SAMS - Newcastle University's plans for an attendance monitoring system.
FAQ Guide for students, 5th November 2012
- What is the University doing?
- What is happening from 2013/14?
- What is SAMS?
- Does this affect all students?
- Are students involved in the development of SAMS?
- Are all classes going to be monitored?
- What scanners are the University going to use?
- Why do you want to monitor lectures?
- This is HE, so why are you monitoring attendance like schools and FE colleges?
- Why don’t you just monitor international students?
- Why doesn’t the University just say no to the UK Border Agency?
- Are classes going to be made compulsory?
- So what will happen if I don’t attend classes?
- What will happen if scanners do not work for a particular class?
- If you use scanners won’t you cause a queue to enter the lecture room?
- Is the finger-tip scanning a biometric system?
- Can’t you cheat a finger tip scanner?
- Will my biometric data be safe?
- Are other universities doing this?
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What is the University doing?
From 2012/13, the University has asked all academic units to improve attendance monitoring for all students.
In common with most universities, practice to monitor attendance at Newcastle has varied across subjects and Schools. We now want to introduce a more consistent approach for the following reasons:
- Our obligation to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to ensure that international students are attending their programme, and the need to promptly provide records in the event of a UKBA audit.
- The positive impact that University action on attendance can have on students. Research has shown that attendance monitoring can help identify students in need of support and enable University staff to intervene to improve the chances of a student’s successful completion.
To support a more consistent approach across the University, with the added benefits of efficiency in administration and rapid access to records, the University is intending to develop a Student Attendance Monitoring System (SAMS). The University must do this to protect its UKBA licence and international students studying at Newcastle.
What is happening from 2013/14?
As at November 2012, we are setting up the SAMS project group, establishing membership for the project etc. The project is expected to take a year. In the meantime, academic units will manage attendance in a number of different ways – many will use signature lists and some will use smartcards.
What is SAMS?
SAMS is the University’s intended Student Attendance Monitoring System. We will develop our student records system to link to the timetable so we can record whether students attend a specific class. This will allow us to follow-up where there was unauthorised absence. Data on attendance will be made available to academic staff via the staff portal and also to students via S3P. In addition we will also be developing an on-line absence notice form for students to notify tutors of an absence which will automatically feed into the records. To collect attendance data we want to use scanners in classrooms so that all students can confirm their attendance without involving academic staff and causing minimum disruption to classes. We hope to start introducing this system from next year – i.e. from September 2013. We will pilot some aspects earlier than this if we can.
Does this affect all students?
From 2013/14, SAMS will probably be used to record attendance for all students on taught programmes. It may also be developed to record some research student interactions.
Are students involved in the development of SAMS?
Yes. To develop the initial project the Students’ Union Education officer was part of a working group. The Student Union will also be involved in the project steering group which is now being set up. We want student representatives to be involved in the design and testing of the on-line absence form and also in the decision about which scanners we use.
Are all classes going to be monitored?
It is not envisaged that all classes will be monitored, although we do know that some programmes have carried out full/ significant monitoring for many years and we do regard that as good practice. The system will be flexible so monitoring can vary by programme, but University policy only requires that student attendance is monitored 2-3 times a week.
What scanners are the University going to use?
We have not yet made a final decision on this. We would like the scan to be quick and cause minimum disruption to both students and staff – ideally confirmation when the student enters the room.
There are a number of options for collecting data which we are currently exploring :
- If we continue to collect signatures on class lists this can interrupt classes and be time-consuming to both academic staff and students. And genuine signatures can’t always be verified.
- A scan of smartcards can be quick and may be less disruptive to classes, but also has the problem known as ‘buddy punching’ – i.e. a student will hold the card for him/herself and a number of other students and will scan in the cards of friends.
- A fingertip scan is a quick and non-disruptive option that removes the buddy punching problem. If we chose this option the University would also allow for an alternative method – e.g. a smartcard scan and PIN input by the student, although this would be time-consuming.
We are still exploring options and would like to evaluate further the ‘fingertip scan’ system. Already widely used in schools and libraries, we are planning a site visit to a University that already uses this. We understand that they have sufficient scanners for large classes and that students are happy with this option as they see it as fair, but we would like to evaluate this ourselves.
Why do you want to monitor lectures?
The decision on what to monitor rests with academic units. The University would encourage monitoring of small groups where possible. However in some cases there is no pattern of small group teaching across the whole semester – e.g. seminars are not offered every week but every 2nd or 3rd week instead. Some disciplines have therefore chosen to monitor attendance at lectures. This situation is subject to ongoing review.
This is higher education, and students are expected to be independent, so why are you monitoring attendance like schools and FE colleges?
Attendance at universities across the UK has always been monitored, however at Newcastle there has not been a consistent approach across all disciplines. We have also had separate attendance checks for international students for the last few years.
