To ensure the accuracy and integrity of the student headcount, the University does a comprehensive, multi-step attendance verification process each year, in mid-September, to ensure that enrollment records accurately reflect actual student participation.  Students included in this review are those whose student account remains in an unsettled status after the standard-term add/drop deadline of fall semester.  A student’s account is considered settled when the student account balance is paid or resolved by approved loans or financial aid.

The verification process will proceed through multiple stages to maximize accuracy and provide students with several opportunities to confirm their attendance before any enrollment action is taken.

  1. The University reviews institutional activity indicators, including meal plan usage, residence hall access records, and Blackboard activity.  Students with verified activity will be considered actively attending and removed from further review.
  2. Students whose attendance cannot be confirmed through activity data will receive an email and task in the MyBU Student Portal requesting that they verify their enrollment and attendance status (Step 1: Log into MyBU Student, Step 2: From the left menu, navigate to My Information, then Tasks, Step 3: Select the Attendance Verification Agreement task).  This task will remain available for one week.  Students who complete the task will be removed from the verification list.
  3. Students who do not respond within the one-week period will move to the next phase of review, during which faculty will be contacted via email and asked to verify the student’s attendance or participation.  Faculty responses, whether confirming or denying attendance, will remove the student from the continued review process.  Students for whom no faculty response is received will remain in an unverified status.
  4. Following the faculty review period, the Office of the University Registrar (OUR) will work directly with schools and colleges for an additional week to verify any remaining unconfirmed students.  This collaborative review is intended to ensure that every reasonable effort has been made to determine a student’s enrollment status before final action is taken.
  5. At the conclusion of the review process, the final list of unsettled and unverified students will be reviewed by the University Registrar, Graduate Admissions, and Financial Services to confirm that students are not pending deferral, account resolution, or other circumstances that would affect their enrollment status.

Students confirmed as not attending, or for whom no verification is received from the school or college by the established deadline, will be administratively withdrawn from the term (but not from the University).  Their course registrations will be dropped, and they will receive official notification from our office regarding the withdrawal.  If a student who has been withdrawn is subsequently confirmed to be attending, the student must be reinstated and re-enrolled in any available courses.  Students who attend classes without registration will not be retroactively enrolled after the conclusion of the term.

Graduate Students of Boston University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GRS) are advised to contact the GRS Records office at grsrec@bu.edu with any questions regarding Attendance Verification.