at the moment of authorizing disbursement.  When a student drops a class and the drop date is appropriately reported by faculty and recorded by Admissions and Records, there really is no issue.  The student may owe money back and we use the SIS/Banner reported drop date to perform that mandatory Federal calculation.  However,if a student drop is back-dated to before the quarter started or a late drop is processed it often causes significant financial aid issues.
 
Essentially a back-dated drop tells an auditor that the student was never really enrolled, but the Financial Aid Office would have disbursed funds.  They call this an exception to the audit report – essentially something doesn’t match-up and is an issue that must be addressed.  The Financial Aid Office carries a significant Federal and state liability when disbursing the millions of dollars that we do each year and we rely heavily on accurate reporting of enrollment data from faculty and the definition of non-attendance in on-line courses.
 
By clearly defining this and correctly reporting it within the Banner system our disbursement of funds and the return of funds for ineligible students would be dramatically strengthened and the schools liability in this regard would be reduced.  I am sure this type of issue is also relevant for our student veterans, our international students, our athletes, and perhaps other groups as well who all have significant requirements riding on accurate enrollment data.

Student Examples:
Sonia received $224 of Pell Grant on July 31 for a 5.0 units class in summer quarter. A “late drop” is processed for her on August 6, three weeks after the drop deadline.  This could even be due to her online attendance never being established.

Sonia owes Foothill College $224 and has a hold on her records until paid in full. Her official records show financial aid disbursed when she was officially dropped, creating an audit exception.

  • If Sonia had dropped by the Census deadline, she would not have been paid and would not owe any funds and no audit exception would result.
  • If Sonia had withdrawn with a W, she would owe a smaller amount and no audit exception would result.
  • If Sonia had received a poor grade in the class, she would keep her funds and no audit exception would result.

Justin received $791 in Pell Grant on September 25 for 19.0 units for the fall quarter. He dropped three of his four classes by the drop deadline. A fourth “late drop” was processed for him on December 12, nine weeks after the deadline.

  • Justin owes Foothill College $114.72 and Foothill College owes the federal government $88.57. His official records show financial aid disbursed when he was officially dropped, creating an audit exception. He has a hold on his records until paid in full.
  • If Justin had dropped by the Census deadline, he would still owe the funds but no audit exception would exist.
  • If Justin had withdrawn with a W, he would have owed a smaller portion and De Anza would not have owed any funds and no audit exception would result.
  • If Justin had received a poor grade, he would keep the funds, be on probation but still be eligible for funds the following quarter, and no audit exception would result."

College of the Canyons was audited on this issue on 9/13/10 with only two weeks advance notice so it's in the best interests of Foothill College to be proactive.

Faculty who teach any course as fully online at Foothill College have the following responsibilities:

  • Regular and Effective Contact
  • Attendance Documentation
  • Accessibility Compliance
  • Copyright and Fair Use
  • Course Site Setup
  • Publish Course Sites
  • Course Info Updates
  • Textbook Adoption
  • Etudes Certification