Recent UKBA Border Agency communications have led all universities to review their practice. The universities that always had robust attendance monitoring arrangements have less change to make but others, like Newcastle, have to make their systems more rigorous. Higher Education is absolutely about independent study and the end results in assessment is key. But attendance at classes does not contradict the nature of HE – classes are generally only a small percentage of time in an average student’s week and students need to be accountable. The University also needs to be accountable – to ensure that students are likely to complete their studies. Research has shown that attendance monitoring can help identify students in need of support and enable University staff to intervene to improve the chances of a student’s successful completion.
Why don’t you just monitor international students?
This was something the University considered but overall there was agreement that if attendance had to be monitored in class then it should apply to all students. However, this principle does lead to some pragmatic difficulties - particularly until there is a proper SAMS system - so academic units are prioritising attendance records for international students. We understand that, at this stage, the Students’ Union also supports monitoring attendance for all students if the University must monitor in classes.
Why do we have to comply?
UK laws were changed a few years ago and to admit international students the University had to apply for a licence from UKBA. In applying for a licence the University had to accept UKBA terms. UKBA have made it clear that if universities do not like the terms they have the choice not to admit international students – and UKBA have ably demonstrated at London Metropolitan University what may happen if a university does not fulfil their obligations. The University must therefore comply with UKBA, although we do make representations via Universities UK and the Russell Group, when appropriate.
Are classes going to be made compulsory?
At the moment the University expects students to attend classes, but not all classes are compulsory. In some disciplines however, there are already compulsory classes – e.g. where there is a professional requirement, sequential lab content or health and safety issues. Also, because of UKBA rules international students are expected to attend for at least 80% of their classes. The University will be looking at this question over the next year and may propose that (some) classes become compulsory, but that is not the current position. We have to examine the options and consult student representatives.
So what will happen if I don’t attend classes?
When academic units collect attendance data the University requires them to prioritise follow-up for international students. This is because of our obligations to UKBA. The attendance policy does however apply to all students and we want academic units to follow-up the attendance for all students. Action will depend on how frequently you have been absent, whether you have had previous warnings etc. In the first instance you may just get an email confirming that you were noted as having an unauthorised absence, together with an offer of support if you need it. If there are continued absences you may be called to a meeting etc. In very extreme cases an academic unit may take invoke unsatisfactory progress regulations. In very rare cases the University may withdraw students who are not attending their classes. As part of our work over the next few months the University will decide what the thresholds will be for absence but there is no expectation that students will attend 100% of all classes. The University wants to develop systems that are responsive to individual student cases.
What will happen if scanners do not work for a particular class?
If there is a problem with in-class scanners for a limited period, e.g. an individual class or a day, probably nothing will happen – that event will be excluded from the monitoring records. If there was a longer term problem the University would almost certainly invoke contingency arrangements (i.e. revert to paper signature lists).
If you use scanners won’t you cause a queue to enter the lecture room?
There is not yet a final decision on the type of scanner or which rooms to put them in. If scanners were to be placed in large capacity lecture or teaching rooms there would be multiple scanners.
Is the finger-tip scanning a biometric system?
This is not a full biometrics system. The fingertip is scanned and the individual pattern results in a secure and unique number being created – that secure number is transmitted to University systems to confirm attendance. The University will not be able to construct a fingerprint image from a secure number, which would in any event not be readily available to University staff. This option is now widely used in a number of schools in the UK, as well as elsewhere in the world. A similar system is also in use in one of the new halls of residence and appears to work well.
Can’t you cheat a finger tip scanner?
Not easily. There are different types of finger tip scanners. Some are just simple optical image scanners and they can, apparently, be more easily fooled. There are however scanners that sense that the fingertip is not just a flat image but attached to a real finger. Smudging makes it very hard to manufacture a false fingertip that could fool scanners. There are flaws in any system, but we believe that a robust ‘tip on entry’ system will be much more reliable than signature lists or smartcard scans. However, a final decision has not yet been taken on the type of scanner we will use.
Will my biometric data be safe?
The only reason the University is considering fingertip scanning is for attendance confirmation in classes. We have no plans to use the system beyond that. The data (i.e. the secondary biometrics numerical value) would be held securely by the University and in accordance with the Data Protection Act. There are absolutely no plans to share the data with any third party organisation.
NB – one hall already uses fingertip scans, but this is a separate arrangement and students’ have a choice about whether to live in those halls are not. It is however an example of the increasing use of fingertip scanning to accurately identify an individual.
Are other universities doing this?
All universities are reviewing their practice for attendance monitoring – a number of policies are now published on websites. We know that a number of universities are at the early stages of reviews and some are considering the fingertip scanning option.
