Effective Date August 8, 2025

Introduction

The University of Evansville Registrar is charged by the Provost to ensure that all class schedules achieve the following, presented in priority order:

1. Appropriate Space for Specific Educational Needs
   1. ensuring appropriate room size, equipment (lab/studio/etc.), materials, technology, and other pedagogy-specific considerations
   2. ensuring needed accommodations for students with documented disabilities
   3. ensuring appropriate final exam scheduling
2. Optimal student access to needed courses through limitation of course conflicts when possible
3. Optimal use of academic facilities and equipment
4. Faculty scheduling preferences as possible

This policy is the codification of the Office of Academic Services and their governance responsibility for the achievement of these priorities via the schedule of classes and is effective immediately upon adoption by the VPAA/Provost.

This policy governs the scheduling of all undergraduate and post-baccalaureate classes scheduled on the University of Evansville Campus and the Stone Center (UE’s additional health sciences location) between 8:00am and 10:00pm, Monday-Friday, for all Fall and Spring terms.

Allocation of Academic Space

The Provost with the assistance of the deans and University Registrar, oversees the use of all academic space, and formally designates particular spaces as classrooms, laboratories, offices, conference/meeting rooms, etc.  All classroom and laboratory space so designated by the Provost can be scheduled by the Registrar for academic use by any academic unit, although preferences for scheduling priority can be designated by the Provost upon request from the respective dean. Note: Departmental/unit meeting and conference rooms are not considered classrooms and therefore will not be scheduled by the University Registrar. This will free that space for meetings and other regular ad-hoc departmental uses.

All academic space is considered University space, allocated for appropriate academic use according to the priorities, preferences, and exceptions established by the Provost.  No academic space, including that funded by and /or named for a unit-related donor, is owned by an individual academic unit; no academic space may be controlled by or scheduled by an individual academic unit without written consent for such exception by the Provost.

University Credit Hour Policy and Contact Hour Guidelines

Credit Hour Policy

Academic credit for semester length courses at the University of Evansville shall be based on “seat time” standards and definitions related to “Credit hour” specified in the final regulations issued by the US Department of Education (Regulatory Citation: 34 CFR § 668.8 k and I ). The University of Evansville considers 50 minutes as a reasonable approximation of one hours of “seat time”

Definitions from Federal Regulation

• Clock hour: A period of time consisting of—
  1. A 50- to 60-minute class, lecture, or recitation.
  2. A 50- to 60-minute faculty-supervised laboratory, shop training, or internship.

1. Credit hour: a credit hour is an amount of student work defined by an institution, as approved by the institution's accrediting agency or State approval agency, that is consistent with commonly accepted practice in postsecondary education. It is defined as an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates not less than
   • One hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester hour of credit, or ten to twelve weeks for one quarter hour of credit, or the equivalent amount of work over a different period of time; or
   • At least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1)(i) of this definition for other academic activities as established by the institution, including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours; and
2. Permits an institution, in determining the amount of work associated with a credit hour, to take into account a variety of delivery methods, measurements of student work, academic calendars, disciplines, and degree levels.

Application of Credit Hour Definition at UE:

In accordance with section (2) of the federal “Credit hour” definition, the University of Evansville recognizes the following as constituting one credit hour, following the Indiana University Northwest guidelines (April 15, 2011):

• “Two hours of laboratory, studio, or similar activities and one hour of additional student work per week, or
• Three hours of laboratory, studio, or similar activities per week, or three hours of supervised independent study per week or
• 45 - 75 total hours of supervised clinical or fieldwork experiences (additional preparation time may be required).”

Non-Semester Length Courses and Exceptions:

For non-semester length courses and semester length courses that are exceptions to the general rule the “learning outcome” standard may apply instead of the seat time standard outlined above. Under this model, students must demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the credit-granting department, that they have achieved the course objectives at a level equivalent to what would be expected under the federal definition. This means learning outcomes equivalent to one credit hour of seat time as indicated below:

• One hour of class or direct instruction per week, for 14 weeks of instruction and one week for final exams,
• Along with two hours of out-of-class work for every hour of class or instruction.

