Attendance has increased at recent chapels as remaining chapel credit opportunities this semester become fewer and fewer, said Jon Wyatt, chapel accountability manager.

Significantly more students are attending the last few chapels of this semester compared to previous semesters, Wyatt said. At least 1,000 students have attended each normal chapel in recent weeks, according to chapel accountability’s records. That is compared with an average of 800 students per chapel at this time last year, Wyatt said.

Whether this increase can be attributed entirely to this year’s change in the chapel policy is uncertain. Factors such as the expanding student population and consolidation of chapels from two to one on Monday, Wednesday and Friday may also contribute to the changing numbers, he said.

For students, “physically attending” half of their 30 chapels has likely been the most significant policy, as it forces them to alter their habits, Wyatt said.

“We would have a lot of students who would just make up 30 and eight … 15 and four is a big deal,” he said, referring to the new requirement limiting the amount of make-ups a student can do to 15 chapels and four conferences.

For some students, like senior Jay Soch, the policy change hasn’t been a big deal.

“I don’t think that it’s really a problem,” he said. “There’s chapel every day, twice on Wednesdays,” he said.

In fact, Biola offered a total of 228 opportunities for chapel credit and 10 opportunities for Torrey Conference credit throughout the course of the semester. Soch said he finds the “consolidation” of Monday, Wednesday and Friday gym chapels from two sessions to one “more annoying” than any other change.

Jenna Borges, who is finishing her final semester at Biola, said she mainly fulfilled her chapel requirements through make-ups over the past few years, explaining that she “didn’t want to get up in the morning.” If she wasn’t graduating this semester and therefore exempt from chapel attendance, the change would have been drastic, Borges said. Although she said the changes have resulted in fewer options for students, Borges recognized the benefit of gathering at one location for time to “worship as a community.”

Failure to fulfill chapel requirements on time comes with consequences this semester. Wyatt distinguished between a chapel probation and chapel hold. If a student is 15 chapels short or less by the end of the semester, he or she will receive a chapel hold, meaning the inevitable trip to the library to purchase make-up CDs. A failure to make up these chapels will result in students being dropped from classes for which they registered.

Consequences for chapel probation, in which a student fails to physically attend 15 chapels, are more severe.

This means those placed on chapel probation next semester will be required to physically attend all their specified number of chapels and conferences for the current semester. If students on chapel probation fail to meet these chapel attendance requirements in spring ’09, they will be unable to register at Biola for fall ’09.

To make up chapel credits, visit media services inside the library. Students must pay a base fee of $3.50 for a chapel make-up CD, and an additional $1 fee per make-up chapel. Make-up CDs for Torrey Conference cost $3.50, plus $1 per make-up session.

All chapel make-ups must be turned in to chapel accountability (located inside student services) by Jan. 6 at 4 p.m. This semester’s final chapel opportunity in the gym is tomorrow.