Regulations governing attendance and engagement – UNNC  

This page contains the University's regulations in relation to student attendance and engagement. Its contents are applicable to staff and students at University of Nottingham Ningbo China.

These regulations follow the principles stated in the Regulation Governing Attendance and Engagement (UNUK) and enable the university to meet the requirement (Article 19, Regulation 41) published by the Ministry of Education in China.

中华人民共和国教育部令第41号,《普通高等学校学生管理规定》第十九条学生应当按时参加教育教学计划规定的活动。不能按时参加的,应当事先请假并获得批准。无故缺席的,根据学校有关规定给予批评教育,情节严重的,给予相应的纪律处分 。

Article 19, Regulation 41

A student shall take part in the activities included in the educational and teaching planning of the school on time. Whoever cannot take part in such activities on time shall ask for leave in advance and obtains approval. Whoever fails to take part in such activities without a good reason shall be criticized and educated in accordance with the relevant provisions of the school, and, if the circumstances are serious, may be given the corresponding disciplinary sanction.

Please note that where academic policies and immigration policies seem to be contradictory, immigration policies will take precedence for student on Chinese Student Residence Permit. For more information, please consult the following:

Visa and Immigration

Overview

Includes: student responsibilities; link to the Policy on circumstances affecting students ability to study and complete assessments; voluntary interruption of study; school responsibilities; withdrawal on health and safety grounds; guidance for research students

1.1  Students are responsible for organising their residential and other arrangements to facilitate attendance and engagement as required by their programme.

1.2  The University monitors the engagement and attendance of its students and where required to will report non-engagement and/or non-attendance to the appropriate bodies.

1.3  Students must attend all teaching activities necessary for their studies, undertake all associated assessments and attend meetings and other activities as required by their school or the University. The Policy on Circumstances Affecting Students' Ability to Study and Complete Assessments details the processes that students and schools should follow where a student’s ability to study or take assessments is in any way affected, including if the student wishes the University to consider an Extenuating Circumstance. Where students wish to interrupt their study, they should follow the University's procedure on voluntary interruption of study. Retrospective interruption of study is not permitted. For more information, please consult the following:

Policy on circumstances affecting students ability to study and complete assessments

Voluntary interruption of study

1.4  It is the responsibility of the school to ensure by suitable means (normally the course handbook and/or Moodle) that students are aware of these requirements.

1.5  Schools will use the University attendance/engagement indicators (e.g. Attendance Monitoring System, Moodle, Panopto) following Student Engagement Data Use Policy.

Student Engagement Data Use Policy

1.6  The Student Engagement and Attendance indicators are used to support student wellbeing (engagement being a key indicator), which supports retention and success, as well as enabling the University to meet Visa and Immigration sponsor requirements as defined by the local authority. The Student Engagement Indicators identify when student participation in learning has dropped or is at a level which may cause concern about their progress and wellbeing. The intention of this policy is to check whether students are engaging with the University and to provide a framework for managing non-engagement or poor engagement.

1.7  Within each academic unit, Senior Tutors are the academic leads for the access of the engagement indicators within their programmes. The Senior Tutor may delegate access to others in the academic unit (e.g. personal tutors, department/ Senior Tutors), but retain overall oversight. It is the responsibility of the Head of School to ensure that resource is appropriately allocated so that the academic unit can meet the University’s minimum requirements for use of the data. This will include workload and access to appropriate training.For the purpose of this policy, the ‘Primary School’ is defined as the School/Department at which the student is registered for his/her programme of study. The ‘Partner School’ is defined as the School/Department that delivers the module on which the student enrolled.

1.8  In the case of all students where responsibility is shared between schools, the primary school should ensure that any partner schools are informed of issues and the partner schools should involve the primary school in any processes relating to this policy.

1.9  The University has a policy regarding students required to withdraw temporarily or permanently on grounds of health and safety and it may be appropriate to manage non-engagement and/or non-attendance through that procedure rather than through these regulations. For more information, please consult the following:

Students required to withdraw on grounds of health and safety

1.10  Annual leave for research students should be in accordance with the relevant guidance and where students do not comply with this they may be managed under this policy.

