Schedule Planning
OSWSP provides many resources to help departments plan their summer and winter schedules, including enrollment history and financial data for past summer and winter sessions. Check “Quick Links” on the home page to learn more about these tools.
Our office also provides a course proposal form for departments to use when collecting course information. This form is optional and for internal planning purposes only. Download and complete the course proposal form here: Summer Course Proposal Form
Changes / Edits to the Summer Schedule in PeopleSoft
If you find it necessary to make changes to the summer schedule after the January 2 deadline, please notify the Office of Summer, Winter & Special Programs by submitting an RT ticket. Include “Summer Session Schedule Change” in the subject line of your ticket. Changes to the schedule, particularly those involving instructors, require our office’s involvement to ensure accuracy of information for room scheduling and contracting.
Summer Scheduling Guidelines
Contact Hour Requirements – Non-lab courses (lecture, discussion, seminar) must meet for 12.5 hours per credit to fulfill university contact hour requirements and lab courses must meet for 25 hours per credit. Refer to the Contact Hour Requirements page under “Scheduling” for further information.
Standard Meeting Patterns – Standard class meeting patterns have been established based on the minimum contact hour requirements. View summer and winter session meeting patterns on the Standard Class Meeting Pattern page under “Scheduling” for further details.
Hybrid Course Scheduling – A class that replaces one or more of its weekly, face-to-face sessions with online activities that may or may not occur during a fixed date or time is considered a hybrid course. These courses do not follow the standard class meeting patterns due to less face-to-face time and more self-directed learning. Faculty who teach hybrid courses are responsible for establishing and publishing a regular in-person meeting pattern, so that students know when they are expected to attend class on campus. Faculty are also responsible for determining the percentage of contact hours that should be moved from the classroom to online.
Example: A 3-credit hybrid course scheduled in a 6-week session that replaces 50% of its face-to-face meeting time with online activities could be scheduled to meet in-person only one day a week during the standard class meeting times. A 3-credit face-to-face course would meet two days a week during the same standard class meeting times.
Note: If selecting this type of instruction mode in SA, please list only face-to-face class meeting times on the meeting tab.
Online Course Scheduling – Online courses eliminate in-person class meetings entirely and move all learning experiences online, using web-based, multi-media resources, commercial software, and automatically evaluated assessments with guided feedback. These courses do not follow the standard meeting patterns due to no face-to-face time.
Asynchronous: students can access the class anytime through Blackboard to learn the material on their own time and schedule. In an asynchronous course, students do not need to be online at the same time.
Synchronous: students are required to meet together online at pre-designated times based on a meeting pattern for the entire session. Synchronous courses should clearly state the required meeting pattern on the schedule of classes, so that students can plan in advance the days and times they must be available online.
UMBC’s Faculty Development Center has developed a tip sheet on Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Instruction. You can find more information about Synchronous vs. Asynchronous remote instruction on their website.
Holidays – There are three holidays where the campus will be closed that will impact summer session one courses: Monday, May 27, 2024 for Memorial Day, Wednesday, June 19, 2024 in observance of Juneteenth, and Thursday, July 4, 2024 for Independence Day. Classes which regularly meet on those days during session one will need to schedule make-up dates if they do not otherwise meet the minimum time requirements of 12.5 contact hours per credit. Make-up class dates are determined by the instructor.
Training for Scheduling Coordinators
If you are a new scheduling coordinator or just need a refresher on how to schedule courses in PeopleSoft, training is offered. Fundamentals, advanced, refresher and best practices training sessions are offered throughout the year. For further details and registration, contact the Registrar’s Office or go here for online how-to guides.