Committee on Courses

Regulation Proposal: Mandatory First Day Attendance

Justification
At UC Davis, some impacted courses and laboratories have traditionally announced 'Mandatory First Day Attendance' in the Class Schedule and Registration Guide. In 2004, however, the Registrar stopped printing these announcements for two reasons. First, no regulation supported the announcement and the announcement seemed to contradict the '12 day add' option. Second, some lecture courses were requiring first day attendance even though they were not impacted. The purpose of Regulation 539 is to provide authority for Mandatory First Day Attendance and to clarify when it may and may not be used.

Mandatory First Day Attendance is beneficial for impacted courses and for laboratories. The announcement of Mandatory First Day Attendance increases the chance that students who need the course will be able to enroll (it decreases the chance that spaces will go unfilled). It also increases efficient use of laboratory space and time and increases the chances that students will be trained in safe laboratory procedures. On the other hand, use of Mandatory First Day Attendance in other cases would violate the '12th day add' option.

There are potential problems with this proposed regulation. One is that, given the announcement of Mandatory First Day Attendance for some courses, students may infer that attendance is not important for other courses. Another problem is that instructors lack a clear mechanism for unenrolling students who fail to attend. We note, however, that the campus has been dealing with these problems, because until this year, many courses routinely announced Mandatory First Day Attendance. Regulation 539 would provide authority for that practice.

Proposed New Regulation:

539. Mandatory First Day Attendance

(A) Departments or other academic programs may require first day attendance in impacted courses but shall not deny enrollment to a student when space is available. Mandatory First Day Attendance must be announced in the Class Schedule and Registration Guide.

(B) Departments or other academic programs may require first day attendance in laboratory courses (impacted or not impacted). Mandatory First Day Attendance must be announced in the Class Schedule and Registration Guide.