Financial aid now linked to attendance

MHCC teachers are to submit student attendance records for the first week of school or students may not be eligible for financial aid.

According to Administrative Regulation AR-7080-B: “The refund deadline is the seventh calendar day of the term (or the equivalent for non-standard length classes). Tuition and fee charges will be removed from classes dropped by the refund deadline and the classes will not be recorded on the MHCC transcript.”

This new procedure is an attempt to make the awarding of financial aid more efficient and accurate, said Peggy Maas, MHCC’s director of admissions, registration and records.

This is the first term in which the school is enforcing its new policy. “Last term was a pilot session,” said Maas.

Some students may have noticed their teachers being extra diligent about their attendance recording efforts in this first week of the spring term. Quiz taking, student participation or the old-fashioned roll call are all examples of acceptable forms of student participation/attendance listed on a handout mailed to part-time faculty members.

As for distance learning classes, also known as online classes, students are asked to do more than just logging in: a student must be active in an online discussion about academic matters, or by initiating contact with a faculty member to ask a course-related question.

Students who are not present for the first week of class or make insufficient contributions in their distance learning discussions may be dropped from the class and “this could reduce a student’s financial aid eligibility,” according to a handout sent to part-time faculty members by MHCC Admissions.

When part-time faculty member Morgan Chase, who teaches math, was asked if this process was clearly communicated and easy to accomplish, he said, “I was aware of it and after reading the memo it was clear what I had to do.”

“I think it’s easy and a great idea. I think it’s a shame for the college to lose money when we (MHCC) are trying to create opportunities for people,” said full-time biology teacher Walter Shriner. “It’s a shame with all the no-shows.”

Shriner touched on a topic, no-shows, that is a point of discussion that can be overheard in hallways, student services buildings and, in Shriner’s case, read in national newspapers: students signing up for classes in order to receive financial aid, but then they drop the classes and keep the financial aid money.

However, the program is officially meant to make awarding financial aid more efficient for both parties involved. And if an instructor does not report attendance for his/her first week of class, all students will be at risk at not being awarded financial aid.

Students can prevent this from happening or can reduce any anxiety they may have about this situation by checking the attendance records of his/her class on the MHCC portal and then emailing his/her instructor if they feel they are unaware of the new program.