Responsibilities of the student (PGR)

Management of poor and non-engagement

Taught course students: poor engagement

2.1.1 This procedure applies where a taught course student, is identified as not engaging with all activities necessary for their studies or is not submitting required assessments, formative or summative, but is attending some activities. This procedure equally applies to students studying remotely. Where students are attending no activities, the guidelines in the All students - total absence section (below) should be followed.

2.1.2 Student non engagement is defined for academic purposes using a University baseline for intervention as two weeks of zero engagement without a sound documented reason e.g. placement, study trip, illness or other authorised absence. Academic units may raise the threshold to e.g. one week, depending on School/programme requirements.

Where a taught student has notified current or intended absence

2.1.3 A student who knows that they will be absent from the University for a period of time should make this known to their School or Department in order that appropriate discussions can take place.

2.1.4 A student whose absence is unplanned should inform their School or Department immediately that they are absent in order that appropriate discussions can take place.

2.1.5 The School and student should discuss how long the likely absence will be and what effect this may have on the student’s ability to undertake their programme satisfactorily. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure they catch up with missed work. When the absence is with good cause, the School may where possible be flexible in responding to the needs of individual students.

2.1.6 If the absence is for a period of more than two weeks or any period considered to be significant by the School and notified to students (normally in the Course Handbook), the School may require the student to suspend their studies and return at a specified time in the future that will enable the student to resume the programme appropriately. In making the decision the School should take into account all the circumstances of the individual, including health and safety aspects, and the requirements of the programme and may specify that on their return a student will be required to take alternative modules to those originally taken.

2.1.7 At any point in this process, the School may seek advice and guidance from other Departments of the University (such as Department of Campus Life, Health and Wellbeing Centre, Faculty Officers, Academic Services Office etc.), including advice on personal matters that the student has given consent for them to discuss, and advice on referrals to University services.

2.1.8 Where the School requires the student to suspend and the student does not wish to voluntarily interrupt their study then the recommendation to suspend should be forwarded by the School to Academic Services Office for consideration by the Quality and Standards Committee (QSC). If the School’s recommendation is ratified, the student will be required to suspend.

Where a taught student has not notified absence

2.1.9 It is expected that the Student Engagement and Attendance indicators, particularly the Attendance Monitoring System records will be regularly monitored. If a student is identified as ‘not engaging’ and has not notified their absence, the process for contacting a disengaged student should be followed. Staff can contact the Department of Campus Life.

2.1.10 Where the student is not engaging at all, the procedure in the All students - total absence section (below) should be followed.

Research students: poor engagement

2.2.1 This section of the procedure applies where:

      • The student is not attending or cancelling supervision meetings to the extent that, if continued, it is unlikely that the minimum number of supervision meetings will take place; or
      • The student is not engaging and/or not attending satisfactorily such other activities (for example, laboratory sessions) deemed by the supervisor to be requisite to the student's research studies; or
      • The student is deemed by the supervisor not to be engaging appropriately with their research.

2.2.2 If a student is identified as ‘not engaging’ and has not notified their absence, the process for contacting a disengaged student should be followed. Staff can contact the Student and Campus Life Wellbeing team for guidance.

2.2.3 Where the student is not engaging at all, the procedure in the All students - total absence section (below) should be followed.

All students - total absence
2.3.1 If data in all the official University attendance capture system (including Attendance Monitoring System and Moodle/Panopto usage) indicate that a student is not attending any modules, supervision or other required activities and the School has confirmed that the student is not engaging and student provides no explanation for this non-attendance when invited to do so and does not engage with the process for contacting a disengaged student, the matter should be reported to Academic Services Office. Academic Services Office will write to the student stating that they will be deemed to have withdrawn from the University unless a reply to the contrary is received within 10 working days from the date of the letter. If a student is deemed to have withdrawn their registration as a student will be discontinued in accordance with the Regulations Governing Registration.
For more information about these regulations, please consult the following page:

Regulations governing registration

2.3.2 Where a student replies to the Assumed Withdrawal communication and provides an explanation for their absence, this will be considered by the School and any other relevant departments who must determine whether the explanation provides good cause for the absence and whether a return to studies is viable. If the explanation offered does not establish good cause, the Assumed Withdrawal process will stand.

2.3.3 If a student is identified in the Student Engagement Indicators as having zero attendance and the School has no knowledge at all as to the student's whereabouts the School should contact the Student and Campus Life and the emergency contact protocol will be applied.

