Hi Andy, You have hit upon a very real problem. I get frustrated with students that do not attend since they consider the first day as a free ride. I have activities and ice breakers for which the students receive points. If students miss the first class meeting they are down a number of points and the class has just started. I do this to encourage those that are there and to send a message that I see the first class as being important. After a number of classes the "word" is out that I expect all students to be there and they are. I would suggest that the university send out emails to students before the class explaining the need for them to be there. I send a personal email to each enrolled student explaining the need for them to be there as well. This seems to work pretty well for me. Gary