If your career college is experiencing any of these six signs, it’s time for a new attendance solution.
Benjamin Franklin said only three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and taking attendance. Alright, maybe he only said the first two, but taking attendance is a vital component of every class whether we like it or not.
Luckily, new attendance solutions exist and there are options now for how you take it, unlike in Ben Franklin’s day. So how do you know if your attendance approach is in need of a revamp? Read on for six signs that it’s time to reevaluate your attendance methods.
1. Your Classes Aren’t Starting On Time
If your current attendance taking process eats into instruction time, that can be a burden on instructors and students. Instructors don’t always get through all of the material they want to teach, which means students aren’t receiving the complete lecture due to time constraints.
2. Attendance Data Takes Hours/Days To Reach Registrars
This is a big issue that often goes unnoticed! The process of taking attendance is only complete when the data reaches the registrars. This responsibility typically falls on the instructors. But because instructors have so many other responsibilities that take priority, getting the data over to the registrars can take a long time. This is a problem, however, because attendance data is vital to monitoring students’ progress through their programs.
3. Students Are Lining Up To Check In
Some attendance-taking processes, like scanners, sign-in sheets, or swipe cards, only enable one student to check in at a time. Even though it may only take a few seconds to a minute for each individual student to check in, the process still causes students to wait for the person before them to finish. This isn’t a very pleasant way to start class (everyone hates lines) and can often take longer than expected.
4. Late Students Disrupt The Flow Of Instruction
Occasionally, students are late to class. It happens. But when it does happen, does the student interrupt the flow of instruction by walking to the front of class or by asking the instructor for the sign-in sheet? Even small distractions like these can disrupt instruction, annoy classmates and instructors, and be potentially embarrassing for the late student.
5. Instructors Are Manually Entering In Data After Class
In order to get the attendance data to the registrars, it typically requires some manual data entry on the part of the instructors. This is a tedious task that can take up a lot of time, especially if the instructors have multiple classes! Even if instructors are very efficient at entering in attendance data, this is a task that modern solutions can automate, saving instructors hours per week. Imagine how it could positively affect your classroom if your instructors could use that time prepping for the next day’s lesson or catching up on missed sleep to be more energetic at work.
6. Signs Of Academic Dishonesty
Students love a loophole and many attendance methods have a few that can be exploited. If the data gathered from the class doesn’t match the actual amount of students in class, your school might want to consider a more secure attendance solution.
If you and your school are experiencing any of the symptoms above, don’t fret — it’s actually a good thing! It means you’re in the perfect position to upgrade your attendance-taking process to a method that is quick and easy for students, instructors, and registrars alike. With more advanced solutions becoming available to schools, finding a solution that fits your class structure and attendance goals is easier than ever.
CourseKey’s attendance solution is used on over 80 campuses across the country, with over 2 million check-ins accounted for to date. To see how your school can enjoy streamlined attendance processes, schedule a demo with a CourseKey team member below!
