Sign to request reactivation of the Moodle attendance portal, and that a standardised and measurable threshold for absences from learning sessions be instated.

As the semester comes to an end, Students are concerned at having received sudden warnings from Education Lead Dr. Sarah McAdam that their attendance has been deemed a matter of concern, and any further incidents regarding their attendance and engagement during this academic year will result in their immediate expulsion.

“Unsatisfactory Attendance ” is ill-defined

While these warnings adhere to the Attendance Tracking procedure outlined in Catalyst’s Attendance & Engagement Process 2024 (fig. 1), The Catalyst Student Regulations Framework 2024-2025 Section 11.1.5 (fig. 2) offers a conflicting, more lenient course of action. A commonality between the two is the unspecific and subjective language used in defining the type of attendance which is problematic enough to justify a Student’s expulsion;

 “Failure to attend and / or engage appropriately may result in immediate withdrawal from the program or interruption. ” 
(A&E 2024. Attendance Tracking, Point 5)

“The University may withdraw students from their program if their participation has been unsatisfactory. ”
(SRF 24-25. 11.1.1)

Our first request is that a clearly defined and realistic threshold for absences from learning sessions be set and properly communicated to the Students of Catalyst, to which students and administration alike may refer in accordance where matters of attendance are concerned. We request that a threshold for absences be articulated (enumerated) by Apr 9, 2025, giving the administration a week from the creation of this petition.

Attendance Tracking & Personal Data Access

While we have cited the A&E 2024 to which the administration seems to adhere, we must contest the currency of the document as it includes some now inaccurate information such as a clause regarding Student Attendance Tracking (“ Students can view and track your own attendance on your specific program page on Moodle). ” This of course is no longer the case, as students ’ access to their individual attendance rates via Moodle has been blocked as of March 2025, while students who have personally requested access to their attendance rates from the relevant administrator have on occasion had their legal right to do so as according to Section 15 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679, 2016) undermined. 

Our second request is that the Moodle portal through which each individual student was once able to monitor their own engagement be reintroduced in compliance with the A&E 2024. We request the portal be functional by Apr 9, 2025, giving the administration a week from the date of the creation of this petition.

At the time this letter is being authorized, we witness an increasingly strict enforcement of engagement assurance protocols coinciding with a troubling obscuring of personal data, to a destabilizing effect for students of Catalyst. We hope you will consider our two requests, and honor your commitment to ensuring that students of Catalyst are able to apply themselves to their studies in a stable and well-structured environment.