Scheduling Guidelines

Scheduling Guidelines

Scheduling Guidelines

Departments MUST follow the schedule guidelines outlined below. These guidelines allow students to maximize their enrollment opportunities and the university to maximize classroom space utilization. If you have any specific questions or concerns, please email Academic Scheduling directly at schedreg@uccs.edu.

  • Cancel/Rebuild Situations

    Due to how data is built and stored in the CU-SIS enrollment portal, there are certain changes that can and cannot be made to course sections without having to cancel and then rebuild the section ONCE student shopping carts open for each term.

    Once students are able to add courses to their shopping carts, the following types of course section changes can be made without having to cancel and rebuild the section:

    • Instructor Name
    • Enrollment/Seating Cap
    • Classroom Location (Facility ID)
    • Custom Note Section
    • Instruction Mode (In Person to HyFlex or vice versa only) 
    • Adjusting Credit Hours (Fixed vs. variable credits)

    Below are a few examples of things that cannot be changed without canceling and rebuilding as a new section:

    • Start/End Dates
    • Session Term Types (CPT Pre-Term, CWK Weekend University, CDD Intensive, CMA Session A, CMB Session B, etc.)
    • Meeting Patterns (M, T, W, R, F, etc.)
    • Meeting Times (8am, 9:25am, etc.)
    • Section Designation (001, H01, B01, OL1, WK1, etc.)

    If any of the outlined changes above are made to a section without being properly cancelled and rebuilt, the course information that shows in the students’ portal will become disassociated from the course data in CU-SIS and reflect the outdated and incorrect schedule. 

    For example: If the course changes from in- person to online, the student will only be able to see the previous in-person version of the course, despite the change to online being processed in CU-SIS.

    Department Responsibilities
     

    In the event of a cancel/rebuild a department will need to submit 2 separate add/change forms (cancel old section/add new section) to academic scheduling.

    In an effort to streamline this process we ask that departments utilize the note section on these forms to let the scheduling team know that the section being cancelled is being replaced and that the new section is replacing the cancelled section.

    If students are already enrolled in the section being cancelled and rebuilt, then a batch enrollment into the replacement section may be necessary depending on the type of change.

    ***Scheduling changes made in CU-SIS do not trigger any type of automatic communication. It is the department's responsibility to communicate any/all changes to the currently enrolled and waitlisted students directly.***

  • Standard Time Modules

    Classes MUST adhere to the standard time modules for fall/spring and summer semesters. Courses not scheduled during appropriate time blocks will NOT be assigned a room in round 1.

    Note: time modules listed are for a 3.0 credit course, which must meet for 40 hours (2,400 minutes) of contact time.

    Courses with greater or fewer credit hours must begin at a standard start time per the campus time modules. 

  • Underutilized Days and Time Modules

    It is a campus initiative to maximize space utilization of our academic facilities across the board. Due to the growing number of program and course offerings there is a high demand for on campus space. Therefore departments will need to utilize ALL time modules when scheduling courses.

    These underutilized time module offerings include early 8am, later evening after 4:45pm, all day Friday, and Weekend University. Schedules including these types of course offering will greatly relieve the pressure on this campus' limitation on physical space and ultimately better serve the needs of students.

  • Balancing Classes

    Academic units (AU) MUST balance ALL evening courses they offer. (Balancing pertains only to general use classrooms and not departmentally controlled space.) An AU with:

    • A section from 4:45 - 7:20 pm and offering another evening section, MUST offer the second section from 7:30 – 10:05 pm. (There must be an equal number of 4:45 and 7:30 sections in the schedule.)
    • 4:45 - 6:00 pm on MW or TR must offer a matched course of about the same size on the same nights from 6:05 - 7:20 pm.
    • 7:30 - 8:45 pm course on MW or TR must offer a matched course of about the same size on the same nights from 8:50 - 10:05 pm.
    • A pair of courses, two nights per week in the early evening, e.g., a 4:45 – 6:00 pm and a 6:05 - 7:20 pm on MW, must also offer a pair of late evening courses on the same evenings from 7:30 - 8:45 pm and from 8:50 - 10:05 pm.
    • As long as space remains abundant, strict adherence to standard times, balancing, etc., will not be required for Friday evening or weekend courses.

    These guidelines will help assure that all departments that offer evening courses will share in the most desirable times (4:45 – 6:00 pm), as well as the less desirable (7:30 - 8:45 pm) and least desirable (7:30 – 10:05 pm and 8:50 – 10:05 pm) times.  Most importantly, these scheduling constraints will help assure the optimum distribution of sections to serve students. Individual sections offered outside these guidelines will NOT be assigned a room.

  • Mirroring Classes

    To the greatest extent possible, please mirror room usage for classes. For example, if a recitation section is being offered on Monday 9:25-10:40am, a mirror recitation should be offered on Wednesday 9:25-10:40am. Scheduling courses in both time modules will ensure that individual time modules are maximized and do not become orphan modules.

  • Hybrid Classes

    Similarly, to the greatest extent possible, please mirror room usage for hybrid classes that meet only several times a semester. For example, if a hybrid class meets alternating Tuesdays from 10:50am-1:30pm, a mirror hybrid class should be offered on the remaining Tuesdays from 10:50am-1:30pm. This will ensure that a room is not vacant for half of the semester. Hybrid classes that are not mirrored will not receive a room assignment until all full-semester classes have been assigned rooms.

  • Priority Room Scheduling

    Departments can only take advantage of their priority rooms on the 1st round of scheduling each term including standing reservations for the big lecture halls and auditoriums. All priority rooms not properly utilized by a department in the 1st round may be assigned to other course sections. 

    In an effort to maximize space utilization, the Office of the Registrar reserves the right to deny a request to use a general academic room (including 1st round priority rooms) if the enrollment capacity doesn't justify the room's overall capacity.

    Note= Break-out room requests will only be granted on the 2nd round of scheduling if space allows. 

    For a full list of 1st round priority room designations please see the General Academic Classroom Inventory

     

     

  • Start and End Dates for Classes

    Early starting Pre-Term courses cannot begin before the end of the prior semester and must end by the beginning of the regular session of the semester. ALL classes must end by the last day (Saturday) of the semester. Late starting courses cannot extend into the Pre-Term session of the next semester.

  • Coordinate Required Courses

    Maximize enrollment opportunities for students by coordinating the days/times of your courses with other departments offering required courses for your program. Coordination is especially important when only one section of a course is being scheduled.

  • Combined (Cross-Listed) Courses

    Combined courses must be coordinated by the sponsor and non-sponsoring departments and must appear on both schedule drafts submitted to Academic Scheduling. Department schedules requesting cross-listed courses with differing information may not be placed in a room due to submission error.