For more information about the emergency contact protocol, please consult the following:

Emergency contact protocol

Fraudulent Attendance
3.1 Students are required to conduct themselves in a professional manner, recording only their own attendance in the Attendance Monitoring System. It is prohibited for students to mark attendance without actual presence in the class, or to register attendance on behalf of another student.
3.2 Any student discovered engaging in fraudulent use repeatedly of the system may be subject to disciplinary actions outlined in the UNNC Code of Discipline for Students.

 

 

Student Engagement Data Use Policy

Introduction

Support for student welfare and academic success is at the heart of our collection and use of student engagement data at University of Nottingham Ningbo China. Engagement data refers to information from University Attendance Monitoring System and other learning systems which may indicate attendance at online teaching sessions, and participation in learning within Moodle and supporting systems. Such data can provide valuable insights into how students are engaging with the University and their studies, which in turn can act as an important indicator of wellbeing.

We know that it can be difficult to ask for help. Our students tell us that they want us to notice and act more quickly if they begin to struggle. The goal of student engagement monitoring is to ensure that we are better able to identify where students may need guidance, reassurance, academic, pastoral or specialist service support in order to get the most out of their time at the university.

 

We do this by identifying a small selection of engagement indicators which enables key staff involved in student teaching and support to identify students who may be experiencing low engagement with their studies. This document details what data is collected and how it will be used.

Data Sources

The Student Engagement data sources from:

  • Attendance Monitoring System (AMS): in-class attendance monitoring platform
  • Campus Solutions: the student records system
  • Moodle: UoN's tri-campus virtual learning environment
  • Panopto: UNNC's lecture capture and video management platform
  • Microsoft Teams: UNNC's collaborative workspace app

What we measure

Student engagement measures a small selection of student interactions with in-class teaching and online learning systems in order to provide possible indicators of low engagement

We recognise that there are many other activities both on and offline which are an important part of engagement and which are not included in these engagement measures. It is important that engagement measures are therefore contextualised with reference to wider knowledge of each student, and expectations for their programme of study.

The five principals of student engagement analytics

1. The focus of the Student Engagement Indicator is student welfare and support

The primary goal of the Student Engagement Indicator is to help teaching and student support staff offer more timely and effective help and advice to our students. This information can help us identify which students may be finding university life difficult and supports our work putting students at the centre of everything we do.

2.  Engagement data will be treated with care and sensitivity

We know that this is sensitive information. We only collect engagement data from named university systems, and only staff directly involved in teaching and supporting students will have access to that information. All staff with access to student engagement data will be trained in how to use and interpret it appropriately in line with the UNNC Privacy Statement.

3.  No decision should be made on the basis of engagement data alone

We know that data cannot tell us everything about our students. The data we collect is simply used to indicate where teaching or welfare staff may want to investigate whether a student may need additional support. Through the provision of data on offline/online engagement, we aim to increase the information available to appropriately trained tutors and support staff when they have conversations with students, or help them identify students who may need to be contacted proactively. No definitive conclusions should be drawn from the small selection of engagement indicators, and additional context from other university support mechanism and from the student, should be referenced to provide relevant information.

4  Every student is an individual with their own preferred study patterns and levels of engagement, and ultimate responsibility for their own learning

Engagement data is used to inform and support decision making as part of a holistic view of the individual student, and should always be interpreted in context, with the assistance of staff who have the best knowledge of that student and their progress. Every student is an individual with responsibility for their own engagement with their studies, and students may choose to study in different ways. Individual circumstances and study habits should always be considered in any contact with a student regarding engagement.

5  The Student Engagement Indicators should not form the basis of any assessment

The engagement indicators should not be used as the basis for any student assessment. Engagement patterns and levels may vary according to the individual programme of study and the engagement indicator itself does not make any decisions or judgements about engagement. Where a student has a contractual agreement with a third-party regarding attendance and engagement, engagement data may form part of the overall evaluation of the student’s compliance with that agreement.

Data Protection

All engagement data must be processed in line with UNNC Privacy Statement. Please contact DataProtection@nottingham.edu.cn for any questions related to data protection at UNNC. 

Responsibility

Overall responsibility for student engagement data at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China is held by the Education and Student Experience Committee. Responsibility for specific aspects of engagement data is held as follows:

6.1  The collection of data

Student in-class attendance data from the Attendance Monitoring System (AMS) is managed by the Academic Services Office (ASO), with the support of Faculty Offices/CPSO for data processing and operation. Responsibility for the provision of data access and quality of data source lies with the Academic Services Office.

