Course Scheduling for the Charles River Campus

Effective September 1, 2016, for the Spring 2017 Class Schedule

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

• There will be a Pass Time of 15 minutes between classes, and the actual class times (e.g., 8–8:50 am, 9:05–9:55 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 nonstandard courses will be assigned to classrooms on a space-available basis. Nonstandard 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 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.