INFO PAGE
Data Academy No-Show Policy
Background
Every time a potential student does not show up at the class, regardless of the reasons, it is discourteous to the instructors who volunteer their time, withholds the learning opportunity from other colleagues who were not able to sign up for the class, and makes inefficient use of taxpayer money.
Data Academy’s FY19 cost per student was approximately $200, and in FY19 and the first half of FY20, Data Academy classes saw an average no-show rate of approximately 17%, with some courses as high as 30% and others as low as 4%. This variability makes it difficult to determine how many registrants to allow per class. Standard process has been to overenroll classes to ensure seats are used, however this increases the risk of an overly full class. Even with this precaution, it is not uncommon for there to be empty seats in classes despite interest lists in excess of 200 people.
No-Show Policy
Data Academy’s course attendance policy is that any learner who registered for a course, but whose seat goes unused, is considered a no-show and could be removed from future notifications for that course. Additionally, after three no-shows within a year (calculated as trailing from the current date), the attendee will not receive notifications for any class until there are fewer than three no-shows within the trailing year.
The policy is clearly stated in the course announcement email, and course registration forms ask attendees to agree to the policy’s terms before reserving a seat. Exceptions to this policy may be made on a case-by-case basis.
No-Show Definition
A potential attendee is considered a no-show if the seat they reserved is empty on class day based on our sign in sheet. Once a learner has reserved a spot in a class, they are responsible for filling that seat either through their own attendance or by finding a replacement if they can no longer attend. Therefore, failure to attend a class is considered a no-show even if advance notice of absence is given. This is due to the high administrative burden of filling vacated seats in classes, even with significant advanced notice.
We know that conflicts will periodically arise between when one signs up for a class and the course date, and that’s ok! However, demand for Data Academy classes is exceptionally high, with many filling up in under an hour. Therefore, those who are able to reserve a spot are expected to block off time for the class make every effort to attend, as empty seats might have been used by some of the many others who would like to participate.