Tackling the Attendance
Problem in Learning
Communities and Other Firstyear Courses:
The Administrative Withdrawal
Policy at IUPUI
Jeff Watt, Associate Dean
School of Science
Gayle Williams, Assistant Dean
University College
2007 FYE - Addison, TX
Indiana University
Purdue University
Indianapolis
 Urban campus



Public comprehensive four-year
institution
Enrollment – 28,342
First-time, full-time – 2,269
Indiana University
Purdue University
Indianapolis





Large number of commuter
students
High first generation rates – 59%
of entering students
Large number of working students
High DFW rates
Poor retention rates
Brief History of the
Administrative Withdrawal
Policy



Concern about poor attendance
expressed in Gateway meetings
and in other campus arenas
Assumed association between
poor attendance and high DFW
rates
Research indicating some
association between attendance
and course grades
Brief History of the
Administrative Withdrawal
Policy, Cont.


Agreement reached by a small group of
faculty members in mathematics,
English, psychology, and learning
communities to pilot an Administrative
Withdrawal attendance policy in fall 2001
The policy was designed to help
freshmen establish good class
attendance habits during their first
college semester
Brief History of the
Administrative Withdrawal
Policy, Cont.


The faculty determined that
Administrative Withdrawal would
take place after the full refund
period
The policy was stated in the
syllabus for all participating
courses
Assessment of the
Pilot



Assessment of the policy was
conducted at the end of the pilot
semester
In fall 2001, 137 students were
administratively withdrawn
Just over three-fourths (77%) of the
students who were administratively
withdrawn from at least one course
during fall 2001 failed or withdrew from
all courses attempted for the semester
Assessment of the
Pilot, Cont.

In addition, faculty reported that
attendance, even in classes where
the policy had not been
implemented, appeared to improve
that semester. The faculty
speculated that the “word was out”
among students: IUPUI would no
longer tolerate poor attendance
habits
Assessment of the
Pilot, Cont.


The pilot policy was continued the
following semesters with similar
results
In spring of 2003, the IUPUI
Faculty Council approved the
implementation of the
Administrative Withdrawal policy
in all undergraduate courses
Administrative
Withdrawal Fall 2001
Number of administrative withdrawals for fall 2001
(original report):
194
Number of administrative withdrawals for fall 2001
who were not re-instated in the course:
177
Unduplicated headcount of students who were
administratively withdrawn from one or more courses
for fall 2001:
137
Number of students administratively withdrawn who
were on Financial Aid (of the 137)
73
How does the policy
work?



Faculty in participating courses
receive an Early Warning roster
with an option check box for
Administrative Withdrawal
Students identified for
Administrative Withdrawal are
sent a letter by registered mail
Students have approximately 10
days to appeal
How does the policy
work? – Cont.


After the deadline, students who
are identified for Administrative
Withdrawal are removed from the
course. A “W” appears on their
transcript
Students who are administratively
withdrawn are not eligible for a
fee refund
IUPUI Faculty Council
Regulations concerning the
application of the
Administrative Withdrawal
 Policy may be applied in any
Policy:



undergraduate course
A statement of the policy must appear in
the syllabus for each participating course
All sections of participating courses must
adopt the policy
Policy is stated on the Registrar’s website
http://registrar.iupui.edu/withdrawal-polic
y.html
Additional Policy
Administration
Information
 Although the policy must appear in


every section of participating courses,
applying the Administrative
Withdrawal option is the decision of
the faculty member in the course
An official list of participating courses
is maintained in University College
Departments may remove a course
from the list, but thus far, no courses
have been removed
Additional Policy
Administration Information,
Cont.
 The number of courses on the


Administrative Withdrawal list has
increased steadily over the last five
years
The faculty in 108 courses, representing
approximately 713 sections, had
implemented the policy for fall 2006
The campus has begun to look more
closely at the students on financial aid
who reenroll after having been
administratively withdrawn
Schools/Departments
Participating
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Kelley School of Business
Herron School of Art
Department of English
Department of Communication Studies
Department of Psychology
Department of Mathematics
Department of Computer and
Information Technology
Schools/Departments
Participating, Cont.
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University College
Department of Sociology
Department of World Languages
and Cultures
Department of Biology
School of Science
Department of Political Science
Schools/Departments
Participating, Cont.
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

Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering Technology
Department of Technical
Communication
Department of Interior Design
Technology
Administrative
Withdrawals fall 2005
Number of administrative withdrawals for fall 2005:
306
Number of administrative withdrawals for fall 2005 who were
not re-instated in the course or withdrew on their own:
293
Unduplicated headcount of students who were
administratively withdrawn from one or more courses for
fall 2005:
237
Number of students administratively withdrawn who were on
Financial Aid
125
Math 001 –
Introduction to
Algebra
Year Fall
Attendance
Number of Enrolled Students
Meeting Placement Criteria
Enrolled
DFW Rate
Semester
Only
Policy
Being
Used
1997
No
1,130
44%
1998
No
1,299
47%
1999
No
1,051
43%
2000
No
1,045
49%
2001
Adm-W
1,058
34%
2002
Adm-W
974
36%
2003
Adm-W
811
34%
2004
Adm-W
743
38%
Math 001 –
Introduction to
Algebra,
Cont.
Total
Number of Students
DFW Rate of
Students
Meeting
Placement
Criteria within 6
Months
Number
of
Students
Enrolled
Meeting
Placement
Criteria within 6
Months
1997-2000
(before
policy)
8,193
4,525 (~55%)
45%
2001-2004
(after policy)
4,122
3,586 (~87%)
36%
Math 001 –
Introduction to
Algebra,
Cont.
 The time of day
that the class met did


have a significant effect on the DFW
rate
Start times between 11:00 am and
2:00 pm had, on average, a 2% higher
DFW rate
Despite the fact that the campus
enrolls more female students, more
males enroll in remedial mathematics
Math 001 –
Introduction to
Algebra,
 Those studentsCont.
missing less than 5 of

the 45 class meetings of the course
accounted for 78.6% of the grades of A
on the departmental final examination
Establishing clear expectations regarding
class attendance from the start of the
course has a significant effect on student
success – despite the fact that the AdmW Policy is applied during the first four
weeks of the semester
Questions?

Jeff Watt, Associate Dean
– School of Science
– [email protected]

317-274-4070
Gayle Williams, Assistant Dean
– University College
– [email protected]
317-274-8923