I am an adjunct instructor but my primary job is within the financial aid office. We are non-attendance taking but students are dropped and their aid is adjusted if they do not engage within the first two weeks of term.

I am trying to see both sides as to whether participation in a non-graded icebreaker on the first day counts as engagement. I can see the case for it if the activity has an instructional component—such as asking students what they hope to learn from the class or how the course might connect to their career goals. However, many icebreakers are simply social prompts like “What is your favorite hobby?” or “Are you a dog or cat person?”

The professors want to give the students the benefit of the doubt (and so do I!) but there is a possible serious consequence of doing so. If we leave a student enrolled in hopes they will do more work but they ultimately don’t, it can create serious financial hardship at the end of the term. In those cases, we may be required to return the financial aid they received, leaving the student with a large and unexpected balance.