Prime Class-Time Policy

To help ensure all departments have a fair opportunity and there is an even distribution of section offerings, it is asked that all departments schedule 14% of each of their sections during any one of the seven individual prime class times: 9:35 MWF, 10:55 MWF, 12:15 MWF, 1:35 MW & MWF, 9:55 TR, and 1:30 TR.

The main objective of this policy is to give students, in all schools/colleges, a more fair and equitable advantage with expanded schedule offerings. We believe that effective class scheduling is critical to the academic mission of the university.  It enables students to have more options take the classes they need and create viable schedules, assures faculty availability to teach, and contributes to the good stewardship of our valuable institutional resources as we are One University.

To ensure all departments have a fair opportunity and there is an even distribution of section offerings, an audit will be conducted before scheduling rooms targeting the following seven prime class times.

Prime Class Times:

• 9:35 AM Monday, Wednesday, Friday (MWF)
• 10:55 AM Monday, Wednesday, Friday (MWF)
• 12:15 PM Monday, Wednesday, Friday (MWF)
• 1:35 PM Monday, Wednesday (MW)
• 1:35 PM  Monday, Wednesday, Friday (MWF) 
• 9:55 AM Tuesday, Thursday (TR)
• 1:30 PM Tuesday, Thursday (TR)

Policy Details:

• Departments will be audited to ensure that no more than 14% of their sections occur during any one of the seven individual prime class times. If a department is greater than 14% for any one of the seven primary times the Academic Scheduling team will reach out to the Dean’s office and the department to discuss next steps. 
  • Fall & Spring terms: Deans’ office will review their Prime Class Time report, available in Cognos Analytics - Decision Support, and work with their departments to ensure they are compliant with this policy.
  • Important dates to ensure policy compliance throughout the year can be found on the Office of Academic Scheduling OneStThomas site.
• The 14% includes all UG or Grad courses on the Saint Paul campus* in any instruction modalities: online, mixed mode, and in-person. 
  • Labs, Lecture/Labs (linked) and WWA (Online: Asynchronous) courses excluded.
  • Labs & Lecture Labs will have a separate report and it is highly encouraged that these courses be evenly distributed.  If there are large concentrations of labs & linked lecture/labs, the Office of Academic Scheduling will work with dept/schools/colleges to find solutions.
• For 7-week courses, if two halves of a term have different numbers of 7-week courses, the report now counts the higher number. For example, if the Department A offers 5 courses in the first seven weeks of a term and 8 in the last seven weeks of a term, the report will count 8 courses.
• Those departments with under 14 section offerings should do their best to distribute their sections evenly.  The Office of Academic Scheduling will reach out to the Deans’ offices with any concerns.
• This policy will assist in the optimum student experience, use of our academic spaces, and classroom resources.
• Any department that is unable to adhere to this policy can work with the Office of Academic Scheduling directly on the next steps.  In most cases, exceptions will need approval from the Provost’s office.

*On average, less than 5% of all 4-year undergrad courses are held on the Minneapolis campus, therefore they are excluded from this policy pending any future substantial increase. The 2-year College have set curriculums the students must follow and also do not fall under this policy at this time.  At this time, the graduate level programs on the Minneapolis campus do not follow standard class times as St. Paul does, therefore does not have Prime Class Times to fall under this policy. They will be excluded pending any future changes in class time schedules.

Policy Owner

Policy Approved: Office of the Provost, Sept 2021