Each semester, during the 2nd week of classes, we work with faculty to report on the attendance status of each student. From this exercise we are able to: (1) clean up enrollment records; and (2) collect the names of students who have not been attending classes. We know from research that class attendance is an extremely powerful predictor of student persistence. Students who regularly attend all classes are much more likely to do well academically and are therefore much more likely to retain. Once we get the data back from our enrollment census, we have our academic advisors and peer mentors reach out to the students who have not been attending class to make sure they are doing okay and to encourage them to attend.
