Reflecting on the first Semester using SEAtS

The system has made it easier for us to get an overall view of attendance, satisfied our statutory reporting requirements and has replaced our patchwork of attendance systems. Most importantly, it’s allowed Student Support and Wellbeing (SSW) teams to identify attendance-related concerns earlier and provide better support for our students. 

One colleague from SSW said: “We’ve been able to contact students much earlier than in previous years and have been able to discuss any issues and direct them to appropriate support resources.”  

SEAtS in numbers 

Since the start of teaching in September 2024, we’ve had an impressive number of check-ins using SEAtS – over 1.8 million and counting! We also have almost 38,000 unique student users and an average attendance rate of 76%.  

Associate Vice President of Blended and Flexible Learning and Project Sponsor, Professor Dan George said: “I’m proud of everyone in the project team who has worked tirelessly to support the introduction of SEAtS to the University. 

I also want to thank all staff and students who have used SEAtS this Semester for your commitment and positivity when asked to use something new. 

Looking ahead, it’s likely we’ll have colleagues who are new to SEAtS teaching in January 2025. Please support one another and make use of the resources to help you.”   

Student motivation 

Students have also positively responded to using SEAtS, enjoying the ease with which they can see their upcoming classes in the app and the way they can easily view their attendance. One said: “Seeing my attendance percentage is motivating for me; not wanting to break my 100% streak has helped me get to classes.”  

Continuous improvement 

The project team are always looking to make improvements to help staff and students. 

Following feedback from some academics, to improve the accuracy of the data on students attending their teaching activities, we have been trialling dynamic codes. These change every few minutes and have been used in some teaching sessions. It’s worked well so far and will be available to use for the start of Semester 2. 

We also continue to investigate any discrepancies between the number of check-ins through SEAtS and spot head counts during teaching activities.   

Support changes 

To support the implementation, we had a ‘hypercare’ period with extensive support. As users are now more accustomed to using SEAtS, this period closes when teaching ends on Friday 13 December. Support resources will still be available on StaffNet and SharePoint. There is also a support team you can email, they will continue to manage queries raised by staff and students. 

As we move into 2025 the project team will begin planning for future phases. You’ll find out more about this next year. 

Please let us know if you have any feedback on your experiences using SEAtS, via our feedback form.