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Guidelines for Cancellation of Classes Due to Low Enrollment

The School of Education is committed to ensuring academic programs and offerings are delivered in a timely and consistent manner to support student success in completion of programs. In implementing the guidelines, the School of Education should ensure the guidelines facilitate students’ progression toward graduation/program completion.

Scope of the Guidelines: These guidelines apply to all courses and academic departments during the fall, spring, and summer semesters.

Purpose of the Guidelines: The purposes of these guidelines are to define a process by which classes will be reviewed for low enrollment and decisions will be made to cancel these courses and to provide accommodations for faculty members in cases of cancelled courses.

Statement of Guidelines: Careful academic planning, informed by considerations such as enrollment histories and accreditation standards, is necessary. The School of Education’s minimum enrollment guidelines are based on 5 tuition-paying students in a graduate course. Academic departments may set a higher minimum in specific courses to reflect academic needs. Enrollments which fall below the stated minimum are subject to cancellation with the following exceptions that should be taken into account in the decision-making process. 

  1. Cross-listed courses, which when combined, meet or exceed the minimum numbers.
  2. Ph.D. courses where admissions to the program are restricted to 5 students per academic year, are by definition, allowed to proceed.
  3. A new start-up program that is building enrollments (a timeline will be established) or declining as a result of a sunset program. In case of a sunset program and to be in compliance with SACSCOC and SCHEV, courses will continue to be offered for students enrolled in the program to ensure successful completion.
  4. Independent studies (not included as part of teaching load), clinical experiences, student teaching supervision, internships, and field experiences which are typically taught in small groups or individually.
  5. In cases of three 1-credit course bundles in a semester, the average enrollment across the three 1-credit courses should meet or exceed the minimum.
Procedures: To implement the guidelines and exceptions noted above, the following procedures will be

used to determine whether to cancel a course due to low enrollment.

  1. Six weeks prior to the start of the class or semester, the Associate Dean for Academic Programs will send a list of under-enrolled courses to department chairs.
  2. In consultation with department chairs, under-enrolled courses that do not fall within the exemptions above are to be cancelled four weeks prior to the start of the class or semester.
  3. Each department chair will submit to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs a list of all courses in the department that do not meet the minimum enrollment threshold but are allowed to continue and the justification for each course exempted from the guidelines.
  4. The School of Education Registrar will drop and notify all enrolled students.
  5. Affected students will work with their advisors and the department chairs to find alternative courses for the same term.
  6. The Assistant Dean for Academic Programs and Student Services will cancel the assigned classroom in Banner and the event management system.
  7. After the add/drop period, the Associate Dean for Academic Programs will send an updated list of under-enrolled classes to department chairs.
Cancelled Course Accommodations: Department chairs and programs should take into account the

effect of low enrollment cancellations on faculty and instructors. Especially for new or specialized elective courses, or courses which have had low enrollments historically, department chairs and programs should have alternative plans for changing teaching assignments, and such plans should be known in advance to faculty, instructors, the department chairs, and the Dean.

For full-time NTE, tenure-track, and tenured faculty members, accommodations in cases of cancelled courses may include strategies such as:

  • Reassignment to a required course that is in high demand. Enrollments greater than 30 are considered high demand. (This option would be used in rare instances and would apply only during the identified semester.)
  • A redistributed teaching load in a subsequent semester
  • Assignment to administrative or other duties that are normally compensated with a course release. The affected faculty member, the Department Chair, and the Associate Dean for Academic Programs would collaborate to develop a proposal to include how the proposal meets a demonstrated need in the department and/or the School of Education, a scope of work, deliverables, and a timeline. The proposal would be approved by the Dean.
In cases where adjuncts are assigned to teach a course that is cancelled due to low enrollment, the

instructor must be made aware of the enrollment minimum policy and receive four weeks’ notice if any of their courses are to be cancelled.