Institution-Wide Application

UE follows the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s application of the federal credit hour policy (effective since February 10, 2012).

This credit hour policy applies to all courses at all levels… that award academic credit (i.e., any course that appears on an official transcript issued by the University) regardless of the mode of delivery including, but not limited to, self-paced, online, hybrid, lecture, seminar, and laboratory.” Academic departments “are responsible for ensuring that credit hours are awarded only for work that meets the requirements outlined in this policy.
[Approved by Faculty Senate December 4, 2012]

The University’s Curriculum Committee reviews every new course that is created and guides faculty on meeting the credit hour policy.

Adherence to this Credit Hour Policy requires class schedule alignment with the following table of required in-class instructional time and out of class expectations of students to engage in the course material. These requirements are premised on a 14-week academic term of instructional time.

*The 14-week academic term of instructional time calculation takes into account all student breaks.

Standard Classroom Meeting Times/Slots and Cycles

All Courses must begin at one of the start times identified in the “Standard Schedule Times/Slots” below.

Note: Units/Departments that utilize a “large lecture/multiple smaller discussion section” format for some courses should contact the University Registrar for guidance. This policy cannot address every schedule permutation, and the University Registrar is charged to collaborate with units to fulfill the spirit of this policy.

Three-Credit Courses

All three-credit courses requiring only classrooms (non-laboratory, non-studio) must be scheduled at one of the standard schedule times/slots (see Table 2 on next page) on either a standard Monday-Wednesday-Friday (MWF); Tuesday-Thursday (TUTH); or one night per week cycle.

Four Credit Courses

All four-credit courses requiring only classrooms (non-laboratory, non-studio) must be scheduled at one of the following standard three-credit schedule times/slots (see Table 2 on next page) but utilize a fourth day, creating one of the following cycles:

• Monday-Tuesday-Thursday-Friday (MTTHF);
• Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday (MTWF); or
• Monday-Wednesday-Thursday-Friday (MWTHF) slots.

  *Each of these slots includes 15 minutes of break within the published time span

Alternatively, four credit courses can be scheduled on a one night per week cycle. If a unit/department offers any one-credit courses as well as four-credit courses, each one-credit course should be scheduled in the open slot of a four-credit course; for example, a MWTHF at 11:00 am course has an “open” slot on Tuesdays at 11:00 that should, if possible, be filled by a one-credit course from that same unit/department.

One and Two Credit Courses:

All one and two credit courses should be scheduled in the university’s standard scheduling cycles (see Table 2 on next page). However, when a department/unit offers more than one course of this type with similar enrollment and room needs, the courses must be staggered across the unused days of the same time slot to maximize classroom space.

For example, if a unit offers three distinct one-credit courses and schedules one of them on Mondays in the 9:00 am­-9:50 am slot (within the MWF cycle), that unit should schedule the second course on Wednesdays at 9:00 am – 9:50 am, and the third course on Fridays at 9:00 am – 9:50 am. This approach ensures optimal use of classroom space, avoiding unnecessary scheduling conflicts and problems with space utilization.

Courses Requiring One-Day/Week Extended Meeting Times (e.g. labs, studios):

Some courses – including but not limited to some laboratory or art studio courses – require longer, single-day sessions not accommodated by the standard MWF or TTH time slots. When possible, these courses should be scheduled in alignment with courses similar in duration and enrollment, ideally in consecutive time slots and in the same rooms to promote efficient scheduling and facility use.

For example, a three-hour, one-day per week Biology lab section might be scheduled on Mondays from 8:00 am to 10:50 am. To maximize the use of space, the Biology department should schedule other three-hour labs in the Wednesday 8:00 am -10:50 am and Friday 8:00 am -10:50 am slots, in the same room, if appropriate. Likewise, an art studio section scheduled on Tuesdays from 12:45 pm to 3:30 pm should be complemented by another art studio section scheduled on Thursdays from 12:45 pm - 3:30 pm in the same location, when feasible and appropriate.