UCLA

I. REFERENCES

1. UCLA Senate Regulation A-332 (A), Section 6: Final Examination;

2. UC Senate Regulation 739, Title III, Chapter 1: Definition of Courses;

3. UC Senate Regulation 750(A), Title III, Chapter 2 (re: instructors in charge of courses);

4. California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC), Commission Reports 90-3; 90-4; 90-6;

5. California Education Code, Section 92640(a) (re: alternate examinations);

6. UCLA Policy 860 - Extracurricular Use of University Facilities;

7. UCLA Procedure 860.1 - Scheduling Campus Facilities and Services for Cultural, Educational, and Recreational vents; 

8. UCLA Policy 880 - Space Management.

II. STATEMENT

The campus’s physical facilities are resources that must be managed, maintained, and controlled in accordance with certain rules and regulations and in a manner which contributes most toward fulfilling the University’s mission of teaching, research and public service. Space is allocated on the basis of programmatic need and academic priorities, and may be reallocated if those needs or priorities change.

Responsibility for the assignment or allocation of all UCLA space rests ultimately with the Chancellor, who has redelegated authority to the Executive Vice Chancellor for assignment or allocation of space to support instruction and research and other related functions and units. While deans and provosts have control over their respective departmental spaces, the assignment and control of space for classroom use has been delegated to the Registrar’s Office. This policy sets forth the criteria used to assign instructional space in General Assignment Classrooms controlled by the Registrar’s Office.

A. Classroom Scheduling Terms

The following terms are defined within the context of applicable UC and UCLA policies and regulations governing classroom scheduling on the UCLA campus and are vital to understanding the policy statements that follow.

1. Course: as defined in UC Senate Regulation 739, a curricular offering approved by an agency of the Academic Senate for presentation by an officer of instruction in accordance with UC Senate Regulation 750(A), and under the jurisdiction of an academic agency approved by The Regents.
    
2. Regular-Session Course: Academic Senate-approved Course with assigned Course number that is taught within the official UCLA quarter or semester academic calendars. (Summer Sessions and University Extension (UNEX) courses and courses taught by departments for non-admitted UCLA students are not Regular-Session Courses).
    
3. Class: the period of time during which students meet to pursue a course of instruction. Classes are scheduled to meet in classrooms and can have multiple sections as follows:
    
   • Primary Class Section is the main section of a Class in which students must enroll and usually where credit value is assigned. In most cases the Primary Class Section is a lecture section. Classes can have multiple Primary Class Sections to accommodate enrollment (e.g., Lecture 1, Lecture 2, etc.).
      
   • Secondary Class Section is an additional Class meeting associated with a Primary Class Section. Such sections are usually discussion or laboratory sections.
      
4. General Assignment (GA) Classroom: a room in which Class meetings are scheduled for approved Regular-Session and Summer Sessions Courses and whose use is controlled by the Registrar’s Office. The official record of GA Classrooms resides with Facilities Management.
    
5. Departmental Classroom: a room controlled by individual departments with delegated authority from their respective school or college to schedule its use. The official record of departmental space resides with Facilities Management.
    
6. Weekly Room Hours (WRH): the number of hours used by regularly scheduled Classes in a room or group of rooms during the entire week. WRH are normally displayed either as totals (WRH used in all rooms or a given group of rooms) or as an average (WRH divided by the number of rooms - e.g., 6,000 WRH for 200 GA Classrooms = 30 WRH per room).
    
7. Weekly Student Hours (WSH): equal to WRH multiplied by the number of students enrolled in those Classes (e.g., a Class which meets for three hours per week with 100 students has 300 WSH).
    
8. Priority Scheduling: preferential scheduling given to departments for Class meeting times and locations based on special needs on a case-by-case basis as negotiated with the Registrar’s Office. In exchange for Priority Scheduling, standard time blocks must be used and Prime Time standards (60/40) must be observed. Remaining classroom space is made available to all departments during the remaining stages of scheduling.
    
9. Prime Time: the Class time from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.. Departments are responsible for coordinating Class times with faculty so that no more than 60% of their primary Class sections are scheduled in Prime Time. In addition, 20% of Classes should be scheduled on Fridays.

B. Classroom Scheduling Guidelines

Regular-Session Courses approved by the Graduate and Undergraduate Councils of the Academic Senate or their delegated representatives and all related instructional activities such as review sessions, films, special lectures, midterm examinations, optional quizzes, academic tutoring and final examinations have priority in GA Classrooms over all other instruction (UNEX) or activities (Events, Educational Testing) for weekdays, evenings and weekends.

