Scheduling Resources

Academic Services

Academic Services manages the production and publication of the Schedule of Classes, coordinates room assignments and scheduling of instructional space, and audits data quality in order to facilitate the academic record.

Academic Services will publish a timeline prior to schedule production each term. The timeline will be based on the continuing student semester enrollment cycle and will establish the scheduling dates and deadlines for that term.

Academic Services reports to the University Registrar and the Vice Provost for Enrollment Services.

Academic Departments and Colleges

Academic departments and colleges plan course offerings in preparation for schedule production. They are responsible for completing scheduling activities as established in the schedule production timeline and in compliance with course scheduling guidelines and data requirements.

Each department is responsible for designating a department scheduler to complete scheduling activities and coordinate with the college on behalf of the department. Each college is responsible for designating a college scheduler to coordinate scheduling activities across the departments and to coordinate with Academic Services on behalf of the college.

Office of the Vice Provost for Planning and Budget

The Office of the Vice Provost for Planning and Budget provides classroom utilization and course enrollment analyses to assist Associate Deans in each College in the development and refinement of the schedule of classes for each academic term.

Scheduling Work Group

This advisory group was formed in 2017 and is chaired by the Vice Provost for Planning and Budget. The group consists of department chairs, associate deans, schedulers, and facilities staff who make recommendations to improve scheduling tools and practices.

The Scheduling Toolkit is designed to gather relevant information and resources for Department Chairs to help build the Schedule of Classes. Inquiries regarding the Toolkit may be directed to the Office of the Vice Provost for Planning and Budget.

Cal State LA complies with standards for awarding credit as defined in Title 34, Code of Federal Regulations, sections 600.2 and 600.4. See the Credit Hour policy in the Procedures and Regulations chapter of the University Catalog for details.

Standard Time Modules

Course sections should be scheduled adhering to the standard time modules (i.e. “on-grid”). Refer to the Enrollment Planning Resources page for more on standard time modules.

Hybrid Courses

Hybrid courses blend face-to-face instruction with more than 25% and less than 100% online instruction and are an increasingly popular format. In order to promote the most efficient use of classrooms, the hybrid format the university endorses involves the scheduling of two hybrid course sections sharing a single meeting pattern, e.g.:

Other formats do not increase room utilization if they do not enable complementary course sections to share a single meeting pattern and same room. To share a room, courses must have similar enrollment limits and equipment requirements.

Combined Sections

Two or more courses that are taught as a single class (i.e. with the same instructor(s) and at the same day, time and location) must be scheduled as combined sections. Courses may be offered within the same subject area, but this is not required.

Combined sections require associate dean approval and must be coordinated with Academic Services during schedule production prior to optimization.

Shadow Sections

In order to allow all departments to schedule the courses our students need, departments are discouraged from overscheduling sections when demand for them is not clear. Except in a small number of cases with prior permission, departments are not allowed to schedule shadow sections that are assigned to a room but are not open for enrollment.

Off-Grid Sections

Course sections scheduled outside of a standard time module (i.e. “off-grid”) require prior approval to do so. Refer to the Enrollment Planning Resources page for more on off-grid scheduling.

Fall and Spring sections scheduled off-grid without prior approval will be excluded from optimization, suppressed from the Schedule of Classes, and closed for enrollment pending correction.

Changing Class Meetings

Class meetings should be finalized during schedule production before the Schedule of Classes is published.

Once the Schedule of Classes is published, a class meeting may only be changed to correct university error. Associate dean approval is required, and the change must be coordinated with Academic Services and is subject to room availability. If students have enrolled, enrollment will be dropped, the section will be cancelled and a new section will be scheduled with the correct class meeting. The department or college are responsible for communicating changes to the affected students.

Optimization

Academic Services coordinates room assignments during schedule production via optimization in Astra Schedule. Optimization is based on scheduling preferences, which are generally based on pedagogical needs; enrollment limit vs. room capacity and a minimum seat fill requirement of 50%. Courses scheduled to standard time modules receive priority, as do courses with instructor assignments scheduled back-to-back in 10-minute intervals.

Pedagogical needs not accommodated by scheduling preferences may warrant entry of a room assignment directly in GET. Such assignments require associate dean approval and may require approval from the Vice Provost for Planning and Budget. Entry of large lecture room assignments (i.e. TEC or TEC Enhanced rooms with capacity of 75+) in GET prior to optimization is not permitted and will be removed.

