The Scheduling of Courses

By faculty vote on April 23, 1968 (amended on December 15, 1987; May 3, 2011; November 18, 2014), courses may be scheduled according to the following pattern:

1. Monday-Wednesday-Friday: Fifty-minute classes may be scheduled on the hour: 9:00, 10:00,
11:00, 12:00, 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00. A 9:00 class may start anytime between 8:30 and 9:00. Eighty-minute classes may be scheduled at 8:30,12:30, and 2:00 on Monday-Wednesday, Wednesday-Friday, and Monday-Friday. A 2:00 class may start anytime between 2:00 and 3:00 (amended by the faculty, November 18, 2014).

Longer classes of up to 110 minutes may be scheduled at 8:00 or at 2:00 or 2:30. Classes of two hours may be scheduled at 2:00 or 2:30. Laboratories, studios, and class meetings of longer than two hours may be scheduled at 2:00. On Fridays, any class longer than eighty minutes may begin as early as noon (amended by the faculty, May 3, 2011).

2. Tuesday-Thursday: Fifty-minute classes may be scheduled as follows: 9:00, 10:00, 11:30, 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30. The following alternative start times are acceptable: a 9:00 course may start at any time between 8:30 and 9:00; an 11:30 course may start between 11:30 and 12:00; and a 1:30 course may start between 1:00 and 1:30. Eighty-minute classes may be scheduled as follows: 8:30, 10:00, 11:30, 1:00, 2:30.  

Classes and laboratories of more than eighty minutes may be scheduled as follows: starting at 8:00 or later, and finishing by 11:20. Two-hour meetings may start at 2:30. Meetings longer than two hours may start at 1:00 or 2:30 (amended by the faculty, May 3, 2011).

3.  Classes may be scheduled at times other than those provided above by permission of the dean of the faculty. The dean should consider whether the course time creates new scheduling conflicts for students and whether alternatives to that course are available. (Classes that meet at least two times a week create new conflicts if the requested meeting times are split across distinct time slots, for example a class that meets Monday and Thursday morning or a class that splits between standard and nonstandard times.) Requests that create significant scheduling problems, and for which no alternative sections exist, should be turned down. As much as possible, classes should avoid unnecessary conflicts with courses in regular blocks. Classes scheduled to start after 4:30 should, in general, be second (or higher) sections of multi-section courses, so that students have alternatives within the standard schedule (amended by the Faculty, May 3, 2011).

4.  If the registrar discovers that there are too many classes and not enough classrooms for a given time slot, he or she should consider the best way to match room capacities, configurations (lecture versus seminar), and technologies to class requirements. Priority may be given to classes scheduled within the standard schedule over classes scheduled at nonstandard times. If necessary, the registrar may contact departments to suggest alternative times, and/or alternative rooms, for individual courses. The registrar should report to the faculty annually about course scheduling, assessing the college’s efforts to balance its schedule and providing information about peak and non-peak times (voted by the faculty, May 3, 2011).

5.  Departments have the authority to schedule classes into any regular slots, subject to the availability of classrooms. They should strive to use the possible course times as fully as possible. In general, they should avoid reusing slots until they have used all the available slots for classes of that particular length. When possible, they should schedule large-enrollment courses (more than eighty students) at non-peak times. Departments that use fourth hours should avoid scheduling them at peak times. Classes that meet five days a week should avoid using two blocks of peak times. Instructors should give advance notice when a course has required events and meetings outside scheduled times, such as evening exams, film screenings, and field trips. If possible, notice should appear in the course description (e.g., “this course requires occasional attendance on Wednesday evenings.”), but in any event should be announced on the first day of class (voted by the faculty, May 3, 2011)