Student record in Campus Solution is managed by the Academic Services Office (ASO), with the support from Faculty Offices/CPSO for the data source. Responsibility for the provision of data access lies with the Academic Services Office.

Moodle page and learning analytics and Panopto viewing and engagement statistics are available to all staff and can be manually generated and accessed through Moodle and Panopto. Learning Technologies provide training and support with generating, accessing and interpreting the different datasets.

6.2  Interventions as a result of the data
Where a need for contact or intervention is suggested by engagement data, such contact may be made by appropriate academic and/or support staff.
6.3  Retention of Engagement Data
Student Engagement data will be recorded and retained for the duration of a student’s studies with the University, and may be retained for 6 years following departure from the University.

Transparency

We publish full details about how student data is processed and used to support the provision of university services including academic programmes and related services, such as welfare support.

Consent

Student engagement data will be collected and analysed in compliance with the University’s Privacy Statement, and according to the terms outlined within this Data Use Policy. The use of data in this way is based on the principal of legitimate interest, and supports our duty of care to students. Low engagement may indicate a need for support and the use of data to help identify such students ensures that appropriate interventions can be considered and offered if necessary.

For this reason, it is not possible for students to opt out of the collection of student engagement data. It should be noted that all data used for the purposes of indicating engagement is already held within existing university systems to support teaching and learning. It is not possible, for example, for a student to opt out of records on assignment submissions held within Moodle as these records are an essential component of academic supervision.

Privacy

In compliance with the University’s Privacy Statement only staff directly involved in teaching and supporting students will have access to engagement data. Access will be controlled using secure login to the source systems for the Student Engagement Indicators. A student’s engagement data will only be accessible

to teaching and administrative staff for the administering school, who has a role to support students. Student engagement data will not be disclosed to parents, guardians or other third parties except in the following special circumstances:

Regulatory Requirement for International Students Studying in China

The University has legal obligation to ensure that students are complying with the regulatory requirement. Evidence of attendance and engagement may be supplied to UKVI on request and failure to engage for a sustained period may invoke a statutory obligation to report absence to the local authorities.

Exceptional circumstances

Exceptional welfare circumstances where there is a threat to life may necessitate sharing of engagement details with responsible parties, including parents or guardians. In the event that a student passes away during their time at the University, student engagement details may be provided on request to the relevant authorities to support their investigation.

Access

Students have a right to view the data that is held about them, and student engagement details will be provided on request.

In exceptional circumstances where the provision of student engagement details may be in conflict with the university’s duty of care and may negatively affect a student’s wellbeing, this information may be provided in person via the Senior Tutor or designed university staff, rather than directly to the student, to ensure that context and support can be provided.

Permitted use and positive interventions

Student contact by an appropriate representative of the School, Department, Faculty Offices/CPSO, Health and Wellbeing Centre or Global and Engagement Office may be initiated if student engagement data indicates that a student:

  • Appears to have disengaged from their studies without known cause for more than 14 consecutive days. In some cases, contact may be attempted before this threshold if the school considers that in the context of the programme of study a worrying duration of disengagement has occurred.
  • Appears to be struggling with persistent or repeated periods of low engagement (as defined by the relevant School/Faculty) which may be indicative of a need for personal or academic support.
  • Appears to have recently experienced a sudden and significant drop in engagement which may indicate a new need for personal or academic support.
  • Appears to have low engagement (as defined by the relevant School/Faculty) which may indicate a need for personal or academic support, or indicate that they may not be meeting the conditions of their Visa.

Interventions should always take the form of an initial supportive enquiry, usually via email. Where a student has completely disengaged and there is no response to repeated attempts to make contact, the university’s duty of care necessitates that further steps be taken to establish contact. This may include phone calls and liaison between senior School or Department staff and Department of Campus Life. Information on specialist and mental health support services provided by the University can be found here: https://live-china-uon.cloud.contensis.com/en/health-and-wellbeing-centre/mental-health-advisory-service/mental-health-advisory-service.aspx

Any access for purposes other than those specified

No access to, or use of, student engagement data is permitted for any purpose other than those specified within this policy.