Course Scheduling

Course Scheduling Procedures printable PDF

Our goal in scheduling is to submit a timely and accurate statement of the courses to be offered during an up-coming semester. This includes providing a mix of lower-division, upper-division, and graduate courses, as well as a mix of online and face-to-face courses, that will enable students to fulfill both general education and major requirements and thereby graduate in a timely manner.

Procedures:

  1. Poll faculty members in September regarding the courses they would like to teach the following year (including online and Winter session courses). This will give the department one month to determine whether the proposed courses will meet the needs of students in a comprehensive fashion, fulfill the frequency of offerings specified in the catalog, and draw a sufficient number of students to justify their inclusion in the curriculum.
  2. The Registrar’s first call for Fall semester schedules typically arrives in November (and the call for Spring semester typically arrives in May). You will receive an electronic copy of the current year’s schedule and will be asked to edit it for the following year. Cross out courses that will not be taught and edit course information if necessary for courses that will be taught again. Also, fill out a Course Addition Form for each course not appearing in the current year’s schedule. (There is also a course deletion/change form on the Registrar’s website to be used for last minute changes, i.e., after the final schedules have been submitted).
  3. Remember to spread your offerings over all days and times consistent with the Registrar’s Room Scheduling Guidelines (presented below). Ignore references to scheduling classes on Saturday unless you truly wish to do so.
  4. As the first draft is being prepared, remind the department chair to consult with the Dean’s Office about any proposed courses that are not funded through the department’s state budget and which may require additional funds. Please remember to fill out the budget worksheets with this information.
  5. Second/final drafts for the Fall schedule will arrive in January. Second drafts for the Spring schedule will arrive in July. It is essential to ensure the accuracy of the course information on these schedules, including Grade Mode and Maximum Enrollments. H&S endorses the Student Option grade mode to allow student’s additional flexibility.

Additional Tips/Advice

  1. Identify large classrooms or high-tech classrooms that you can count on having each semester; this will require negotiating with the Registrar’s Room Scheduler. Be aware that there is no guarantee that a room will be reassigned from one year to the next.
  2. Keep in mind that the Registrar’s Room Scheduler does not have control over all buildings/rooms.
  3. Tuesday through Thursday is the highest demand time and, consequently, the most difficult time to find rooms.
  4. Rooms may be reassigned due to disability issues. Always double check course locations the first day of classes.
  5. It is reasonably easy to adjust instructor information for any courses on the proposed schedules via email at Registrar_Rooms@mso.umt.edu, as long as you provide the instructor’s name, ID, the course name, number and
    CRN, and exercise patience.

The cover sheet that the Room Scheduler sends out has a caveat: “courses scheduled in buildings/room controlled by the Registrar’s Office that deviate from the attached room scheduling guidelines will be scheduled last, even if the room was assigned the previous year.” These Guidelines are presented below (in case you are inclined to deviate!)

Room Scheduling Guidelines

Classrooms scheduled by the Registrar’s Office follow a standard schedule to allow maximum enrollment and ease of scheduling for students and faculty. Courses with alternative or deviated schedules are scheduled last even if the room was assigned in previous years.

Standard Schedule for Courses:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday (MWF), Daily, or Four Days a Week:

  • 8:10-9:00, 11:10-12:00, 2:10-3:00
  • 9:10-10:00, 12:10-1:00, 3:10-4:00
  • 10:10-11:00, 1:10-2:00, 4:10-5:00

Tuesday, Thursday (TR):

  • 8:10-9:30, 11:10-12:30, 2:10-3:30
  • 9:40-11:00, 12:40-2:00, 3:40-5:00

"Evening" Classes:

  • It is recommended that evening classes (classes starting at 4:00 p.m. or later) begin at 10 minutes after the hour

Compliance to Guidelines:

  1. Course offerings should be spread throughout the day and week including some evening hours. Undergraduate courses taught in general classrooms must be scheduled evenly throughout the week so that there is a difference of no more than two classes between any two blocks. For example, before three classes can be scheduled in any time block, every other time block between 8:10 and 5:00 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday (MWF) and Tuesday, Thursday (TR) must be scheduled at least once.
  2. 3 credit classes as well as four or five credit classes which have three one-hour lectures or sections meetings must meet:
    • At least three days per week for fifty minutes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Or
    • For seventy-five minutes on Tuesday and Thursday, Or
    • In the evening (start time after 4:00 p.m.)
  3. Five credit classes must meet at least five days per week for fifty minutes each day, Monday through Friday, or must meet after 3:00 p.m.
  4. Four credit classes must meet at least four days per week for fifty minutes each day, Monday through Friday, or meet after 3:00 p.m.
  5. Two credit classes and two hour discussion or section meetings must meet on Tuesday and Thursday for at least fifty minutes each day beginning at 8:10, 10:10, 11:10, and 1:10 or must meet after 3:00 p.m.
  6. One credit classes and one hour discussion or section meetings must meet a least fifty minutes on a Tuesday or Thursday beginning at 8:10, 10:10, 11:10, 1:10 or after 3:00 p.m. or on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday after 3:00 p.m
  7. It is recommended that two hour meetings of studio/lab courses be scheduled Monday, Wednesday, Friday and three hour meetings of studio/lab courses be scheduled Tuesday, Thursday. Daytime beginning times must be 8:10, 10:10, 12:10, 2:10, or 4:10 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and 8:10, 11:10, or 12:10 on Tuesday, Thursday.

Revised 8/31/2015

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