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Instructor Attendance Guide

Start sessions, manage QR check-in, end sessions, and review flags

Daily Workflow Session Rules GPS Setup Start Session QR Code End Session Flags Manual Entry Reports Excuses Substitutes Online Classes

Instructor Overview Video

Video coming soon · ID: instructor-overview

Your Daily Workflow

  1. 1

    Enable GPS in your browser before arriving

    Required for all non-online sessions. A yellow banner on your dashboard will remind you if GPS is not yet enabled.

  2. 2

    Start the session a few minutes before class

    Students cannot check in until you start (you can start up to 30 minutes early). Starting early lets them check in on time instead of being marked Late, or Absent on a clinical day.

  3. 3

    Display the QR code (Lab & Clinical)

    Project or hold up your dashboard — the rotating QR code appears automatically after the session starts. Show it again at the end: students scan it to check out.

  4. 4

    Monitor check-in counts during class

    The session card shows live: Total / Checked In / Missing / Flagged.

  5. 5

    End the session when class is over

    Clinical: End works from 5 minutes before the scheduled end — press it only after every student has scanned out, because clinical check-out closes when you do. Lab: End works from 10 minutes before the end; do not leave without ending it. Didactic and Online: end it any time (more than 10 minutes early is flagged), and ending is optional.

  6. 6

    Review flags as needed

    The orange Flags badge on your dashboard shows any pending flags requiring your review.

Session Rules by Type

Each session type has different rules for you as the instructor. Know these before class.

Clinical the strictest: check-in and check-out both required, with the same checks

Your GPS: Required to start

Student check-in: Scans your QR code, phone near the class

Student arrival: Present only if checked in by 15 minutes after the scheduled start time. One second later is Absent (never Late)

Student check-out: Required, with the same checks as check-in. Opens 5 minutes before the end

You can end the class: From 5 min before the scheduled end

After you end it: Check-out is closed: no check-out after End

Clinical hours: Tracked per student (check-in → check-out)

Marking by hand: Counts now; the clinical coordinator reviews it (how)

Before you press End: make sure every student has scanned your code to check out — clinical check-out closes the moment you end the class. A student who has not checked out is flagged and earns no clinical hours until it is resolved. You cannot end a Clinical class more than 5 minutes before its scheduled end; if you must, use Emergency Close and give the reason.
Lab check-out required, kept light; you end the class

Your GPS: Required to start

Student check-in: QR code required

Student late threshold: 10-minute grace period

Student check-out: Required. Opens 5 minutes before the end

You can end the class: From 10 min before the scheduled end

After you end it: Students can still scan your code to check out for 30 minutes

Hours tracked: No (Lab hours not calculated)

Late start flag: If >60 min past scheduled start

End the class yourself. If it is still open 10 minutes before the end, NMS sends you an email and a Chat message. A student who has not checked out when you end it keeps the check-in and is flagged for your review. You cannot end a Lab class more than 10 minutes before its scheduled end; if you must, use Emergency Close and give the reason.
Didactic (Classroom) check-in only; ending is optional

Your GPS: Required to start

Student check-in: Self-report (no QR)

Student late threshold: 10-minute grace period

Student check-out: Not required

You can end the class: Any time — flagged if ended more than 10 min early

Ending it: Optional. Left open, it closes by itself 2 hours after the end

Hours tracked: No

Late start flag: If >60 min past scheduled start

Check-in is all a Didactic class needs. You may end it or leave it to close by itself. Ending it more than 10 minutes before its scheduled end flags the class day for admin review — no hard block.
Online (Live) as Didactic: check-in only; ending is optional

Your GPS: Not required

Student check-in: Self-report (no QR)

Student late threshold: 10-minute grace period

Student check-out: Not required

You can end the class: Any time — flagged if ended more than 10 min early

Ending it: Optional. Left open, it closes by itself 2 hours after the end

Engageli data: Syncs separately every 2 hours

Late start flag: If >60 min past scheduled start

Same as Didactic. Ending it more than 10 minutes before its scheduled end flags the class day for admin review — no hard block.

GPS Setup

GPS location is required to start Lab, Clinical, and Didactic sessions. Enable it once and your browser remembers it. An amber banner on your dashboard will remind you if it is not yet enabled.

Chrome (Desktop / Android): Click the lock icon in the address bar → Location → Allow
iPhone / iPad (Safari): Settings → Safari → Location → Allow While Using
Firefox: Click the location icon in the address bar → Allow Location Access
If GPS fails when you start: A dialog will ask if you want to continue without GPS. You can proceed — students can still scan the QR code and check in — but your location will not be anchored, and an alert is sent to administrators. Only use this if GPS is genuinely unavailable.

