This article draws attention to local and global attendance monitoring in higher education. The paper outlines benefits of attendance monitoring for both the individual learner and university, and compares traditional paper-based attendance monitoring systems with an electronic system piloted in the Business School and School of Technology at the University of Glamorgan. Typical problems associated with attendance monitoring are examined, and both attendance monitoring approaches are evaluated in terms of quantity and quality of data capture. Finally, student views on having attendance closely monitored are evaluated. This paper is of interest to anyone who uses attendance data, particularly for those who work in the field of student retention.

The popularity of engineering degrees among undergraduates is in decline. There are many barriers affecting the supply of engineering undergraduates and the School of Technology at the University of Glamorgan has identified lack of awareness of what engineering entails and lack of mathematical preparedness as two principal barriers to potential students studying engineering in higher education. To show how the School of Technology overcame these barriers, the role of the Network75 Recruitment and SupportOfficer will be explained along with the subsequent development of a remedial summer mathematics programme entitled 'Bridging Technology with Mathematics'. These two initiatives are outlined and their success evaluated in terms of increasing engineering undergraduate enrolments for the academic year 2005/06.