by Rania A. Baashirah
ABSTRACT
Higher education institutions increasingly rely on digital technologies to enhance operational efficiency, student engagement, and academic performance. However, most existing smart classroom and attendance systems remain administratively oriented, focusing on automation rather than embedding governance, policy enforcement, and performance management within academic workflows. This paper addresses this gap by proposing a *policy-driven smart classroom framework* that reconceptualizes attendance as a core component of sustainable academic governance and performance management in higher education. The proposed framework integrates attendance, participation, and reporting into a structured classroom lifecycle consisting of five stages: before class, start of class, during class, after class, and reporting. Unlike conventional instructor-managed attendance practices, the framework emphasizes *system-controlled, student-initiated processes*, ensuring consistency, transparency, and accountability across courses and instructors. Attendance is not treated as an isolated administrative record but is dynamically linked to learning activities, instructional delivery, and real-time policy enforcement. By embedding attendance within classroom activities and learning assessments, the framework generates reliable and structured data that supports academic decision-making at both course and program levels. These data enable monitoring of key performance indicators, including student engagement, learning validation, instructional practices, and faculty workload. The framework also reduces manual administrative burdens on instructors, allowing greater focus on teaching quality and instructional development. The study adopts a conceptual and analytical approach, drawing on prior research in smart attendance systems, academic governance, and performance management. While the paper does not empirically evaluate the framework, it establishes a theoretical foundation for future implementation and assessment across diverse institutional contexts. The proposed framework contributes to the literature by advancing attendance systems from operational tools to governance-driven mechanisms that support sustainable academic quality assurance, transparency, and performance management in higher education.
