Perhaps I may be a little on the hardcore conservative side of education, but it seems to me that a large part of this is sales and has very little to do with academics. I understand that we cannot educate an absent student; however, are we not necessarily acting in the best interest of students' or the institution by having blind faith in retention as greater good. I agree with this module in it's connotation (as it does not come out and say it) that retention is best served by providing a quality, valuable, and rigorous education. While we should try to retain as many students as is possible, we should understand that retention is just one side of the dice. As for taking a class picture, I find this to be an insulting and sophomoric attempt at armchair pychology.