Starting a Session

  1. 1 Go to Attendance → Dashboard
  2. 2 Find the class card for today — it only appears on the day the session is scheduled
  3. 3 Click Start Session
  4. 4 Your browser asks for location — click Allow (Lab, Clinical, Didactic)
  5. 5 Session opens immediately — students can check in right away
Starting late (over 60 min): If you start more than 60 minutes past the scheduled start time, the session will be flagged automatically. A warning modal will appear — click OK to continue. The flag appears in your Flagged Incidents list and is visible to administrators.
Unrecognized location: If your GPS coordinates do not match any known campus location, the session will also be flagged. This is expected for off-campus clinical sites.
Early start limit: You can start a session up to 30 minutes before the scheduled start time. Attempting to start earlier will be blocked.

Starting a Session Video

Video coming soon · ID: instructor-start-session

The Rotating QR Code (Lab & Clinical)

After you start a Lab or Clinical session, a rotating QR code appears in the session card. Students scan this to check in. The code changes every 15 seconds, and an old code soon stops working.

Clinical and lab: the phone must be near the class. A screenshot of the code, sent to someone who is not there, does not check them in or out. A student with location off must turn it on and scan again. A scan that is not near the class — or not near where you started the class — waits for the coordinator (clinical or lab): you see it on your dashboard, but you cannot confirm it. Any status you set by hand on a clinical day, and any arrival on the offline roster, goes on the coordinator's review list, with your reason.

How to display it:

  • Projector: Open your Attendance Dashboard on your teaching computer and project it fullscreen
  • Hold up your phone: Students walk up and scan row by row
  • Second device: Log in on a tablet and leave it on your desk as a self-scan station

Tips:

  • • Increase screen brightness before class
  • • Students should have GPS enabled before arriving so check-in is instant
  • • If a student's scan fails, they should wait 15 seconds for the next code
  • • The code keeps rotating on its own — you do not need to do anything

Ending a Session

  1. 1 Go to your Attendance Dashboard
  2. 2 Find the open session card (pulsing green OPEN badge)
  3. 3 Click End and confirm the dialog
  4. 4 The session closes — anyone without a check-in is automatically marked Absent. Students who checked in but did not check out will show check-in time only (no check-out).

When the End button works, by class type

  • Clinical: from 5 minutes before the scheduled end. Check-out closes when you end it, so wait until every student has scanned out.
  • Lab: from 10 minutes before the scheduled end. Students who have not checked out can still scan your code for 30 minutes after.
  • Didactic: any time; more than 10 minutes early is flagged for review. Ending it is optional.
  • Online: any time; more than 10 minutes early is flagged for review. Ending it is optional.

A countdown on the class card shows when End works. Students' check-out button opens 5 minutes before the end (Lab) and 5 minutes before the end (Clinical).

Emergency Close

If you genuinely need to end early (medical emergency, building evacuation, equipment failure):

  1. 1. Click End → read the early-close message
  2. 2. Click Emergency Close
  3. 3. Enter your reason (minimum 20 characters)
  4. 4. Click Submit — session closes immediately and is flagged for admin review with your reason attached
  5. Clinical and Lab only: it is the only way to end one before the times above.
End the session at the site, on your phone. Tapping End records where you are; keep location on. While your clinical or lab session is open you stay signed in until 1 hour after the class's end, so End works even if the phone sat in your pocket all day. Reminder: if a class is still open 10 minutes before its end, NMS sends you an email and a Chat message. Forgot to end it? It closes by itself 2 hours after the scheduled end and is marked "never ended by the instructor" on the Operations Dashboard. If you cannot end it (lost connection, closed browser), contact an administrator — they can close it for you.

Ending a Session Video

Video coming soon · ID: instructor-end-session

Reviewing Flagged Incidents

Common flag reasons:

  • Low GPS confidence — Student's GPS was farther than expected from the session location. Can happen near building edges or areas with weak signal.
  • GPS not provided — Student checked into a Lab or Clinical session without sharing GPS.
  • Early checkout — Student checked out more than 5 minutes before the session ended.
  • Late session start — You started the session more than 60 minutes after the scheduled start time.
  • Off-site location — Session was started from a GPS location not matching any registered campus location.

How to clear a flag:

  1. 1 Click the orange Review Flags button on your dashboard, or go to Flagged Incidents in Quick Reports
  2. 2 Review the flag reason for each student
  3. 3 If the check-in was legitimate, click Clear Flag
  4. 4 Enter a reason — minimum 20 characters. Be specific: "Student visually confirmed on-site; GPS signal was weak near the north stairwell"
  5. 5 Submit — the flag is cleared and your reason is permanently logged in the audit trail
Use the filter buttons at the top of the Flagged Incidents page to view flags by type: GPS Issues · Self-Report · Early Checkout.

