UCF Financial Aid Requirement

UCF must comply with the Federal Student Financial Aid regulation that states that in order to receive federal aid, students must be actively academically engaged (according to a federal definition) in each course in which they are enrolled.

Timeline for Verifying Academic Engagement

For the first disbursement of financial aid, we are required to gather this information no later than Friday of the first week of each new semester. Without verification of this engagement, students will not receive their aid. When creating the Financial Aid assignment in Webcourses@UCF, please use the following dates.

YearSemesterDurationAvailable FromDue DateAvailable Until
2024Winter Intersession4 WeeksMonday, December 16, 2024Friday, December 20, 2024Friday, January 3, 2025
2025Spring 116 WeeksMonday, January 6, 2025Friday, January 10, 2025Monday, April 21, 2025
2025Spring F8 WeeksMonday, January 6, 2025Friday, January 10, 2025Saturday, March 1, 2025
2025Spring G8 WeeksMonday, March 3, 2025Friday, March 7, 2025Tuesday, April 29, 2025
2025May Intersession4 WeeksMonday, May 5, 2025Friday, May 9, 2025Friday, May 30, 2025
2025Summer A6 WeeksMonday, May 12, 2025Friday, May 16, 2025Saturday, June 21, 2025
2025Summer B6 WeeksMonday, June 23, 2025Friday, June 27, 2025Friday, August 1, 2025
2025Summer C12 WeeksMonday, May 12, 2025Friday, May 16, 2025Friday, August 1, 2025
2025Summer D8 WeeksMonday, May 12, 2025Friday, May 16, 2025Saturday, July 19, 2025
2025Fall 116 WeeksMonday, August 18, 2025Friday, August 22, 2025Tuesday, November 25, 2025
2025Fall F8 WeeksMonday, August 18, 2025Friday, August 22, 2025Saturday, October 11, 2025
2025Fall G8 WeeksMonday, October 13, 2025Friday, October 17, 2025Saturday, December 6, 2025
2025Winter Intersession4 WeeksMonday, December 15, 2025Friday, December 19, 2025Friday, January 2, 2026

Do Not Delete the Academic Engagement Assignment

CDL recommends any assignment you use to verify academic engagement be in your course and available to students for the entire semester. Deleting an Assignment that could be a student’s only means of financial aid verification could cause the student’s award package to be reduced. These settings best allow students to qualify for financial aid (especially those who add or drop late or withdrawal)

Student activity in Webcourses@UCF (Canvas) will be used to determine which students have met the federal standard, and that information will be sent to the Office of Student Financial assistance for processing.

Effective Engagement Strategies

Did you know that Webcourses@UCF can be used as a powerful online tool to engage your students academically? This can be done within all course modalities here at UCF. Watch the video below to meet three UCF faculty and see how they engage students through Webcourses@UCF.

Additional CDL Resources:

What Do I Do?

The following process is recommended to all UCF instructors/faculty for satisfying this requirement:

  1. Add a statement to your syllabus explaining this policy. For example:

    All instructors/faculty are required to document students’ academic activity at the beginning of each course. In order to document that you began this course, please complete the following academic activity by the end of the first week of classes or as soon as possible after adding the course. Failure to do so may result in a delay in the disbursement of your financial aid.


    (Then insert information about the activity students must complete. This could include any of the activities listed in Step 3 below.)


    Also consider sending a Student Start-of-Term Message to notify students how to access Webcourses@UCF. This would be especially helpful for new students.


  2. Access your Webcourses@UCF (Canvas) course following the directions below. The Center for Distributed Learning (CDL) will create “shells” for all courses ten (10) days before the semester starts. If you have already created courses through the Faculty Webcourse Manager, your course(s) will remain unaffected.
    • Go to the myUCF portal (https://my.ucf.edu) and click the Webcourses@UCF button in the left side of the screen.
    • Log in with your NID and NID password. Access each course by selecting it in the “Courses” dropdown menu at the top of the page. View the Webcourses@UCF Login demo for more information.
  3. Create at least one assignment in Webcourses@UCF (Canvas) that students must complete during the first week of class or as soon as possible after they add the course. This assignment should be available to students on the first day of classes, be due after the first week of classes, but be available to students until the last day of the term. Students can apply for financial aid at any point in the term. Having this assignment available to students the length of the term facilitates late financial aid applications.

