Preparing for Call for Courses
Interested in teaching at UCSC this coming summer?
The following information will help you prepare for the Call for Courses. For more detailed information on teaching in Summer Session, including deadlines, policies, and guidelines, please see our timeline section.
Our office sends out the Call in mid-October. This call asks departments and colleges to put forth courses for the coming summer quarter. Courses can be taught online or in person during either the two 5-week sessions or in the 8-week or 10-week sessions.
Who can teach*
- Current UCSC Faculty & Lecturers
- Graduate Students (approval by CCI required)
- Visiting Faculty & Lecturers from other campuses
* Final hiring decisions are made by the Dean of Summer Session. We reserve the right to decline an appointment based on poor course evaluations or other concerns.
Types of courses needed
Students are looking for courses that; help them make progress in their major, are heavily impacted in the other quarters, or fill a General Education requirement. Summer is also a great time to pilot a new course. Most courses are taught in one of two 5-week sessions and are of equal quality and rigor to those offered in fall, winter, and spring. Summer courses should fulfill some of these criteria:
- Meet Major or Minor Requirements
- Carry General Education Codes
- Fulfills Fall Prerequisites
- Are heavily impacted in fall, winter, or spring
- Are not offered in fall, winter, or spring
- Upper-Division courses
- Evening courses
- Interdisciplinary appeal
- Attract enrollment
- Graduate Student teaching opportunity
Our office will evaluate all proposed courses using our Summer Session rubric.
How to put forth a course
Courses taught in the summer quarter come from Academic Departments and Colleges. If you are interested in teaching, please notify your department manager of your interest and ask what they require, as well as their timeline, as these vary by department.
Summer Session does not accept courses directly from individuals; they must come through an Academic Department or College.
To update an existing course or propose a new summer course, please submit to your Department/College by the Course Approval Calendar deadline.
Summer Session looks for major/minor requirements, general education codes, highly impacted classes, even distribution between Session 1 and 2, upper divisions that aren’t articulated at community colleges, and other attributes so we have broad, appealing course offerings each summer.
CEP encourages the submission of in-person and online course proposals to the Committee on Courses of Instruction (CCI). The Committee on Courses of Instruction (CCI) has Online Course Request Guidelines and a Course Approval Workflow.
Summer Session and the TLC have also created a timeline to prefer for teaching online next summer.
Notification
If your course will be offered in the summer, you will be notified via email from Summer Session in mid-December. Scheduling, days/times, course location, enrollment restrictions, etc., occur in winter and spring quarters.
