Course Scheduling

5-week, 2-credit courses – Determined by Instructor

• One day for three hours or 
• Two days for one and a half hours each

8-Week and 10-Week – Determined by Instructors

• Flexibility in scheduling available

Labs:

• Chemistry, Biology, Physics, METX – we work with your department lab managers
• Computer labs – you’ll need to reserve those facilities 

Asynchronous Online

• If you have a pedagogical need to have regular synchronous discussion sections in your asynchronous course, you will have the opportunity to provide this information when we collect “mandatory sections” in February.
• If you have a pedagogical need to have optional secondary discussion sections, please see the Discussion Sections Information page to schedule those.
• No need for schedule
• No need for room reservations 

Overview of Contact Hour Policy: 

The Committee on Educational Policy UCSC Credit Hour Policy SR 760 does not specify a relationship between credits and contact hours. UCSC utilizes the following model: a 5-credit course should generally have 31.50 contact hours over the course of the ten week term—3.15 hours a week (195 minutes) corresponding either to two 95-minute meetings or three 65-minute meetings per week. A 2-credit course should typically involve 14 hours per term, or approximately one 90 minute meeting per week. However, time for 2- and 3-credit courses can vary, with Independent Studies, by definition, allowing less contact time.

Summer Session Contact Hours:

Over an accelerated five-week Summer Session term, typical schedules are:

• MW or TTH – 3.5 hours per day = 35 hours 
• MWF – 2.5 hours per day = 37.5 hours 

Loss of Hours Due to Holiday

Independence Day falls on Friday, July 4. This situation results in a reduction of contact hours for Session 1, 8-wk, and 10-wk courses. Faculty can decide to make up contact hours at their discretion. There is no mandate.

Academic Calendar

• Courses are required to adhere to the published Academic Calendar, which is guided by Academic Senate policy. 
• Add/Swap, Drop, Request for “W,” and Change Grade Option deadlines will not differ based on the mode of instruction.

Hybrid

Summer Session will not offer hybrid courses where part of the course is taught in person and part of it is taught online. Students need to know if they will have to be in Santa Cruz or if they are able to take the course while being in a different location. Further, Summer Session won’t use the word “hybrid” to refer to online courses that include synchronous and asynchronous elements90-minuteour enrollments are too vulnerable to the misunderstanding of the word’s meaning. If you would like to teach a course that combines synchronous and asynchronous elements, put forward the course as Asynchronous Online or Synchronou Online, whichever is the dominant format.

Discussion Section Information:

Please review the following information before scheduling your discussion section.

Definitions and Information:

• Mandatory Discussions: Students must select a discussion section to enroll in the course.
  • If you take attendance or grade participation in the section, you can make it mandatory.
  • Mandatory discussion classes are usually STEM courses.
• Optional Discussions: Students can enroll in the lecture without selecting a discussion section.
  • If you don’t take attendance or count it for grade participation, you can make the discussion optional.
• Modality:
  • In-person courses can have in-person and/or online discussions.
  • Online courses should have online discussions. In-person discussion sections, or adding synchronous discussions to an asynchronous course, are allowed but often deter enrollment.
• Midterm/Final Review sessions are separate from secondary discussion sections, and you can work with Summer Session staff to schedule these ahead of time.
• If you will work with your TA and your students to schedule a discussion, please see the information on “After Summer Starts.”
• If you’re unsure if you need discussions, please contact our staff at summer@ucsc.edu or call Ursula Nayeli Rendon at 831-502-1428.

Timeline:

Secondary/discussion sections should be scheduled before enrollment opens, between now and April 27. This gives students the option to enroll in them and ample time to know their time commitment.

Before April 27 (recommended)

• 90% of students enroll on May 1; students need to know the schedule they are signing up for.
• Enrollment requirements can be mandatory or optional.
• You can create your own attendance policies in advance.
• If assigned a TA, part of their agreement could be that they are available during the predetermined discussion section days/times.
• Summer Session can recommend discussion section times that do not conflict with other department lecture times.

Note: 90% of enrollments happen on May 1, so scheduling before enrollment opens will allow the maximum number of students to see the full course expectations before enrolling. If you want your schedule included before enrollment opens on May 1, submit by April 28. 

After May 1 (less ideal)

• Enrollment requirement can only be optional.
  • Students will enroll without a scheduled discussion section, and the Class Note will indicate that it will be added later.
  • There is no guarantee that students will read or retain this information. Sample Class Note: Weekly secondary sections will be scheduled later.
• Once your expected TA is assigned in mid-June, you work with them to determine their availability and communicate the schedule with Summer Session.
• Discussion sections are added, and you can announce them to your enrolled students through your roster. Those students have time to drop or swap if the times do not work for them.

After Summer Starts

• In this case, students will have enrolled without a scheduled discussion section. They will also have enrolled in additional courses (it is rare that students only enroll in one summer course due to the summer financial aid eligibility requirements). 
• You will schedule your discussion sections later in collaboration with your TA/Students. This could be through a student poll, class discussion, etc. 
• Sample Class Note: Weekly secondary sections will be scheduled during the first week of instruction, and discussion section meeting days/times will be coordinated with student input.
• If the section is in-person, the later we schedule, the more limited the space will be. The earlier you schedule, the more spaces will be available. 
• We recommend scheduling optional discussion sections after the start of the session, since, as noted, by June-July, students have firm schedules and late changes may require them to drop your course.

If you are still undecided about which route to take, please don’t hesitate to contact our staff: summer@ucsc.edu or call Ursula Nayeli Rendon at 831-502-1428.

Please submit this form to schedule your Discussion Sections. 

Course Cancellation

Course cancellations will be handled in accordance with Article 23 of the Agreement between the University and the UC-AFT for Unit 18 faculty, and Article 27 for BX titles.

Summer Sessions makes every effort to offer all scheduled courses that meet the minimum enrollment threshold. However, we reserve the right to cancel any course that does not reach the required enrollment.

Summer Session Course Enrollment Minimums.

• Lower division courses need 18+ students
• Upper division courses need 15+ students

In mid-May (see timeline for exact date), an initial low enrollment red flag email is sent to departments and course instructors whose classes are below the enrollment minimums. Session 1, 8-Week and 10-Week courses that do not meet the minimum 17 days before the start of the Summer Quarter will be cancelled. 

In mid-July (see timeline for exact date), any Session 2 course still below the minimums will be cancelled. 

If a class is cancelled:

• Students are not penalized. We contact them directly and help them enroll into alternate courses.

Cancellations are upsetting for instructors and students. 

It’s ideal to avoid these completely by planning ahead to offer the most needed classes and by helping us promote your class (see “Publicizing your course” section of our website).