• Classrooms are assigned so as to best match room capacity with Class enrollment;

• Minimum Class sizes are enforced according to policies outlined by the UC Office of the President;

• Class meeting times should be scheduled using standard time blocks with no more than 60% of Class meetings using Prime Time (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and with at least 20% of Class meetings scheduled on Friday;

• Classes are scheduled as close to the teaching department as possible, but proximity does not take precedence over other considerations.

1. Standard Time Blocks

Regular-session Class meetings with standard time patterns are scheduled before Class meetings with non-standard patterns. Departments requesting non-standard time blocks should use their Departmental Classrooms first if they are available. Classes with non-standard patterns are scheduled before 9 a.m. or after 3 p.m. and then on a space-available basis during Prime Time. Classes using a one-day-only pattern and meeting for more than normal duration (e.g., three hour seminars) should be scheduled in non-Prime Time.

In order to give fair access to all departments, under certain conditions, non-standard scheduling may be required to change to standard scheduling (e.g., MW two-hour time patterns may be required to change to MWF standard time patterns). The following situations may require rescheduling:

• When demand for classrooms in a particular range (e.g., large classrooms over 300 capacity) exceeds supply;

• When demand for media-equipped classrooms exceeds supply.

To ensure efficient utilization of classroom space on all days of the week and to meet California state and UC utilization standards for Weekly Room Hours and Weekly Student Hours, the following standard time blocks have been established:

Classes with no assigned classroom are published with a TBA announcement until a classroom and time can be assigned. In order to gather accurate data for required state reporting, all regular-session Classes meeting in either GA Classrooms or Departmental Classrooms must be entered into the Student Record System (SRS) by Friday of the third week of the term.

2. Scheduling Priority

Priority in GA Classrooms is determined by the Office of the Registrar per campus policy approved by the Executive Vice Chancellor.

• Primary Class sections are scheduled before Secondary Class Sections;

• Required Secondary Class Sections are scheduled before optional Secondary Class Sections;

• Large Classes are scheduled before small ones.

Initial classroom assignments are made based on projected enrollment being equal to or greater than 80% of the room capacity. Past enrollments in comparable quarters are considered. Requests that underutilize space are scheduled after other scheduling needs have been met.

Classes that meet using standard time patterns are given priority over those using non-standard patterns. Classes with specialized pedagogical design are given appropriate consideration. Schedules that vary greatly from the 60/40 Prime Time balance may be returned to departments for adjustment. Classes that don’t meet 80% of room capacity may be moved to a smaller room with equivalent media. Classes scheduled after scheduling deadlines have passed are assigned classrooms on a space-available basis.

3. Room and Time Changes and Cancellations

Room changes are accommodated if a switch is available. Departments should not continue to add students in the expectation that a larger room will be available. Department schedulers are responsible for informing the instructor and students of room changes. No time changes are allowed after enrollment has begun. If a Class meeting is cancelled, department schedulers must cancel the Class in the SRS in order to return the classroom to available status.

4. Instructor Names

When scheduling Class meetings, instructor names must be entered in the SRS using the instructor’s university identification number (UID). This ensures that the instructor’s name will appear in the Schedule of Classes, in other electronic applications such as the online gradebook, and in faculty workload reports. UIDs must be entered into SRS by Friday of the third week of the term to ensure accurate reporting to the UC Office of the President.

5. Enrollment Management

No instructor or department may allow the occupancy of a classroom to exceed the limit specified by the fire and life safety codes. The classroom capacity is fixed in the SRS. However, to allow for attrition and absence in Classes, individual departments are given the technical capability to raise enrollment limits in individual Classes up to 10% above the room capacity, if in their judgment, this is desirable in order to enable enrollment by students whose physical presence is not likely to cause the Class to exceed the official occupancy limit. It is the responsibility of the department and the instructor to ensure that actual attendance does not exceed classroom capacity.

6. Midterm Examinations

Midterm examinations are expected to be held during regularly-scheduled Class meeting times. However, large Classes with multiple sections requiring a common midterm examination can schedule examinations outside regular Class meeting times on a space-available basis with the following limitations:

1. Notice of the midterm dates and times must be published in the Schedule of Classes and URSA before enrollment begins. Late requests will not be scheduled.

2. Instructors must put the midterm examination dates in the Course syllabus.

3. Instructors must announce the midterm dates on the 1st day of Class and inform students that it is acceptable to request alternate times.

4. Instructors should make a good faith effort to accommodate alternate examinations times for students with Course conflicts.

