Last updated 5/3/21
Piloted in Summer 2021, and commencing in the 2021/22 academic year, UC Merced will recalculate financial aid after the 15th day of instruction for all undergraduate and graduate recipients based on their enrollment status in those classes which we can confirm that the student began attendance. If we are unable to document the student’s attendance in a class, via CatCourse activity or instructor reporting, aid will be adjusted to exclude the units for that class. Student will have an opportunity to appeal if they have supporting documentation confirming their attendance.
What is Academic Activity?
Campuses are required to confirm that those students receiving financial aid began attendance in each of their courses by confirming some sort of academically related activity. These activities include, but are not limited to, any of the following activities:
- physically attending a class where there is an opportunity for direct interaction between the instructor and students;
- submitting an academic assignment;
- taking an exam, completing an interactive tutorial, or participating in computer-assisted instruction;
- attending a study group that is assigned by the school;
- participating in an online discussion about academic matters;
- initiating contact with a faculty member to ask a question about the academic subject studied in the course.
- For distance education,
- student submission of an academic assignment,
- student submission of an exam,
- documented student participation in an interactive tutorial or computer-assisted instruction,
- a posting by the student showing the student’s participation in an online study group that is assigned by the institution,
- a posting by the student in a discussion forum showing the student’s participation in an online discussion about academic matters, and an email from the student or other documentation showing that the student-initiated contact with a faculty member to ask a question about the academic subject studied in the course.
Academic Activities do NOT include:
- living in institutional housing,
- participating in the school’s meal plan,
- logging into an online class without active participation,
- participating in academic counseling or advisement.
- course registration
Why is Certification of Academic Activity Important?
If we are unable to document a student’s academic activity in a class by the end of the Add/Drop period, their aid will be adjusted to exclude the units for that class. Students will have an opportunity to appeal if they have supporting documentation from the instructor confirming their attendance.
How is my Academic Activity Certified?
The school, not the student, must certify academic activity. Therefore, UC Merced has developed an online Tool that offers multiple ways to confirm a student’s academic activity by the Add/Drop deadline.
- We will extract student academic activity directly from CatCourses (e.g., assignment, quiz, test) and populate a Banner table with the date and type of occurrence as of Census.
- For faculty who do not use CatCourses in this way, they or a designated staff member from their School may log into our newly developed Tool and certify student academic activity by the Add/Drop deadline.
How can I see if my faculty members have certified my Academic Activity in all my classes?
Students will be able to log into the Tool and see if academic activity has been certified for each course.
A message box in the upper right of the screen will indicate whether you are missing academic activity, as shown in the example below. The Academic Activity column shows the number of the student’s academic activities recorded for each course.
Example:
Once the add/drop period has ended, the student may submit an Appeal for courses where no academic activity was recorded.
How do I Appeal?
For courses showing no academic activity, an Appeal button will appear after the 15th day of instruction, that will allow the student to submit an appeal with supporting documentation from the instructor confirming their attendance. If approved, the units will be used to recalculate their financial aid eligibility.
If you are missing academic activity for one or more course after the end of the Add/Drop period, an Appeal button will be displayed in the message box as shown in the example below.
Example:
When will Certification of Academic Activity begin?
We plan to pilot this Tool in Summer 2021, with a full implementation commencing in the 2021/22 academic year.
