Academic Scheduling: Overview
The Office of the Registrar works in partnership with the colleges and departments to facilitate scheduling of academic classes. Standard policies and guidelines are followed to optimally utilize classrooms and provide a consistent registration experience for students.
CourseLeaf Section Scheduler (CLSS) streamlines data entry for departments. The tool is used for everything from inputting, editing, validating, approving and updating course offerings in the class schedule. Each academic department has a team of Schedulers who work with this tool to build the quarterly schedule. CLSS User Guides may be found under the Resources section of this webpage.
Access CourseLeaf CLSS (access based on security). Accounts are added or removed based on CLSS security request.
When the class schedule is available, students are able to build their schedule for the term using Schedule Builder. Individuals who are unable to log in to the Cal Poly Portal may access Class Search for a complete list of available courses. A list of archived class scheduled can be found in the Library Digital Commons.
When building the quarterly class schedule, departments should be mindful of best practice when scheduling virtual sections. A course must be approved for virtual instruction. The class schedule should include useful information such as class notes, modality, and meeting pattern so students understand expectations when registering for the class.
In compliance with AS-945-22, course material information should be made available to students on the first day of registration.
|
TERM |
DATE |
| Fall 2024 | May 20, 2024 |
| Winter 2025 | November 5, 2024 |
| Spring 2025 | February 20, 2025 |
| Summer 2025 | April 24, 2025 |
| Fall 2025 | May 19, 2025 |
| Winter 2026 | November 3, 2026 |
| Spring 2026 | February 19, 2026 |
Academic Scheduling: Approved Scheduling Time Patterns
In order to maximize utilization of university controlled rooms, as well as mitigate the potential for class overlap and allow students a wide range of class schedule options, the Office of the Registrar enforces university approved scheduling time patterns. It is each departments’ responsibility to comply with these patterns to ensure the university it working as one cohesive entity.
Standard time patterns are used by the university to maximize utilization of classrooms and student access to classes.
Scheduling Time Patterns (Fall, Winter and Spring Terms)
Scheduling Time Patterns (Summer Term Only)
Per Campus Administrative Policy 282, facility limitations make it necessary for each department to schedule 50% of lecture sections outside the hours of 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Academic Scheduling: Final Exams
Final exams for activity, laboratory, or 1-unit lecture sections occur during the last week of classes. All other final exams are allocated a three-hour block in the week immediately following the last week of classes. Summer quarter has a different final exam schedule to accommodate the multiple sessions offered during the term.
Departments should utilize CourseLeaf CLSS to indicate whether a room is required during final exam week. This allows for accurate facility utilization.
Summer quarter classes have a special schedule which will be posted on the Calendars and Deadlines section of the Office of the Registrar website.
A class that is scheduled with a non-standard time pattern may not have an allocated final exam time. In these cases, an instructor will need to do the following, before the end of the fifth week of the term:
- Work with the students to identify an exam time that will not conflict with their already scheduled exams.
- Contact University Scheduling in the Office of the Registrar to schedule a classroom for the exam.
For more information, refer to academic policy for Final Assessments (Exams) on the Academic Programs and Planning website.
Requesting a Common Final Exam Time
- Departments may request common final exams for classes offering two or more sections of a course with approval of the department chair/head and appropriate Dean. (Effective 2.21.22)
- Any student who cannot attend a common final must be accommodated at another time.
- Common Finals may be requested for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday 7:10-10:00PM, of Finals Week. Common Finals may also be requested on the Saturday preceding Final Exam Week, 7:10-10AM, 10:10-1:00PM, 1:10-4:00PM, 4:10-7:00PM or 7:10-10:00PM (Fall, Winter and Spring).
- Requests should be received no later than the eighth week of the term. Room confirmations for common finals will not be arranged prior to the fifth week of the term due to changing classroom needs during the add/drop period.
- Every effort will be made to accommodate your preferred exam date. However, assignments are based on the number and type of requests for each term, and we cannot predict availability for a specific day or room.
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Confirmation emails will be sent after all requests have been accommodated.
Requesting an Alternate Final Exam Time
- Instructors may request alternate final exam times in addition to the regularly-scheduled exam. Instructors must accommodate any student wishing to take the exam at the regularly-scheduled time. If all students in two or more sections are meeting together, guidelines for common final exams should be used.
- Assignments are based on room availability. Requests should fall within the established final exam, three hour time blocks.
Academic Scheduling: University Lecture Rooms
There are 127 university controlled classrooms on the Cal Poly campus. During each of the Fall, Winter, and Spring terms, there are approximately 3,800 lectures, seminars, and discussions scheduled into these rooms. Due to the impact on university rooms, academic department schedulers and the Office of the Registrar work closely to evaluate data each term in order to maximize facility utilization.
During the summer term when fewer academic classes are offered, there is an increase in the number of events occurring on campus as well as scheduled facility maintenance. For this reason, rooms are designated for key area use to allow both academic classes and on campus events to co-exist.
University Lecture Room List website
University Lecture Room List (PDF) - Select a location for a view of the space as well as features and instructions for use.
Department Schedulers have access to Room Seek through CourseLeaf CLSS. This tool is integrated with 25Live, the campus space management tool. Once the class schedule publishes, if the day, time, or location needs modification, a department may use this tool to identify whether a University Lecture space is available. If one is, they may request a change using appropriate steps in CLSS. If a space is not available, the department should explore other options.
Academic Scheduling: Resources for Department Schedulers
The following resources are designed to assist in the scheduling processes.
Resources
- CourseLeaf CLSS - Training Guide
- CourseLeaf CLSS - Guide to what changes departments can make and when changes can be made.
- CourseLeaf CLSS - Consultant training presentation
- Summer Term
- Summer 2024 Sessions Dates (PDF)
- Academic Scheduling Production Calendar – Deadlines for class schedule development
-
Planning Phase Information - Submit to the Office of the Registrar, University Scheduling once Planning Phase data entry is complete (Information related to combined sections, reserve capacities, medical requests, term instructions, etc.)
- CS Numbers and K-Factors – Contact hours and workload for course components are determined using this CSU classification system
- CSU Learning Modes – List of CSU learning mode codes used to report information to the Chancellor’s Office
- Faculty Assignment by Department (FAD) Information – Reporting deadlines for class schedule data
- Link to Class Schedule’s shared calendar in Outlook Calendar, to see important scheduling dates in your own calendar. Follow these instructions to create the link:
- Open your Outlook calendar
- On the Folder tab, click on “open Calendar”
- On the dropdown menu, click “From Address Book”
- Find Class Schedule and double click on it. Select “ok”
Training Guides
- Generating Permission Numbers User Guide – Instructions for generating permission numbers and selecting the appropriate control settings.
- Schedule of Classes Dashboard User Guide – Review your current and upcoming schedules using the PolyData Dashboards. Information can be viewed in a similar format to our proofing and reporting spreadsheets. (Data warehouse information is updated only once daily, so changes will not be reflected until the following day).
Contact Us
Class Scheduling • 805-756-2461 • classschedule@calpoly.edu
Phone Hours:
Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Brad Fely, Block Scheduling
- Erica Maule, Academic Scheduling
- Vicky Myers, Academic Scheduling
- Amanda Neverman, Academic Scheduling
- Michele Kekaha, Associate Registrar