CAS/GRS Class Scheduling, Teaching Assignments, and Supplemental Budget Requests

Departments should use the Academic Planning database (APD) to submit initial scheduling, faculty load, and teaching fellows information.

Note that your department will subsequently need to input the actual schedule information into UIS; the APD does not feed directly into that system!

In addition to data submission via the APD, departments should also submit Core/Writing Program/Kilachand Honors College Assignment Forms, which provide details of faculty assignments in those programs. This information should be sent as a component of the Annual Academic Planning Exercise each year. The appropriate form is available here; instructions on how to submit them are found here.

Scheduling information in the Academic Planning database for each semester should show all of the following components:

• Course numbers, section numbers (A1, B1, etc.), and short titles, in numerical order, beginning with 100-level courses;

• Realistic enrollment projections and actual enrollments from the most recent offering of each course in the corresponding (Fall or Spring) semester. CAS and GRS courses are generally expected to enroll a minimum of 10 students, where each graduate student counts as two enrollments (full guidelines on low enrollment classes are available here). Departments should anticipate queries about any course for which the projected enrollment limit is significantly higher than recent actual enrollments: Unrealistically high projections can make it impossible to identify a suitable classroom for offering the course at the department’s preferred time;

• Proposed days and times of meetings, and names of instructors or, for any unstaffed courses, staffing plan and anticipated cost;

• Meets with and/or piggyback courses (the projected enrollment figure should reflect the total anticipated enrollment);

• Number of TFs assigned (from your base allocation) to each course.

To minimize conflicts for students and to maximize the availability of classrooms, classes must be scheduled throughout the day, beginning at 8 a.m. and ending by 6:15 p.m. (or later, if you have courses where evening offerings make sense).

Scheduling of all courses should comply with the new University policy on Course Scheduling for the Charles River Campus.  Generally speaking, and with the exception of approved once-a-week seminars, courses should be confined to 50-minute meetings (Type A or E blocks) on Monday/Wednesday/Friday (MWF), beginning at 8 a.m., 9:05 a.m., 10:10 a.m., 11:15 a.m., 12:20 a.m., 1:25 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:35 p.m., or 4:40 p.m., and 75-minute meetings (Type C blocks) on Tuesday/Thursday (TR), beginning at 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 3:30 p.m., or 5:00 p.m.

To maximize scheduling options for students and to increase room availability, courses must be spread across the day and the week.  No more than 50% of your department’s courses may be scheduled on a Tuesday/Thursday meeting pattern, and no more than 60% of your department’s courses may be scheduled to meet between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Once-a-week multi-hour seminars (Type B blocks) should be scheduled with a view to making full use of departmental seminar (proprietary) rooms.  While Registrar-controlled rooms may be available, space is more limited.

There will be a Pass Time of 15 minutes between classes, and all actual class times (e.g., 8 a.m. – 8:50 a.m., 9:05 a.m. – 9:55 a.m., etc.) will appear in the published University Schedule on the Link.

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 Registrar if the utilization rate is not met.

All in-person classes must utilize the standard meeting patterns expressed in the University policy.  Exceptions require approval of the Assistant Dean for Curriculum & Enrollment Services as well as the Office of the University Registrar and the Office of the Provost.  Approved non-standard courses will be assigned to classroom on a space-available basis.  Non-standard meeting times are discouraged because they overlap with one or more of the standard meeting patterns and create time conflicts for students.

For all courses to be cross-listed between departments/programs and all piggyback courses (for instance, combined 400/600 level), double-check that all components are scheduled for the same days and times, and indicate mutually agreed upon total enrollment limits, as well as the limit for each component.

Where courses have enrollment limits of 50 or higher, please do not change times except to remove known conflicts for students, to swap or substitute like-sized courses within your department, or to take advantage of times when both classrooms and students are likely to be available. As noted in the CAS faculty expectations document, “Faculty members do not have a right to teach on only a limited number of days per week or at only certain hours of the day. The design of the teaching schedule should first and foremost serve the needs of the curriculum and the students, as well as create a fair distribution and rotation of ‘preferred’ teaching schedules among faculty.”

Classrooms are typically less utilized outside of prime-time hours (i.e., MWF 10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.).  Net increases in offerings via additional courses or enrollment increases should be scheduled outside of prime-time hours.  If your department increases offerings in prime time hours, you may have to make subsequent adjustments in enrollment limits.  Such classes may also be scheduled in noncentral locations or may be impossible to schedule.

Any courses, of any enrollment level, that serve specific constituencies other than your own majors should be moved to new days/times with due caution and only after consultation with the affected departments/programs/schools or colleges.

For professorial faculty, Wednesdays from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. should be kept clear of teaching commitments for Faculty and other College meetings.

Use the “notes” section of the APD to indicate room numbers for all seminars and other courses that can be accommodated in departmental rooms. Any special classroom needs (e.g., audio/visual, handicap access) should be specified, course-by-course, in the notes fields.

The Academic Planning database also accounts for faculty teaching assignments, which should be complete and consistent with College policy on teaching and research workload.

Please account fully for the teaching responsibilities of all members of your department faculty, including (with explicit annotation) those:

• who expect to use grant funds to buy out of some teaching or who plan to be on leave/sabbatical for either or both semesters (file LOA/SAB paperwork at the first opportunity prior to the December CAS Faculty Actions deadline);

• who will teach some or all of their courses in other departments/programs (specific courses/days/times should be coordinated between units prior to submission);

• for whom a reduced load has been approved by virtue of an administrative assignment, part-time status, or other arrangement;

• potential new faculty members for whom you have authorization to search this year, recognizing that teaching assignments may be tentative;

All faculty with a net teaching load of 1-1 or greater are normally expected to teach in both semesters of the academic year. Requests for exceptions should be made to the department’s divisional associate dean of the faculty.

Justification will be required for any individual faculty assignment that serves markedly fewer students than the department average.

When proposing to replace faculty on leave, focus on the immediate needs of your teaching program: the costs of low-impact one-off hiring often outweigh the benefits. It is usual for replacements to be limited to half or fewer of the courses that might have been taught by those faculty members on leave.

Teaching Fellow assignments, based on your current base allocation, should be listed in the Academic Planning Database. Any requests for Teaching Fellows in excess of your base allocation should be addressed directly by email to both Associate Dean Malika Jeffries-El (GRS, malikaj@bu.edu) and Associate Dean Joseph Bizup (CAS, jbizup@bu.edu).

Following an assessment of your instructional and other budget needs for the fiscal year (July 1 through June 30), please submit your request for supplemental one-time or continuing funding using the Budget Request form available here.

Section I: Categorize your requests by using one of the following codes (note that these codes may have changed*):

I: Instructional Equipment and Supplies

C: Computer and Technology Needs

O: Miscellaneous Operating Needs)

R: Research Related Needs

F: Facilities/Renovations

*Any proposals relating to staffing needs should be directed to Karen Ventresca kventres@bu.edu in the CAS Business Office and not included on this form.

Please list requests in order of priority and provide specific, detailed information about each request, either in the “Description” section or attached as backup.

Section II: This section of the Budget Request Form is REQUIRED. You should enumerate your full anticipated need for part-time Lecturers in the upcoming academic year by course, semester, reason for need (using the codes on the form), and cost. If your department or program does not have part-time Lecturer needs, please indicate this with “None.”