The primary goal of the Academic Scheduling Process is to maximize the probability that all students receive their choice of main campus full-term courses required for graduation on a timely basis (within the prescribed number of semesters) by providing a conflict-free resource environment (staff, space, and courses) which minimizes operating and capital costs.
- General Policy Regarding the Academic Scheduling Process.
- The policy for class scheduling is established by the Office of the Provost and implemented by the Office of The University Registrar.
- The term “department” refers to the scheduling unit.
- General objectives in building the Schedule of Classes include providing workable schedules for students by departments, ensuring access to courses by students, making efficient use of classrooms and laboratories/special laboratories, and minimizing overhead associated with Schedule of Classes administration.
- All classes are scheduled to start at the hour or half-hour.
- Scheduling Axioms.
- The length of the academic week and variations in time patterns used in constructing a schedule of classes play important roles in the effectiveness of the academic schedule.
- When courses are concentrated at one time, students have minimum course selectivity and no scheduling flexibility. Maximum staff and space resources are required.
- When courses are distributed over all time periods, students have complete course selectivity and scheduling flexibility since any combination of courses may be taken. Staff and space resource needs can be minimized.
- The probability of a student obtaining a conflict-free schedule can be greatly increased when the courses are distributed throughout the hours of the day and the days of the week.
- It is highly desirable to distribute course offerings evenly over an academic week, thus providing for the largest number of non-conflicting time patterns.
- Scheduling Strategies:
- Departments must strictly adhere to the approved standard set of time patterns. The standard meeting patterns for 3-hour daytime classes are as follows:
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday (MWF):
- 8:00 a.m. – 8:50 a.m.
- 9:00 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.
- 10:00 a.m.– 10:50 am.
- 11:00 a.m.- 11:50 a.m.
- 12:00 p.m. – 12:50 p.m.
- 1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m.
- 2:00 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.
- 3:00 p.m. – 3:50 p.m.
- 4:00 p.m. – 4:50 p.m.
- Tuesday, Thursday (TR)
- 8:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m,
- 9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
- 11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
- 12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
- 2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
- 3:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday (MWF):
- Departments must schedule all multiple lecture and laboratory/special laboratory sections so that student course enrollments will be distributed approximately equally between mornings and afternoons and between the different meeting patterns (TR vs. MWF).
- Since the goal is to provide all students with the largest number of opportunities to register for as many courses as possible, departments should make efforts to schedule courses during non-peak hours. Peak hours are between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM.
- Because the standard meeting lengths are in 50- and 75-minute time blocks, non-standard sections should be offered in multiples of these times to avoid end times that preclude students from registering for courses that may follow the non-standard section.
- General usage of classrooms will begin two weeks prior to established deadlines for the schedule. This deadline is typically identical to that of the printed schedule of classes. Departments/colleges will have the ability to schedule in rooms they manage first. After this, the Registrar’s office will utilize all available classrooms to assist other departments in need of space. All departments involved in the optimization process will be notified by the Registrar’s office.
- Departments must strictly adhere to the approved standard set of time patterns. The standard meeting patterns for 3-hour daytime classes are as follows:
Required Class Meeting Length:
| # Semester Credit Hours | Meeting Sequences | Required Length of Each Class Meeting |
|---|---|---|
| For 4 hour class | MTWR | 50 min |
| For 3 hour class | MWF | 50 min |
| For 3 hour class | MW* | 1 hour 15 min |
| For 3 hour class | M or T or W or R or F* | 2 hours 50 min |
| For 3 hour class | TR | 1 hour 15 min |
| For 2 hour class | MW or MF or TR or WF | 50 min |
| For 1 hour class | M or T or W or R or F | 50 min |
- * Courses may only be scheduled using these sequences after 3:00 pm.
- Exceptions: Labs and Clinical or Practicum Courses
- Other Exceptions include didactic courses taught in conjunction with clinical or practicum classes.
- Lectures that have recitation times may meet on the MW format. However, all attempts should be made to schedule the recitation time in the same time block on the corresponding day in the pattern. For example, HY 101 has a lecture on MW from 9-9:50 AM. Recitations should be scheduled, when possible, on F from 9-9:50 AM. When this is impossible, the recitation sections may only be scheduled at non-peak hours (before 9 AM or after 3 PM). This will lessen the impact on student’s schedules and room utilization.
- Graduate courses, taught during peak hours (9AM-3PM), are exempt from this policy provided they meet in a room with a capacity of 15 or less. Graduate courses taught at non-peak hours are exempt regardless of their room capacity.
- The scheduling policy is not in effect for summer terms.
