Faculty Course Scheduling Policy

Quick Links

Preamble

An effective class schedule is one that facilitates learning, maximizes access for students within the constraints of classroom space and the number of instructional hours available, and accommodates a range of pedagogies.

Goals

In developing the class schedule for students and instructors, the following goals must be balanced:

Resources and facilities

Classes should be scheduled to make the best possible use of teaching resources and classroom facilities.

Student Progress

Students should be able to take classes needed to graduate in their program in a timely manner.

Student Choice

Classes should be scheduled to allow students as much choice as possible and to avoid as many class conflicts as possible.

Instructor Schedules

Instructors should be able to obtain schedules that permit them to integrate their professional duties of teaching, research and service in a reasonable way.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

In scheduling classes, the College must, if requested to do so, make accommodations in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Meeting Demand

Demand for classes should be measured, and classes and class sections should be scheduled, to reflect that demand.

Policy

Annually (usually December), Department Chairs provide the Registrar’s Office with the upcoming academic year schedule reflecting all courses offered, including all course dates and times, course numbers, titles, instructor assignments, curricular identifiers (course types), load and any other information requested. This schedule must include all offering and descriptive information available for a course and must be in the format requested by the Registrar’s Office.

Classes offered by a department must be uniformly distributed over all of the available day-time class periods. For a large department, this means scheduling a section in all of the time slots and repeating the process as many times as necessary. For example, if your department offers 20 sections in a term, no time slot should be used more than twice. Grouping classes in a limited number of time slots is not permitted.

To ensure that each class meets pre-existing contact hour requirements, each section must adhere to the class schedule time block guidelines. Scheduling outside of the guidelines is allowed only under extenuating circumstances and must be in compliance with NYSED regulations for contact hours, only then can they be considered/approved by the Dean of Academic Affairs. All submitted classes will be reviewed by the Registrar’s Office to ensure scheduled contact hours are in compliance with NYSED regulations. If contact hour requirements are not met, the Registrar’s Office will contact the Department Chair to alter the schedule and ensure the class is offered in a manner that ensures compliance.

No classes, studios or laboratories may be scheduled during common hours. These times have been reserved for meetings or other events.

The Registrar’s Office will factor in the pedagogical and technological needs and expected enrollment of classes to assign all classrooms. Classrooms requests submitted with course schedules will be taken into consideration, but are considered requests only and are not guaranteed – courses are scheduled based on the needs of the overall academic program, and not the individual instructor. Once these classrooms are assigned, no class will be moved to another classroom except for the following conditions:
The enrollment exceeds the classroom capacity
ADA issues of faculty or students
Demonstrated Distance Learning need for a class

Class Period Allowances & Schedule Blocks

Scheduling policy explicitly dictates when and how courses are to be scheduled based on number of credits.

Course Scheduling Class Period Allowances

Class Period Allowances

Fall/Spring Schedule Block

Fall/Spring Terms

January Schedule Block

January Term

Course Schedule Template

Department Chairs are required to use the Course Schedule Template for annual schedule submissions. Any changes to the annual submission must be requested using the form at the bottom of this page.

Access the Course Schedule Template from the Department Chairs Shared Drive. Contact the Registrar’s Office if you need help accessing this drive.

Schedule Verification

Course schedules are verified by Department Chairs twice a year after the initial academic year submission provided to the Registrar’s Office in December, at least five weeks prior to the start of each registration period, to ensure the schedule posted online is accurate. During verification, Department Chairs may request course changes like day/time and room. Courses may also be added or removed during verification.

Following verification, requests for classroom changes must occur at least 20 business days prior to the start of registration or 5 days prior to the start of classes to allow ample time to accommodate the request and to notify students of the change. Changes must be requested by the Department Chair to the Registrar’s Office and be submitted through the online change request form:

Schedule Change Request Form

Important Considerations

Specialized Classroom Space

Classroom space that is specialized in nature (e.g., language labs, science or computer labs, etc.) is normally reserved for use by specific academic departments using the space for its instructional activities. Such space is not typically available for use by other academic units. Unless otherwise noted, regular lecture classrooms cannot be “reserved” by an academic department.

Non-Classroom Spaces

Academic departments are not permitted to schedule classes into non-classroom spaces on campus (conference rooms, lounges, special meeting spaces, etc.).

Right of Refusal

Schedules as submitted to the Registrar’s Office by departments will not automatically be honored. The Registrar’s Office reserves the right to accept or reject schedules based on adherence to the aforementioned scheduling policy. Submissions that do not adhere to the requested schedule submission format are also subject to rejection.

Official Schedule

Classes and final examinations are to be held at the times and places officially scheduled by the Registrar’s Office.

Topics Courses

Requests to schedule topics courses (numbers 150-159, 250-259, 350-359 and 450-459) cannot be added to the course schedule without a course description. Topics courses without an accompanying description will not be listed.
Topics courses cannot be programmed as major or minor requirements but can be substituted by the department chair using a substitution form.

Instructor Changes

Instructor changes must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office using the online change request form. This includes adding a new instructor to a course previously listed as TBA.

Schedule Change Requests

This form must be used to request any changes to courses outside of regularly scheduled submission and verification periods. Note that all changes must be received at least 5 business days prior to the start of each registration period, or, following the close of a registration period, 5 days prior to the start of the term in which the course being changed is offered. Requests received within the 5 day window will not be honored. Requests submitted via email will not be honored. All requests must come from the Chair of the Department in which the course is offered.

Schedule Change Request Form

Resolution of Issues Related to the Policy

Any conflicts not resolved using the above guidelines will be settled by the Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs in consultation with the Registrar’s Office.

Office of the Registrar

Contact the Registrar’s Office if you need help.

Office of the Registrar