Procedure 4.16.01

Part 1. Purpose

The purpose of this procedure is to define the process for reporting changes in enrollment that meets the federal regulations 34 CFR 668.22 – Treatment of Title IV Funds, for institutions that administer federal financial aid. Instructors must report Last Date of Attendance (LDA) information for students who never attended or who stopped attending but did not withdraw from the course during the semester or term.

Part 2. Definitions

Academic Engagement: Any student activity that relates to the academic content of the course, including attending a class session, completing assignments or exams, or participating in discussion posts. Logging into a course does not constitute academic engagement.

Never Attended: A specific grade used by the college to report students enrolled in their courses that have not conducted any academic activity during the course.

Never Withdrew: A specific grade used by the college to report students who stopped participating in academic activities for the period outlined in Part 4.

Short-term Courses: Courses that span less than the full 17-week semester.

Part 3. Non-Participation Windows Leading to Last Date of Attendance Reporting

The following are the time periods that trigger the need for faculty to report “LDAs” based on the length of the course:

• For classes that are 1-2 weeks in duration: report LDA after 2 business days with no academic engagement by the student
• For classes that are 3-6 weeks in duration: report LDA after 3 business days with no academic engagement by the student
• For classes of 7-8 weeks in duration: report LDA after 5 business days with no academic engagement by the student
• For classes of 9 or more weeks in duration: report LDA after 10 business days with no academic engagement by the student

Part 4. Procedures for Faculty to Report Last Date of Attendance

Subpart A. Never Attended

Faculty must report a grade of “NA” (Never Attended) for students who enrolled in a course and failed to engage in any academic activities within the first 10 business days of the semester. (For classes that start after the beginning of the semester, faculty must report a grade of “NA” within the first 10 business days of the course.)

Deadlines for faculty to report a “NA:”

• For courses that begin at the start of a semester: No later than 11:59 pm on Tuesday of the third week of the semester.
• For all other courses: No later than 10 calendar days after the non-participation window outlined in Part 3.

Subpart B. Partially Attended, but Never Withdrew

Faculty must report a grade of “NW” (Never Withdrew) for students who have failed to perform any academic engagement within the time periods outlined in Part 3.

Deadline for faculty to report an “NW:” No later than 10 calendar days after the non-participation window outlined in Part 3.

Part 5. End of LDA Reporting Window

Students who are still participating as of the withdrawal deadline have earned their college credit for purposes of financial aid and should not be “LDA’d” by faculty.

Part 6. Recording Last Date of Attendance for “NC” and “F” Grades

The U.S. Department of Education requires the college to report a student’s last date of attendance for any course in which they receive a grade of “NC” or “F.” To enable the College to meet this requirement, when posting a final grade of “NC” or “F,” faculty must also report the student’s last date of participation in the course.

Part 7. Readmissions Process

Readmissions to the class will be considered based on one of the following criteria:

• College error
• Student personal or medical circumstances

Students must contact the faculty member to request re-entry to the class. If the administrative withdrawal was not due to a college error, the student must be prepared to provide the reason for their lack of participation and a demonstrated commitment to complete the course. Students may also be asked to provide related documentation to confirm their reason for non-attendance. 

Instructors must determine if they approve the reinstatement based on the student’s reported personal or medical circumstance or college error.

Part 8. Readmissions Criteria

Faculty wishing to readmit a student should submit their request for readmission in writing to the Registrar’s office using the designated college email account (records.office@minneapolis.edu) from their college email account. A student who is readmitted and does not meet the participation standards outlined above should be removed from the class through the LDA process again and will not be reinstated a second time.

Owner(s) Title: Vice President of Student Affairs

Date of Adoption: 11/21/2019

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

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

History and Subject of Revisions: 8/14/2024 (Focused Review. Reduced time faculty have to report LDAs from 14 days to 10 days after the student non-participation window has elapsed. Changes grade for LDAs to “NA” for Never Attended and “NW” for Never Withdrew rather than “W.” Added requirement that faculty report a student’s last date of attendance whenever they issue an "NC" or “F” grade. Changed from marking time in weeks and days to marking time in a commensurate amount of business days to add clarity and consistency. Established the withdrawal deadline as the last time faculty should be submitting an LDA grade.), 2/29/2023 (Limited Review)

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