Approved Times for Classes Policy

Custodian of Policy: Provost & Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs

Effective Date: Jan 1, 2020 (for Fall 2020 classes)

Last Review: Spring 2022

Next Review: Spring 2029

Policy

Options for 3-credit classes that meet 150 minutes per week that are not labs/studios/practica:

Options for classes that meet less than 150 minutes per week that are not labs/studios/practica (exs: 1-credit classes, 2-credit classes, classes that are partially online, etc.):

• Choose a class time starting on the hour or half-hour that overlaps at most one of the options a)-u) above. [Examples: 10:00-10:50 Mon/Wed, or 12:30-1:20 Tue/Thu]

Options for classes that meet more than 150 minutes per week that are not labs/studios/practica (exs: 4-credit classes, half-semester 3-credit classes, etc.):

• Choose a class time starting on the hour or half-hour that overlaps at most two of the options a)-u) above. [Examples: 9:00-9:50 Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri, or 12:00-2:45 Tue/Thu]

Options for labs/studios/practica that meet at most 2 hour 50 minutes at a time:

• Choose a class time starting on the hour or half-hour that overlaps at most two of the options a)-u) above. [Examples: 9:00-10:50 Mon, or 11:30-1:20 Tue, or 1:30-4:20 Mon]
• If there are multiple labs/studios/practica per week, each of which meets for at most 2 hours 50 minutes, schedule the days to be Mon/Wed, Mon/Fri, Wed/Fri, or Tue/Thu.

Classes meeting for more than 3 hours at a time shall be scheduled to minimize class conflicts for the enrolled students and efficiently use classroom space.

Scheduling Restrictions:

1. Departments are responsible for scheduling classes in a way that efficiently uses assigned classroom space.
2. Departments are responsible for scheduling classes in a way that uses student time wisely and efficiently, as well.
3. Departments scheduling half-semester classes are expected to balance first and second half classes in order to use both the semester schedule and the classroom space in an efficient manner. (Ex: If there is a Tue/Thu 9:00-11:45 class meeting in a specific room in the first half of the semester, there will be another Tue/Thu 9:00-11:45 class meeting in that same room in the second half of the semester.)
4. Departments must use a proportion of classes meeting on MW(F) and a proportion of classes meeting TH.
5. Departments should offer Liberal Arts and Sciences Curriculum (LASC) courses at a variety of times, including in the evening. Evening classes are considered to begin at 4:30.
6. Liberal Arts and Sciences Curriculum (LASC) courses are expected to adhere to the published schedule; exceptions should be based on pedagogy.
7. While no mandated open time is included in the schedule, Friday afternoons (from 2:30 to 5:00) will generally be available for faculty and student meetings and for university-wide colloquia.
8. Academic Deans are responsible for monitoring adherence to these criteria. Requests for exceptions to the schedule will be addressed at the departmental level and forwarded with the department chair’s signature to the appropriate dean for final approval.

Rationale

Updated to simplify options for classes that do not meet for a typical 150 minutes per week.