    Do Not Remove the Assignment from the Grade Book


    The assignment should not be removed from the grade book at ay time. This will ensure that students whose aid is delayed are able to complete the assignment and receive late disbursement without causing extra work for the faculty member.




    Approved Assignments for Academic Engagement


    Review the Approved Assignments for Academic Engagement page for a comprehensive list of assignments that can be used to satisfy Academic Engagement within your course. 



  4. Publish your course so that students can access it.

If you follow this process, no additional action will be required on your part to verify student engagement for financial aid reporting.

Please Note: You can always review the Academic Engagement for Financial Aid FAQ page for a list frequently asked questions in regards to setting up the financial aid requirement in your Webcourses@UCF course shell.

Tip: If this is your first experience using Webcourses@UCF, please visit the Webcourses@UCF Faculty Tour for a guided overview. This brief demonstration provides an introduction to UCF’s learning management system.

You may also want to consider enrolling into Essentials of Webcourses@UCF (Essentials). This self-paced, just-in-time online training is available to anyone who wishes to learn about the tools and functionality of the university’s learning management system.

Other Important Information

Independent Study, Thesis, Dissertation, Undergraduate Research

For very small courses, like Independent Study or Dissertation, faculty should consider cross listing those courses to consolidate record keeping. Directions for combining courses can be found on the Webcourses@UCF Semester Checklist. You may use the Attendance/Roll Call tool noting student attendance when the student has made contact with the instructor (face-to-face, email, or phone).

Do Not Weight the Attendance/Roll Call Assignment

Note: The assignment that is automatically created the first time an instructor uses the Attendance/Roll Call tool must have a point value of one or more and cannot be placed in an assignment group weighted at zero percent. By default, the assignment is worth one hundred points. Additionally, the assignment must be counted towards the final grade.

Do Not Check the “Do not count this assignment towards the final grade” Box

Note: The assignment that is automatically created the first time an instructor uses the Attendance/Roll Call tool must have a point value of one or more and cannot be placed in an assignment group weighted at zero percent. By default, the assignment is worth one hundred points. Additionally, the assignment must be counted towards the final grade.

Face-to-face Course (P modality)

Faculty members in face-to-face (P) classes also have the option of taking attendance by more traditional means (e.g., roll call, sign-in sheet) and logging that information in Webcourses@UCF until the due date listed above using the new Attendance/Roll/ Call tool.

Do Not Weight the Attendance/Roll Call Assignment

Note: The assignment that is automatically created the first time an instructor uses the Attendance/Roll Call tool must have a point value of one or more and cannot be placed in an assignment group weighted at zero percent. By default, the assignment is worth one hundred points.

Please visit the Semester Start-up Guide for directions on how to:

  • enable a course shell that was not automatically created
  • adjust the date when students can access your online course shell
  • enable Panopto for approved video-mode courses

Which Academic Activity Should I Use in my Course?

 
P
M
W
V
RS
Graded Quiz
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Practice Quiz
No
No
No
No
No
Graded Survey
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Ungraded Survey
No
No
No
No
No
Graded Discussion
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Ungraded Discussion
No
No
No
No
No
Graded Assignment
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Information Literacy module
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Experiential Learning module
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Obojobo Assignment
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Materia Assignment
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
CS&T Test Scoring service
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
*Attendance/Roll Call Tool
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes

Attendance/Roll Call Tool

Use of the Attendance/Roll Call Tool is recommended for face-to-face courses. The tool can also be used with Mixed Mode (M) and Video Streaming/Reduced Seat Time (RV) courses, if a face-to-face lecture is scheduled before the academic engagement activity due date listed at the beginning of this page. It is not acceptable to use the Attendance/Roll Call tool in World Wide Web (W) and Video Streaming (V) courses.

Support Services

The following services/resources are available to assist you and your students: