University of Georgia Mulls Athlete Attendance Tracking

The University of Georgia may begin testing new software that would track student-athlete attendance at classes.

SpotterEDU is software that will notify the athletic department of student-athletes’ attendance using a beacon installed in the classroom that connects to an app on the students’ phones via Bluetooth.

Spotter’s website says the technology can “pinpoint students within a classroom until they leave, providing continuous, reliable and non-invasive attendance.”

Kathleen Hurlock, a graduate instructor in the English department, told The Red & Black, that the technology is invasive.

“The non-invasive way to track student attendance is for me to track student attendance, like I already do,” Hurlock said, noting that she does not believe attendance is an objective way of measuring whether a student will do well in a class.

“It's up to me and up to the student’s expectations of how they want to do in class. It’s not just about being in class X number of days,” Hurlock said.

Hurlock would later respond via email to Cory Kopaniasz, the director of student-athlete academic counseling at the University of Georgia, that she did not consent to have the beacon technology installed in her classroom.

Hurlock has not yet received a response to email.

Claude Felton, a spokesperson for the UGA Athletic Department, said in an email to The Red & Black that the department has “only begun exploring a number of ideas and potential services but no determination has been made on whether any, or none, would be pursued.”