Faculty, Staff Asked to Help Boost Student Compliance with New Requirement

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Students in a lecture hall at UC Davis.
Students will now be required to indicate they've begun courses and read the academic code of conduct. (Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis)

Beginning this fall quarter, students must confirm they have started academic activity for each registered course and acknowledge they have read the UC Davis Code of Academic Conduct. The campus is asking faculty and staff to help boost compliance by reminding students about the requirement.

A campus team developed the confirmation process after a federal audit found the campus had not done enough to validate that students had attended the classes for which they received financial aid. Deborah Agee, director of Financial Aid and Scholarships, said the process may provide a model for other UC campuses to fulfill the U.S. Department of Education’s prescript.

The campus requirement applies to all undergraduates, graduate and professional students whether or not they receive financial aid. Students who fail to indicate they have begun a course may have a hold put on future registration; financial aid recipients may have their awards lowered or rescinded.

This summer, Provost Ralph J. Hexter emailed faculty and some staff about the requirement. He suggested faculty include a link to the Academic Participation website in course materials and discuss the requirement on the first day of class. Advisors and other staff, he said, could remind students about the requirement in notices and advising appointments.

The acknowledgement of the academic conduct code was added, at the request of the Academic Senate, to promote academic integrity.

Dan Ransom, project manager and associate director in Financial Aid, said a successful pilot with two Summer Sessions courses had an 81 percent compliance rate among 300 students.

For the fall quarter, students will receive emails about the requirement and, on the first day of classes, be prompted to go to the MyUCDavis web portal to check off their courses and acknowledge reading the conduct code.

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