Course Cancellation Process.

Course schedules are developed according to the process and timeline outlined in Section VI.1 (Process for Assigning Teaching). The course schedule includes course meeting days and times, seat reservations, enrollment caps and any special AV requests that are needed for courses.

Registration generally opens the first week of April for fall courses, the third week of October for spring courses, and late February for summer courses. Most students register for courses as soon as registration opens. There are some instances where students are delayed in registering – these tend to occur mainly among doctoral students.

Monitoring Enrollment

When a course is approved by the Education Committee, the minimum number of enrollees to justify holding the course will be specified. The minimum enrollment number will typically be 10 but may be set as low as 5 for doctoral-level courses considered essential. Six weeks prior to the first class session, if a course has not met enrollment targets, the registrar will notify the following individuals that the course is at risk of being canceled: the department chair, the faculty member responsible for course scheduling (e.g., Associate Chair for Education), the program director, and the academic program administrator. Certificate leads will also be consulted, as appropriate, to discuss whether there are extenuating circumstances that would justify the course being run.

Additionally, if a course is new or is regularly well-subscribed and it is the first semester that the course has low enrollment, the instructor may submit the Managing Low Enrolled Courses Form to request that the low enrolled course be allowed to run. The request must also include a plan to increase enrollment moving forward (e.g., secure approval to modify prerequisites, adjust the frequency that the course is offered, adjust format and/or timeslot, improve course description and advertising) and must be approved by the department chair, the Registrar, and the Associate Dean for Education.

Course Cancellations

The Associate Dean for Education makes the final decision on course cancellations no later than 4 weeks prior to the semester start. When a course is cancelled, the registrar will communicate the decision to the department chair, the faculty member responsible for course scheduling (e.g., Associate Chair for Education), the program director, the academic program administrator, as well as to the affected students. The students then work with their advisor, program director, and the registrar to make alternate course selections.

Implications for Faculty Salary Coverage

Course cancellations are unexpected but sometimes necessary. If a course is offered for registration but then cancelled due to low enrollment, the associated shortfall in salary coverage will not be considered a performance issue at the time of the Annual Faculty Review on the first occurrence. However, the faculty member must submit the Managing Low Enrolled Courses to document (a) how they plan to spend that time productively (e.g., teaching, research, and/or citizenship activities); and (b) the plan to reduce the risk of low enrollment for the course moving forward (e.g., secure approval to modify prerequisites, adjust the frequency that the course is offered, adjust format and/or timeslot, improve course description and advertising). Given these expectations, a shortfall resulting from such situations is not warranted more than once for the same faculty member for the same course.