Controversial digital attendance capture system introduced

Students can expect to scan their ID cards at every in-person teaching session as the University shifts to a digital system for logging student attendance, despite limited support from students.

The digital attendance machines have already begun to be introduced to the Oculus building and will continue being rolled out across campus this year.

To log attendance, student ID cards must be scanned on the attendance device for the room. All teaching rooms should have these devices installed by July, and posters will be placed in rooms to alert students of their presence.

The University believes that in-person attendance should benefit both academic performance and the physical and mental wellbeing of students.

By the next academic year, this is expected to be the standardised method of attendance recording for all in-person teaching. In a snap poll conducted by The Boar, over half of respondents said they were against this initiative.

The University hopes this digital measure will provide more accurate attendance recordings and reduce paper use. The primary aim for the new system is to increase the student attendance on campus. The University believes that in-person attendance should benefit both academic performance and the physical and mental wellbeing of students.

Casie Osbourn, a postgraduate taught student, told the University: “Going to lectures helps me keep on track with prep, notes and follow-up work.” In response to polling by The Boar, one student claimed: “I don’t think we should be forced to attend lectures or seminars we deem unnecessary.” Others also felt they shouldn’t be ‘made’ to attend classes if they don’t wish to.

The University believes that digitally monitoring attendance should help to “identify students who may be experiencing difficulties”. The University also hopes that greater attendance at in-person classes will mean more opportunities for students to interact with their peers on campus, make friends, and be able to access help from teaching staff if needed.

One student pointed out to The Boar that it’s “hard to tell” how this digital system “will ‘measure wellbeing and engagement of students’” above and beyond the systems already in place.

I pay, can’t I choose?

University of Warwick student

Monitoring points on Tabula and manually recorded seminar attendance aim to ensure that students are attending teaching sessions and engaging with sessions in person.

The additional surveillance has not been welcomed by the student body, with less than 30% in favour.

Some students feel the measure is overly restrictive and limits their sense of independence. One student questioned: “I pay, can’t I choose?”

Many students also took issue with the practicality of the new system, from students regularly forgetting or losing their ID cards, to the already time-consuming nature of entering large lecture theatres.  

Of those reportedly ‘neutral’, one student felt the machines are more practical than alternative methods of digital recording, such as scanning QR codes in lectures, and described the new initiative as “overall a minor nuisance”.