I haven't attended online seminars in a year - will I get kicked out?

[coolstef]

'm in my 4th and final year at university and am due to finish in 2 months. It has been online for the past two years due to COVID. I have not set foot on campus since 2020.

I consistently sit at a 2.1 without much effort at all, I am fine with that and a 2.1 is what I am hoping to graduate with (on track for this). However, I haven't attended any online seminars this full academic year. It says the seminars are mandatory.

The reason I haven't attended is due to my experiences of online seminars last year I find them to be a complete waste of time. I gain nothing from them, learn nothing in them and would much rather focus my time elsewhere like on the actual assessments and my dissertation.

I have never been pulled up for my lack of attendance and always submit my work on time and as I said consistently get 2.1s.

However, my friend doing the same course has started to ask me am I not worried about getting kicked out due to my lack of attendance? I'd never really thought about it as no one has questioned me about it. I had a look at the uni policy and they said that they would give three chances before being kicked out and try and support you to engage more. Additionally, I am engaged with the course, this is shown in my work and working to the deadlines.

So am I being unreasonable to assume that since no one has been in touch they are not going to just kick me out of uni for not attending the seminars?

My personal tutor is very happy with me and says I'm the most hardworking student she's had this year.

There's not snippy answer.... it was a perfectly polite and complete response to your question....

If the module doesn't have a participation mark then all that matters is the outcome of your submitted assessments in terms of degree classification. You won't be kicked out for non-attendance in seminars. However, you're doing yourself a disservice by not attending. You get more out of those seminars than it seems on the surface: attendance demonstrates your ability to commit to a project, to manage your time, to articulate an argument, to engage in teamwork and critical thinking in person. It's not just about the topic you're discussing. Though on that point you're missing out too: it's not often you get to spend a good amount of time discussing a subject you're interested in. This is probably something you'll realise when you're in the daily grind of work one day, and you might regret it.

When I did my PGDiP a few years ago, we were told discussions in the online forum discussions were mandatory. I didn't participate at all (mat leave) and passed with no reference to it.

But I agree with PPs you should check with your provider.

Well if their policy is 3 warnings and you haven't had any yet then I wouldn't worry. We had some seminars that attendance was 'mandatory' as in made up part of the mark, and others were usual attendance expectations and processes applied.

It will really depend on your university. Some won't care as long as you're doing assignments/ exams ok. Some might make attendance part of your final mark, though that doesn't necessarily mean that you'll fail the module - just means your overall marks will be lower. Some may not let you sit the exam.

Is everything online? So you have no proof you're attending lectures either? That may not help (in normal times, if you attended lectures but not seminars you might well get "half marks" for attendance).

On the whole though I'm inclined to agree with you. If you've not been warned that you need to attend seminars, I think it's unlikely that you'll be kicked out for not attending. IME unis don't tend to go straight for kicking people out. Doesn't look good on the stats! Exceptions might be very prestigious places (e.g. Oxbridge) so if you're at one of those then you might be more at risk.

I also think, tbh, that they've got a cheek if everything is still online at this point, but that's a separate issue.

Nobody here (unless they turn out to be your actual tutor) can answer that for you.

But if you knew the sessions were 'mandatory' as you say, why didn't you just suck it up and do them? If you're on a 2:1 could have meant getting a 1st or stop you being downgraded to a 2:2.

Have you ever looked at your programme handbook. It will be available on your student portal. I think that's probably the place you should start rather than Mumsnet! You may be getting 2:1s but are you that bright?

Slightly different to you, but I graduated in 2012 and in our final year we were supposed to do an IT class as part of the course (creative subject), it was compulsory. Thing is I already knew everything they were getting us to do on the course, it was an absolute waste of time for me.
I went twice and didn't return.

Once I hadn't been for a few months I knew I'd crossed the point of no return, if I started going I'd only have months of work to catch up on if you know what I mean. Looking at the other students work from this class it was so basic I couldn't bring myself to return just to do months worth of the most basic pointless exercises.

Anyway, because my IT skills were fine and dandy and this showed in my final portfolio overall, no one batted an eyelid that I'd never done this "compulsory" IT class. I got a 2:1.

If your tutor is happy with you and no one's given you a warning I'd count yourself lucky and crack on working independently.

One downside is a reference may mention it. I had one of my lectures write my reference for a masters and as I'd actively participated in his lectures and tutorials he could say this.
And could probably see notes from all my other tutors saying the same thing.

Well done for engaging with the work, but how irresponsible to not go to lessons.
You haven't attended one for a very long stretch of time- how do you know you wouldn't have had some benefit?
I'm assuming during that time you would have had different modules, different teachers.... Also, online capability has changed in that time.

But I agree with PPs you should check with your provider.

There's a significant risk this may end up drawing attention to lack of attendance, with adverse consequences....

I mean, there's the "right" thing to do, which is strict attendance, but that ship has sailed, so perhaps it's best to avoid raising issues with those that be from this point?

@burnoutbabe

One downside is a reference may mention it. I had one of my lectures write my reference for a masters and as I'd actively participated in his lectures and tutorials he could say this. And could probably see notes from all my other tutors saying the same thing.

If the OP hasn’t attended any teaching in a year, it’s unlikely she’ll find any member of staff willing to write a reference, simply because all they’d be able to say is ‘X was registered for my module X and got a 2.1.’ Academic references (as for a postgraduate degree application) usually require much more detail, and ask about engagement, position within cohort etc.

@Linguini

But I agree with PPs you should check with your provider.

There's a significant risk this may end up drawing attention to lack of attendance, with adverse consequences....

I mean, there's the "right" thing to do, which is strict attendance, but that ship has sailed, so perhaps it's best to avoid raising issues with those that be from this point?

Good point!

I never checked, and passed.