Class Scheduling Procedures
Class Scheduling Process Summary
The Office of Classroom Scheduling (OCS) coordinates class scheduling with departments three times per year — Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters. The process is dynamic, and when necessary, changes are made to the class schedule through the tenth day of the semester. For planning, however, the process is organized into a series of "pre-proofs", or tentative class schedules. The first pre-proof is generated by OCS based on department course offerings the previous year (i.e., pre-proof 1 for Spring 2010 was the final course schedule from Spring 2009, including cancelled sections). The departments and OCS go through three rounds of pre-proofs for each semester, and the approximate delivery dates are summarized in the following table:
| Item | OCS posts pre-proof online (OCS will provide exact dates to departments) | Departments must submit class scheduling forms to OCS (OCS will provide exact dates to departments) |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-proof 1 – Fall | December | January |
| Pre-proof 1 – Summer | November | December |
| Pre-proof 1 – Spring | August | September |
| Pre-proof 2 | The Monday after the 1st pre-proof deadline | Provided by OCS |
| Pre-proof 3 | The Monday after the 2nd pre-proof deadline | For all additional changes, departments submit the form Class Scheduling Changes |
Please note: All forms and class scheduling communication must be emailed using ClassroomScheduling@uic.edu. We no longer accept emails to individual mailboxes or hardcopies of pre-proofs.
Changes Which Require a Form
You must complete the appropriate form and submit it to ClassroomScheduling@uic.edu if you:
- Add new courses/class sections
- Cancel/delete courses
- Need technology in the classroom
- Are scheduling classes in your exclusive/priority classrooms
- Need to add, update, or remove fees
Are changing the maximum enrollment capacity for cross-listed courses.
Pre-proof 1
OCS sends an e-mail to the departments notifying them when pre-proof documents have been posted to https://osssweb.admin.uillinois.edu/SchedOfClasses/start.htm.
Departments must:
- retrieve their pre-proof from OCS Web site
- add, change, or delete courses
- check and correct maximum enrollments
- add, change, or delete instructors, course notes, or approval codes
- check that any applicable and approved course fees are noted on the sections
- Complete and submit any necessary forms. Reference the section 'Changes Which Require a Form' above to determine which forms (if any) you need to submit.
Departments must continue to make changes in Banner after the first pre-proof deadline
Pre-proof 2
- On the Monday after the 1st pre-proof deadline (unless otherwise specified), the 2nd Pre-proof is posted online.
- Departments must retrieve the 2nd pre-proof from OCS website.
- Departments must review all 1st pre-proof changes.
- Departments continue to make all changes in Banner until the end of the 2nd pre-proof period; deadline will be provided by OCS.
- OCS will process submitted forms and notify departments accordingly.
- If departments make any additional changes listed in the section 'Changes Which Require a Form' above, they will need to submit the corresponding form indicating onlythe additional changes. These forms must be emailed to ClassroomScheduling@uic.edu by the 2nd pre-proof deadline.
After the deadline for the 2nd pre-proof, departments may only make the following changes in Banner: notes, instructors, and approval codes.
Pre-proof 3
On the Monday after the 2nd pre-proof deadline, the 3rd pre-proof will be posted online.
The 3rd Pre-proof will reflect all changes made by departments and OCS. During this 3rd pre-proof period, departments may only make the following changes in Banner: notes, instructors, and approval codes. If departments need to make additional changes, they must submit the form 'Class Scheduling Changes' (xls) to ClassroomScheduling@uic.edu.
The OCS will process changes in the order they are received, and will notify departments when requests have been completed.
Please note, due to the high volume of requests, we ask departments to submit class scheduling changes in a timely fashion. Any modifications submitted after 5pm on the Wednesday prior to registration may not be processed in time for registration. Furthermore, to help ensure a smooth registration, it is advised that departments add approval codes when requesting enrollment capacity changes or class cancellations.
Once student registration begins, Departments must continue to email ClassroomScheduling@uic.edu using the form 'Class Scheduling Changes' (xls) for any additional schedule modifications.
Class Scheduling Policies
Review of and permission for exceptions to the procedures outlined above and the policies detailed below must be submitted to the college dean with a written pedagogical rationale for the request. Deans will approve the exceptions and forward them to OCS. Exceptions should rarely be granted, given the importance of maintaining consistent and fair practices that benefit students.
Note: No food or drink will be allowed in any classroom. Please plan accordingly.
Change requests
- Room change requests will be processed in the order received.
- Core courses (those required for the major and key foundational courses that students must take in a timely manner) have priority over general education courses and electives.
- Conflicts for requests of rooms and time slots will be resolved by OCS.
Department-Designated Classrooms
- In a few cases, departments have scheduling priority for common-use rooms that have been designated to those departments. A department has priority only during Pre-proof Round 1, provided the room meets seating capacity and media requirements.
- If a class is cancelled prior to the time that the Pre-proof Round 2 is submitted to the departments via the OCS Web site, the room in which the class was scheduled will return to the list of classrooms available for scheduling and be assigned to the first compatible request on the list. The room will no longer be available to the department.
Classroom Capacity and Scheduling Restrictions
- The campus Environmental Health and Safety Office assigns a non-negotiable maximum seating capacity to each classroom to meet the Illinois State Fire Code requirements. Adding chairs/desks to increase seating capacity is prohibited and violates law.
- Scheduling classes in buildings or rooms that are not coded for classroom instruction is prohibited.
- Department-designated classrooms are not exempt from any scheduling policies listed here.
- Departments may not reserve classrooms by submitting zero as the maximum enrollment. If a department needs unanticipated sections after registration begins, OCS will accommodate the request on a first-come-first-served basis.
- Under-enrolled sections will be moved to smaller classrooms with comparable functions or resources to accommodate other fully enrolled sections.
Scheduling during the semester of midterm exams, other exams, and quizzes
- Scheduling of midterm exams, other exams, and quizzes is at the discretion of the Instructor and should occur during the regularly scheduled class meeting times for courses taught on campus, synchronously online, or asynchronously online with specified meeting times.
- Asynchronous online sections which do not have specified meeting times are assumed to be completely asynchronous and Instructors should not schedule meeting times that require student participation for exams, quizzes, review sessions, etc.
- In certain cases, combined section exams are scheduled in the evening, outside of standard class meeting times. Every effort should be made to avoid conflicts with other combined section exams via coordination among departments offering such exams.
- When there is a conflict between an evening combined section exam and a regularly scheduled class, the regularly scheduled class will take precedence, and the Instructor offering the combined section exam should accommodate the student(s) with the demonstrated conflict.
