Interesting. I have learned something. It has always been my understanding that the student must sign attend class before the end of the 10th day or be terminated. Our policy has been written around this understanding. Perhaps we do this in order to not take a chance on the student being late on the 11th day. I am sure our policy won't change, but nevertheless I learned something.
James,
Unfortunately, students sometimes work the system and miss the 9 or 10 days before showing up for class again. The key wording in the TWC CSC policy is - "...more than 10 consecutive school days". So 10 days absence is OK but any amount over 10 is not.
JP Mehlmann
This is precisely what we do at my school. However, as you say, advisement that is documented and close weekly monitoring of this student's attendance is needed. As a School Director I am pulling an attendance breakdown in our reports system that shows the entire spread of attendance on each student since Day 1 of the term.
TWC mandates state that a student must be dropped from a 200 hour clock program or more when the student has exceeded mopre than 10 consecutive absences, misses more than 20% of their clock hour program or does not return from an LOA.
Arturo,
In addition, the school may offer attendance make-up if the make-up policy is approved by the TWC CSC.
JP Mehlmann
The school withdraws a student after the 10 consecutive rule; new rules through the Dept. of Ed requires for our school, a 90% completion rate.
When a student misses 10 consecutive days of class, misses 20% of the program, or when a student does not return from an LOA.
Audrey N
Audrey ,
Yes - but technically, the TWC CSC rules states the student must be dropped if he/she misses "more than" 10 consecutive days. Therefore, the student could return to class at the beginning of the 11th day (provided your published attendance policy includes the "more than" verbiage). PS: Absences may only be made up if the school has an approved make-up policy and the student has not exceeded 20% absence.
JP Mehlmann
What are some acceptable forms of documentation for make-up work?
Jennifer,
Jennifer,
Thank you for your question. First, the school's make-up policy must be approved by the TWC CSC. Second, the student must make up the hours before he/she violates the attendance requirements. Regarding documentation; the TWC rules state: "...(4) be documented by the school as being completed, recording the date, time, duration of the make-up session, and the name of the supervising instructor; and (5) be signed and dated by the student to acknowledge the make-up session. Therefore, a sign-in/out sheet that contains the above information is one way to comply.
JP Mehlmann
The school is obligated to terminate a student when he/she misses more than 20% of the program, (if the program is over 200 clock hours) or 10 consecutive days. Also if the student does not come back to school from an approved Leave of Absence.
In about six months as a director, as it relates to attendance matters, I'm finding that precisely documenting attendance for make-up can be a bit of a challenge for instructors and staff in making sure that every step of documentation is properly taken care of.
Ricardo,
Yes- the level of documentation is high but we have to play by all the rules. Since we are preparing students for (ultimately) career employment, we must also hold them accountable as an employer would.
Thank you,
JP Mehlmann
What are some acceptable LOA reasons per the TWC?
Nikki,
Loa reasons must be within guidelines outlined in your catalog. Historically; military, medical (student or immediate family), jury duty are valid. I suggest avoiding overuse of LOAs as many students don't return and you may be prolonging the inevitable (drop). TWC expects you to follow your own policies. You don't want a high amount (more than 5%) of loa students at any time on your rolls.
Thanks
