Course Scheduling

Purpose

To define standard teaching times and thereby efficiently use instructional spaces and maximize scheduling options for students.

Scope

All academic units.

Authority

Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost

Policy

Units should follow the campus standard teaching schedule:

  • Classes taught on Monday/Wednesday/Friday should be taught for 50 minutes and begin on the hour (i.e., 8 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m. …)
  • Classes taught on Tuesday/Thursday should be taught for 75 or 80 minutes beginning at 8 a.m. (i.e., 8 a.m.-9:20 a.m., 9:30 a.m.-10:50 a.m., 11 a.m.-12:20 p.m., 12:30 p.m.-1:50 p.m., 2 p.m.-3:20 p.m., 3:30 p.m.-4:50 p.m.)

Classes taught within the campus standard teaching schedule as noted above, and that adhere to campus deadlines for requests, have priority and are scheduled first in General Assignment Classrooms.

Classes not meeting the campus standard teaching schedule should be taught outside of Peak Hours and in Departmental Spaces when possible.

Definitions

General Assignment Classrooms
A pool of classrooms centrally scheduled by the Office of the Registrar and maintained by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost.
Allocated Spaces
General Assignment Classrooms dedicated to specific campus units for a priority scheduling period as determined each term by the Office of the Registrar.
Departmental Spaces
Classrooms, labs, conference rooms, offices, etc. for which a specific department is responsible for funding, maintaining, and scheduling.
Peak Hours
Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Processes/Procedures/Guidelines

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost is responsible for setting policies and procedures for management of all campus classrooms and learning spaces. It adheres to the following guiding principles in managing classroom space inventories and class schedules:

  • Scheduling should support
    • the pedagogical requirements of teaching and learning,
    • efficient use of campus resources, and
    • student access to and choice among courses.
  • Classroom inventories should include diverse, creative, and innovative learning environments that are intentionally created for better learning.
  • Scheduling policies should undergo periodic assessment and evaluation by the Illinois Space Advisory Committee. Policies should be adaptable and flexible.
  • Practices should always reflect evolving student and instructor responsibilities, educational practices, technologies, and interfaces with other support services (i.e., transportation and maintenance).

The Office of the Registrar allocates General Assignment Classrooms based on historical enrollments or new program initiatives with expected enrollment increases and may change allocated space from semester to semester. The Office of the Registrar may review the distribution of courses and seek alternative course times to ensure efficient classroom utilization.

Units are expected to use all Allocated Spaces and Departmental Spaces as fully as possible prior to requesting additional General Assignment Classrooms.

Exceptions

It is recognized that there may be academic and pedagogical reasons for scheduling classes at non-standard hours and/or days. Units should continually review these instances to assure a need for the use of non-standard schedules.

Contact

Questions about these principles and policies may be referred to the Office of the Registrar, Catalog Management and Section Scheduling unit
at cmss-sections@illinois.edu or (217) 333-1230.