Attendence/Course work is usually modeled by a methodology called a "Factless Fact Table". It may be appropriate for what you are trying to do.

Here is an article/design tip by the Kimball Group on how to model this as such. While it is not EXACTLY the same veritcal industry, it is a similar concept. Read this and see if stimulates some ideas to help you connect the dots.

http://www.kimballgroup.com/1996/09/02/factless-fact-tables/

Also, it sounds to be as though there is an opportunity to create an Employee dimension with a hierarchy to enable you to roll up totals by department. Let me know if you'd like the design tips for modeling department hierarchies for employees.

Additionally, there are tools out there for creating a more robust date dimension. The Kimball Group also has an excel spreadsheet that you can load in order to do this.