5. To comply with Section 92640(a) of the California Education Code, instructors must accommodate requests for alternate examination dates at a time when that activity would not violate a student’s religious creed. See Section II.B.8, Alternate Examination Dates.

7. Final Examinations

An instructor’s method of evaluation must be announced at the beginning of the Course. Final written examinations may not exceed three hours’ duration and are given only at the times and places established and published by the department chair and the Registrar’s Office. See UCLA Senate Regulation A-332 (A) for the policy on final examinations.

Final examinations are generally held in the same room as Class meetings; however, by prior arrangement with the Registrar’s Office, common final examinations can be scheduled and extra room locations may be booked on a space-available basis. Changes in classroom location must be arranged through the Registrar’s Office. Examination codes, times, and locations are listed in the online Schedule of Classes and URSA.

8. Alternate Examination Dates

No student shall be excused from assigned final examinations except as provided in Senate Regulation A332 or in Section 92640(a) of the California Education Code policy on alternate examinations. The University must accommodate requests for alternate examination dates at a time when that activity would not violate a student’s religious creed. This requirement does not apply in the event that administering the test or examination at an alternate time would impose an undue hardship which could not reasonably be avoided. Accommodation for alternate examination dates are worked out directly and on an individual basis between the student and the faculty member involved.

Faculty members should remember that while it is fully at their discretion to make arrangements with individual students for alternate examination times, including final examinations, they must conduct the scheduled final examination for the Class as a whole at the times and places established by the department chair and the Registrar’s Office.

9. Priority Agreements with Departments

Specialized facility needs, such as laboratory demonstrations and unique media service needs, are considered and accommodated whenever possible. Departments needing a specific classroom may negotiate with the Registrar’s Office for first-stage Priority Scheduling. However, standard time patterns and prime time quotas must be observed.

10. Multi-Media Requests

Specialized facility needs for media are considered and accommodated whenever possible within utilization guidelines, and media-equipped classrooms are assigned on a space-available basis.

11. Use of Department Rooms

With the prior agreement of the College provost or School dean and with the approval of the department chair, Departmental Classrooms may be scheduled by the Registrar’s Office.

12. Special Requests

All instructional activities related to regularly-scheduled Classes such as review sessions, make-up Classes, thesis defenses, films, special lectures, placement examinations, midterm examinations, optional quiz sections, and academic tutoring may be scheduled on a space-available basis after regular Class meetings have been scheduled and after an adjustment period for Class changes (usually the end of third week). After third week, instructionally related activities associated with a regularly-scheduled Class may be scheduled during the day, in the evenings, and on the weekends and have priority over non-instructional activities and over UNEX and Events scheduling. Placement examinations may be scheduled earlier than third week if they are scheduled in the evening hours after 6 p.m.

Special requests that are not related to regularly-scheduled Classes are scheduled through the UCLA Events Office. See UCLA Policy 860 and Procedure 860.1.

13. Orientation, UNEX, Events and Summer Sessions Use of GA Classrooms

UNEX may schedule 75% of each GA Classroom size up to 100 capacity for evening activities starting at 6 p.m. on weekdays. Rooms of 100 capacity and above are shared on a rotating basis with Events. However, regular-session Class meetings have priority if such meetings are required. Daytime weekday events during periods of instruction may be requested. These requests are generally not processed until after the third week of instruction and are subject to change if space is needed for instructional activity. Weekend use of rooms after regular-session instructional needs are met is shared by all users including UNEX, Educational Testing, and Events.

For summer scheduling, Orientation large-room sessions (usually in Moore Hall 100) are scheduled first, then Summer Sessions Class meetings. UNEX and Events can then schedule GA Classrooms based on a mutually agreed upon set of criteria.

14. Department-Sponsored Instruction

GA Classrooms may be used to schedule department-sponsored instruction. However, regular-session Class meetings have priority. If such instruction is open to the public, the activity must be coordinated with the UCLA Events Office.

15. Seismic Construction Policy Exceptions

During periods of seismic construction or in the event of an emergency, the Chancellor or the Chancellor’s designee may authorize exceptions to scheduling policies and require the use of Departmental Classrooms to meet Class needs.

C. Resolution of Problems

In the event of conflicts, priority is given to Class meetings which demonstrate the highest seat utilization based on current projections and end-of-third-week enrollment for the last three terms the Course was taught. Special consideration may be given when departments submit information about anticipated significant enrollment increases beyond those of the general campus.

Scheduling conflicts not resolved by the departmental scheduler are resolved by the Office of the Registrar in consultation with the department chairperson and deans’ designee. Space utilization, student progress, and pedagogical matters are factors that influence decisions.