Assignment of a specific room in one term does not guarantee assignment of that room in a future term, even if the room was utilized efficiently. It should not be expected that courses would be able to use the same room or rooms from term to term on a continual basis.

All room assignments will be provided to colleges for review following optimization. Courses that do not receive a room assignment via optimization may require use of another standard time module and/or an adjustment to the enrollment limit in order to obtain a room that meets its pedagogical needs. Room assignments for these courses may be entered in GET. Courses without a room assignment when the Schedule of Classes is published will be suppressed from the Schedule of Classes and closed for enrollment pending room assignment. Courses added to the Schedule of Classes after publication are subject to room availability.

Enrollment and Room Capacity

Each enrollment limit should reflect the total number of students who will enroll in the section. Setting limits to facilitate preferred room assignments or to control enrollment status of the section (i.e. whether the section is open or closed) is not permitted.

Room capacity may not be exceeded. See Classrooms policy in Chapter V: Instructional Policies of the Faculty Handbook for details. Please note that room capacity is set by state standards based on assignable square footage and under the oversight of the state fire marshal. The standard furniture in the room conforms to that capacity; tables and chairs moved in or out of the classroom by students or employees do not affect the official capacity of the room. Courses with enrollment that exceeds capacity of the assigned room may be suppressed from the Schedule of Classes, closed for enrollment and subject to adjustment based on room availability.

Changing Room Assignments

Room assignments should be finalized during schedule production prior to the Schedule of Classes being published.

Once the Schedule of Classes is published, a room assignment may be changed in order to better accommodate a change in enrollment demand or university space needs. Such changes are subject to room availability, must be coordinated with Academic Services and may require associate dean approval.

A room assignment may be changed if the room is determined to be inaccessible to the instructor or an enrolled student. Instructors should notify their department scheduler as soon as access to or within the room is determined to be an obstacle as indicated in the Notification of Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be addressed to the Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, the campus office assigned responsibility for ADA compliance, and the Office for Students with Disabilities if the accommodation concerns an enrolled student.

Departments and colleges are responsible for cancelling courses that will not be offered. Cancellations processed in the 3 weeks before the start of a term have a variety of negative consequences:

• Faculty members teaching cancelled sections may need to be assigned to different courses, requiring new preparation with little lead time.
• Students in these sections may be unable to find open seats in alternate course sections; their study load may fall below what is required for financial aid and other services that require full-time enrollment certification. See the Study Load policy in the Procedures and Regulations of the University Catalog.
• There is also little chance for the now-available classroom to be utilized at such a late date.

For these reasons, associate deans are asked to lead their colleges in closely reviewing low enrollment courses, cancelling them at least 21 days before the onset of the term. These cancellations should be done in close consultation with department chairs and with full consideration of pending registration dates, historical course demand, and other relevant analyses.

Once the Schedule of Classes is published, cancellations require associate dean approval and must be coordinated with Academic Services. Cancellations received after the start of instruction may also require approval from the Vice Provost for Enrollment Services and the Vice Provost for Planning and Budget.

Use and Entry

University space is provided primarily for the use of instructional programs, but may be used for activities of an educational nature and closely related to the mission of the university. Scheduling priority is generally granted to instructional programs followed by intercollegiate and extended education programs, university sponsored activities and activities intended for the campus audience. See Administrative Procedure 505 for details.

All instructional space containing standard equipment will be accessible during instructional hours and need not be locked when vacated. Windows and doors to these rooms should be closed and lights turned off when vacated. Facilities Services may be contacted to coordinate entry if a room is locked during instructional hours. Public Safety may be contacted to coordinate entry if a room is locked during weekend hours.

All instructional space containing special equipment may require key, alarm, Omnilock or One Card entry. Windows and doors to these rooms must be locked when vacated. Contact the Golden Eagle One Card Office or appropriate building administrator to coordinate entry. See Administrative Procedure 503 Appendix 8.2 for list of designated building administrators.

Equipment and Maintenance

Each room has been assigned specific equipment and a maximum seating capacity. Equipment, including furniture, may not be removed. Report missing equipment to Facilities Services.

Building Maintenance is responsible for routine maintenance and repair of all instructional space. Custodial Services is responsible for general cleaning of all instructional space. Requests should be directed to Facilities Work Control Center.

