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Effective Date: September 6, 2016 Revised: January 19, 2017
Policy
Academics

Course Scheduling – Charles River Campus Policy

Responsible Office Office of the University Provost

1. Defined Terms:

Daytime. 8 AM-6 PM, Monday-Friday.

General- Purpose Classroom. The Postsecondary Education Facilities Inventory and Classification Manual of the National Center for Education Statistics description: Includes rooms or spaces generally used for scheduled instruction that require no special, restrictive equipment or configuration. These spaces may be called lecture rooms, lecture-demonstration rooms, seminar rooms, and general-purpose classrooms. A classroom may be equipped with tablet armchairs (fixed to the floor, joined in groups, or flexible in arrangement), tables and chairs (as in a seminar room), or similar types of seating. These spaces may contain multimedia or telecommunications equipment. A classroom may be furnished with special equipment (e.g., globes, pianos, maps, computers, network connections) appropriate to a specific area of study, if this equipment does not render the space unsuitable for use by classes in other areas of study.

Pass Time. The time between classes.

Prime Time. Includes all instructional minutes scheduled between 10:00 AM and 2:30 PM, Monday through Friday.

Proprietary classroom. A classroom that is controlled by a school or college or an academic department, rather than by the Office of the University Registrar.


2. University Policy:

This policy governs the scheduling of classes in the fall and spring semesters on the Charles River Campus. It applies to all undergraduate and graduate level course offerings.

  • There will be a Pass Time of fifteen minutes between classes, and the actual class times (e.g., 8:00 AM – 8:50 AM, 9:05 AM – 9:55 AM, etc.) will appear in the Schedule of Classes.
  • All in-person classes must utilize the standard meeting pattern (Appendix A). Exceptions require the approval of the Dean and the Office of the Provost. Approved non-standard courses will be assigned to classrooms on a space-available basis. Non-standard meeting times are discouraged as they tend to overlap with one or more of the standard meeting patterns and create time conflicts for students.
  • Schools and colleges must spread their courses across the day and the week. No more than 50% of a school/college’s courses may be scheduled on a Tuesday/Thursday schedule. No more than 60% of a school/college’s courses may be scheduled to meet between the hours of 10:00 AM and 2:30 PM. The Office of the University Registrar may use adherence to this provision as a factor in determining room allocation when the number of room requests for a particular day and time exceeds the number of available rooms.
  • Proprietary rooms categorized as General-Purpose Classrooms will have a target daytime utilization rate of 50% for classes. These rooms will be assigned first to classes offered by the controlling academic unit and then to classes assigned by the Office of the University Registrar if the utilization target is not met.

In responding to requests for course scheduling, the Office of the University Registrar recognizes the academic value of proximity to departmental and faculty offices and other relevant facilities.


3. Effective Date:

Spring 2017 class schedule.

4. Appendix A: Standard Meeting Plan


1. List of Class Times
2. Weekly Schedule