Summer School Procedures Manual Chapter 05: Planning Course Offerings

Each school or department shares in the mission of Summer School to offer courses that meet curricular goals and the academic needs of students. A unit's schedule of course offerings should not lose money because Summer School operates on a receipts basis. Thus, Administrators must carefully consider trade-offs between high enrollment classes and specialized or developmental courses that will not pay for themselves as well as between hiring full professors and graduate student instructors.

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Summer School Procedures Manual Chapter 05: Planning Course Offerings

5. Planning Course Offerings

Schools and departments share in Summer School's mission to offer courses that meet curricular goals and students' academic needs.  Therefore, when planning course offerings, units should consider factors such as projected enrollment and ideal mode of instruction.  

Each unit's Summer School administrator submits a list of courses to be offered in each session, as well as the number of credits and a description of each course.

A. Planning

1. Planning is very important. It is critical that the initial schedule of course offerings that is set up in Connect Carolina in the fall should remain as stable as possible so that students can plan accurately. Students will see the list of course offerings on the Summer School website in December. Summer student enrollment provides all of Summer School's financial support, including instructional personnel stipends, and enrollment affects each unit's allocation for the following year. Good planning begins with a review of the previous summer's courses and enrollments. Courses that have wait lists during the fall and/or spring semesters are also likely to be successful in the summer.  Changes in curriculum requirements may also have implications for summer course enrollment.
2. Summer course offerings should be based on student and curricular need, not faculty preference. Once the schedule of courses is announced in December, students make plans based on that schedule. Only in extraordinary circumstances should changes be made after February 2. Once registration begins in March, changes in class times and instructional modes will not be considered. See the planning calendar for deadlines.
3. If a class consistently under-enrolls, Summer School will encourage the unit to replace the course. Administrators should regularly evaluate summer course enrollment data.  As programs develop, some different courses might need to be added. Some previous offerings might no longer be the most desirable 
4. Courses especially designed to attract incoming first-year students should be offered in Second Session because the public school calendar overlaps with First Session. First-year seminars can be offered with permission from the Office of Undergraduate Education.
5. Summer School administrators must verify that all courses included in the summer schedule have been approved by the proper administrative board in time to be offered the following summer.
6. Summer School administrators should collaborate closely with the unit’s curricular leadership when determining course offerings and staffing assignments. 
7. Units can set up independent study or directed reading courses and must follow the College of Arts & Sciences or appropriate unit guidelines for such courses. 
8. In rare circumstances, a unit may add a course after registration begins. Summer School grants permission after consultation with the unit's Summer School administrator and curricular leadership.
9. If any course is initially created with an instructor designation of "staff," units should identify the instructor no later than April 30.

B. Budget Considerations

1. Be aware that trade-offs cannot be made between allocations for First Session and Second Session because these are in different fiscal years. Summer School can make adjustments in unit allocations within sessions to accommodate specific needs.  Please send additional funding requests to Summer School at summer_school@unc.edu

C. Class Times and Contact Hours

1. Classes should be scheduled using standard meeting patterns as shown in the calendar. (See Summer School Manual Chapter 03.)
2. Classes meeting at other hours are discouraged because non-standard meeting patterns could prevent a student from registering for additional courses. Summer School may ask the Office of the University Registrar to approve flexible scheduling for a specific courses/courses if there are compelling extenuating circumstances. 
3. A course for graduate credit should meet fewer than three contact hours per day. The Graduate School guidelines require at least one week of class contact per credit hour.
4. Generally, a three-credit-hour course should have a minimum of 37.5 contact hours equaling 2,250 minutes and for a four-credit course should have a minimum of 50 contact hours equaling 3,000 minutes (Final examination time should be included in contact hour calculations). Faculty are expected to hold class meetings at the scheduled times and locations and not shorten the teaching schedule. Any change should have approval of the unit Summer School Administrator or the unit's chair/dean. Guidelines for courses with other numbers of credit hours are roughly proportional. Activity courses, studio courses, field courses, and laboratory courses count three hours as equivalent to one contact hour.  Remote courses should provide instructional and learning activities equivalent to the required number of contact hours. With department approval, in-person courses may employ remote (synchronous or asynchronous) content for up to 40% of the required contact hours. 
5. Maymester courses must meet at least 12 days, and the final exam time is included within the 12 days. Maymester course sections are designated by 01M, 02M, etc., and must be scheduled in the three times outlined in the Summer School Manual Chapter 03 (Summer Calendar).
6. Courses that begin in First Session but end in Second Session will be designated as Second Session because that is when grades are posted. They can be listed in First Session offerings with the extended dates included as part of the course description. Instructors, however, should be nominated and paid in Second Session when the course ends.
7. For First Session courses, schedulers should ensure that courses did not default to Session A but are accurately set up in Session 1.