Manual Attendance Entry

Use manual entry when QR scanning was not possible, or to correct a student's status after the session. All manual changes are permanently logged in the audit trail.

How to manually mark a student:

  1. 1. Open the session from My Sections → click your section → find the session date → View Session
  2. 2. Find the student in the roster
  3. 3. Click the edit icon next to their status
  4. 4. Select the correct status: Present, Late, or Absent (Clinical: Present, Absent or Excused — never Late)
  5. 5. Enter a reason note (required — minimum 10 characters)
  6. 6. Click Save
Time limit: You can only manually edit attendance records within 30 days of the session. After that, only an administrator can make changes. Always correct errors as soon as you notice them.
Clinical: your override is reviewed. A clinical student is Present only by scanning your code in time; one second after the cut-off is Absent. If you know better (for example the student was there but the scan failed), set the status by hand with your reason. It counts right away and goes on the clinical coordinator's review list. The coordinator okays it (Keep) or puts the record back as it was (Undo), and writes a note either way. Nobody reviews their own marks.

Session Reports & Participation Panel

Your section reports are organized as a drill-down: My Sections → Sessions → Session Detail → Student Detail.

Navigating reports:

  1. 1 Click My Sections in the Instructor section of the sidebar
  2. 2 You see all sections assigned to you this term — course code, schedule, student count, overall attendance %
  3. 3 Click any section to see all sessions — each shows: Date, Open/Closed, # present, # late, # absent
  4. 4 Click a session to open the full Session Report — roster with each student's status and check-in time
  5. 5 Click a student's name to see their full attendance history across all sessions in that section

Participation Panel:

On the Session Report page, click a student's name to open the Participation Panel — a slide-out drawer on the right. This lets you track per-student engagement and professionalism for each session.

Engagement Signals

  • Active Participation
  • Questions Asked
  • Group Collaboration
  • Attentiveness
  • Note Taking

Professionalism Signals

  • On Time
  • Professional Appearance
  • Prepared Materials
  • Respectful Behavior
  • Cell Phone Off

Toggle each item on/off per student and add optional notes. Click Save to persist. The panel is editable while the session is recent (within the edit window) — after that it becomes read-only.

Exporting data:

On any section report, click Export to CSV to download the roster and attendance data for analysis in Excel or Google Sheets.

Reviewing Student Excuse Requests

Students can submit excuse requests for absences. You review and approve or deny them.

Where to find pending excuses:

  • Your Dashboard shows a widget with the count of pending excuse requests
  • Or navigate to Excuse Queue in the sidebar (if you have access)

How to review:

  1. 1 Click a pending excuse request to open it
  2. 2 Read the student's stated reason
  3. 3 Review any uploaded documentation (doctor's note, court summons, etc.)
  4. 4 Check the student's overall attendance history for context
  5. 5 Click Approve or Deny
  6. 6 Add a note explaining your decision (recommended, especially for denials)

Approved

Session status changes from Absent to Excused; student's attendance percentage updates accordingly.

Denied

Absent status remains. The student may appeal to an administrator.

Guidelines: Approve when valid documentation is provided within 48 hours. Deny when documentation is missing or the reason does not meet program policy. When unsure, consult the program coordinator before deciding.

Substitute Assignments

If an administrator assigns you as a substitute instructor for another section, those sessions appear alongside your regular classes on your Dashboard.

What changes when you're a substitute:

  • The substitute session card appears on your Dashboard on the assigned day
  • You can start and end the session exactly like your own classes
  • QR code scanning and student check-in work normally
  • Flagged incidents for that session go to you (the substitute) for review
  • The session card is labeled to indicate it is a substitute assignment
  • The original instructor's name is shown on the card for reference
Note: You do not need to do anything to accept a substitute assignment. Once an admin assigns you, the session automatically appears on your Dashboard. If you have questions about the assignment, contact your program administrator.

My Online Attendance (Engageli)

If you teach Live Online sections, your own session participation data from Engageli is tracked and available to view. This is your personal view — it is separate from the admin-level Instructor Audit and Punctuality reports.

How to access:

  1. 1. Click My Online Attendance in the sidebar
  2. 2. Use the Semester dropdown at the top to switch between terms — defaults to the current semester
  3. 3. Sessions are grouped by class; each row shows one session

What each row shows:

  • Session date and status (Attended / Partial / Absent / No Data)
  • In Lieu tag — if this session replaced a rescheduled class
  • Attendance percentage bar and minutes attended
  • Talk time — how long you were speaking
  • Engagement score (0-100)
  • Join/leave time pairs and device type
Data sync: Engageli data syncs automatically every 2 hours. If a session from earlier today is not yet visible, check again later.

Quick Reports

My Sections

Section → session → student drill-down. Export to CSV.

Flagged Incidents

All pending GPS / self-report / early-checkout flags
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