Information Technology Services is responsible for maintenance of technology equipment in TEC rooms and computer labs. Requests should be directed to Information Technology Services.

All maintenance should be scheduled outside of instructional hours to avoid impact on regularly scheduled activities. Class meetings may not be relocated after the start of instruction to accommodate maintenance.

Contact Facilities Services in case of an emergency.

See Classrooms policy in Chapter V: Instructional Policies of the Faculty Handbook and Administrative Procedure 503 for details.

Technology and Software

Training on how to use equipment in technology enabled rooms should be coordinated by contacting your Information Technology Consultant (ITC). Faculty may request installation of additional software. See Information Technology Services and Instructional Software Information for details.

See Classroom Technology Guides for information specific to TEC Enhanced (i.e. technology enhanced) rooms.

Space Change Requests

Requests to change instructional space must be submitted to the Office of the Vice Provost for Planning and Budget for review by the Academic Affairs Space Advisory Group. Requests should be submitted with consideration of schedule production, enrollment and instruction timelines.

Well-Being Classrooms

Please click here for information regarding Well-Being Classrooms.

Room Types

Each room that is considered instructional space is classified by a Room Type. Refer to the Room Type Glossary on the Enrollment Planning Resources page for additional information regarding each type.

Hiding Sections

The published Schedule of Classes is a public record. As such, various Cal State LA offices and off campus institutions refer to it as a means of validating course offerings. All course sections being offered must be viewable in the Schedule of Classes.

Hiding course sections from the Schedule of Classes may not be used as a method for managing enrollment. Manage enrollment by utilizing the intended methods, i.e. prerequisites and corequisites, Class Status, and Add Consent (i.e. class permissions).

Late Changes

TBD

Standard final exam times are:

7:00 – 9:00 a.m.
9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
2:30 – 4:30 p.m.
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
7:30 – 9:30 p.m.

The University encourages on-grid scheduling as it lessens time conflicts. However, some instructors choose to schedule classes off-grid. Unfortunately, this contributes to conflicts overall. Significant efforts are taken during the development of the preliminary final exam schedule and the exam scheduling process to reduce the amount of conflicts, but some will remain. Colleges will be provided information regarding conflicts so they may further assist departments with addressing them as needed.

Once final exams are viewable in GET self-service, students who identify a conflict should contact their instructors about making alternate arrangements.

Final exams for combined sections will be scheduled for the same day and time and in the same room.

Instructors of hybrid classes (i.e. sections with ‘Hybrid’ Instruction Mode) who prefer to hold the final exam online should contact their department to coordinate with the college and Academic Services.

Final exams for online classes (i.e. sections with ‘Online’ Instruction Mode) will be scheduled online. Final exams for CSU Fully Online classes must be held online.

Asynchronous classes (i.e. sections with ‘TBA’ meeting pattern) will not receive scheduled final exams.

Instructors who choose to hold final exams for multiple courses at the same day and time should contact their department to coordinate with the college and Academic Services. Requests for common exams are subject to the deadline indicated in the Schedule Production Timeline and room availability.

All exceptions to scheduled final exams require approval of the department or division chair and the appropriate dean. Instructors who wish to request an exception and who have received approvals should contact their department for coordination with the college and Academic Services.

Exceptions for individual students require approval of the instructor and department or division chair.

Exceptions must utilize standard final exam times in order to reduce conflicts and make efficient use of rooms. Exceptions are subject to the deadline indicated in the Schedule Production Timeline and room availability.

Please refer to Final Examinations policy for additional information.

Data Gathering

***SCHEDULE PRODUCTION BEGINS***

Section Build

Room Optimization

Bottleneck and Infeasible Resolution

College Review

Final Review

Final Corrections

Publication and Post-Publication

The following resources are available to support Data Gathering and Schedule Production: Resources for Graduate and Undergraduate Curriculum, Department Chairs Scheduling Toolkit, Scheduling Resources (Course Scheduling Guidelines, Guides), GET Run Query, Astra Schedule, Forms

Dates, deadlines, and GET Schedule of Classes edit access are planned as published in this timeline but may be subject to change based on Academic Affairs need.

The Schedule Production Timeline is not a comprehensive account of academic dates and deadlines. Refer to Academic Calendars and Dates & Deadlines for dates and deadlines related to instruction, advising, enrollment, and grading.