Policy 4.16

Part 1. Purpose

The purpose of the Last Date of Attendance (LDA) policy is to appropriately assess financial and academic liability for students, ensure good stewardship of financial aid funds and limit financial and academic liability for the College and its students.

Part 2. Responsibility

Students - Students are expected to regularly attend classes in which they are enrolled and abide by Minneapolis College Policy 4.05.01, Procedures for Changing Enrollment. Students who do not plan to attend or stop attending a course should immediately drop the course prior to the drop deadline. If they wish to withdraw from their course after the drop deadline, they should do so prior to the College-wide withdraw deadline for the semester. A student who is administratively withdrawn pursuant to this policy remains financially responsible as defined in the financial obligation statement acknowledged by the student when registering online or submitting forms to the college requesting registration assistance for their course(s) along with other related expenses. 

Students who do not attend or participate in the first two weeks of the course will be administratively withdrawn and reported as Never Attended.

Students who stop attending for two consecutive weeks during the course will be administratively withdrawn as Partially Attended.  

Additionally, a student who is administratively withdrawn pursuant to this policy is responsible for any academic consequences pursuant to Minneapolis College Policy 4.13, Satisfactory Academic Progress - Academic and Financial Aid.

Instructors - As outlined in Minneapolis College Policy 3.10, Faculty Expectations, instructors are required to report the last date of attendance for each student who stops attending or who never attends a course. This enables the College to comply with Federal financial aid regulations requiring the college to determine the percent of aid earned by a student based on the amount of time spent in attendance.

When a faculty member reports a student’s last date of attendance a grade of “W” will be added to the student record for the course. This prohibits the student from withdrawing from the course(s) at a later date. “F” grades are considered “earned” and should only be used when a student has attended past the withdrawal deadline and earned the grade of F.

College - An administrative withdraw will activate an evaluation of a student's financial aid and may result in repayment as stated in the Minneapolis College Policy 4.08, Financial Aid.

Part 3. Definition of Attendance

All students must demonstrate a satisfactory amount of participation in order to have attended the course. Participation is defined as class attendance, if the course meets face-to-face, or demonstrated completion of class assignments. Logging into an online site for a class or emailing a faculty member is not, in itself, considered participation.

Under exceptional circumstances, a student subject to administrative withdrawal may be allowed to reach an agreement with the instructor to continue in the course. The student must show good cause for the gap in attendance and demonstrate a strong intention to participate in the class, such as through completion of an agreed-upon course assignment. All assignments must be completed by the end of the term. This agreement should, wherever possible, be reached prior to the absence.

Part 4. Academic Attendance Policies

Faculty are encouraged to establish academic attendance standards for their courses and to include them in their course syllabi and/or program handbook. These standards must comply with the minimum LDA requirements of this policy and college procedure 4.16.01. 

Faculty attendance standards for their course may include assessing an academic consequence when a student fails to attend class as required in the course syllabus and/or program handbook.

Owner(s) Title: Vice President of Student Affairs

Date of Adoption: 8/24/2005

Date of Implementation (if different from adoption date): 1/13/2020

Date Last Reviewed: 2/29/2023 (Limited Review)

Date and Subject of Revisions: 2/29/2023 (Limited Review), 11/21/2019 (Added section on definitions, including student, faculty and college responsibility. Clarified definition of attendance. Changed period of non-attendance that triggers LDA from “14 calendar days” to “two weeks.” Added section on drop for non-attendance (previously this had only been outlined in Minneapolis College Policy 4.05.01, Procedures for Changing Enrollment. Created an LDA procedure to accompany this LDA policy.)

Regulatory Authority (e.g. Minnesota State policy, federal or state law):  Code of Federal Regulations: 34 CFR 668.22 – Treatment of Title IV Funds