Printed on: 01/24/2021. Please go to http://policy.umn.edu for the most current version of the Policy or related document.

Administrative Policy

Course Enrollment Limits and Cancellation: Twin Cities, Crookston, Morris, Rochester

Responsible University Officer(s):

Executive Vice President and Provost

Policy Owner(s):

Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education
Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Education

Policy contact(s):

Susan Van Voorhis, Karen Starry

Date Revised:

Apr 30, 2020

Effective Date:

Apr 8, 2009

Policy Statement

Departments or programs may set minimum and maximum enrollment limits for any course or any section of a course. Enrollment limits are subject to review by the dean.
Each campus and college must maintain and publish a policy regarding the cancellation of low-enrollment classes or sections. These policies may differ across colleges and may allow variations by department. Any such policy must, at a minimum, take into account:
1. the impact to student academic progress, student finances, and graduation,
2. the need for a course to contribute to appropriate program breadth and curriculum, and
3. commitments made to instructors that a course would be offered.
Cancellation of low enrollment classes.
1. Classes may not be cancelled due to low enrollment after the first day of classes begins.
2. Departments are encouraged to assist students with finding replacement courses or other accommodations where cancellations negatively impact students’ degree progress and/or financial aid.

Exclusions

This policy is not applicable to the Duluth campus.

Reason for Policy

Maximum efficiency and optimal learning occurs within an enrollment range: it is not feasible or educationally sound to teach certain courses if enrollments are either too small or too large. Departments must be able to cancel a class if enrollment is too low to warrant offering it. Students need adequate time to select a replacement class if a class is cancelled in order to meet degree requirements, make timely degree progress, and maintain financial aid eligibility or meet other student status requirements.

Procedures

Forms/Instructions

Appendices

Frequently Asked Questions

Contacts

Subject	Contact	Phone	Email
Primary Contact(s)	Stacey Tidball (undergraduate) Karen Starry (graduate)	612-626-0075 612-625-2815	tidball@umn.edu starry@umn.edu
Twin Cities Campus	Stacey Tidball	612-626-0075	tidball@umn.edu
Crookston Campus	Jason Tangquist	218-281-8424	jtangqui@crk.umn.edu
Morris Campus	Marcus Muller	320-589-6011	mull0262@umn.edu
Rochester Campus	Diane Douglas	507-258-8008	douglasd@r.umn.edu

Definitions

Enrollment limits (maximum or minimum): The minimum or maximum number of students allowed in a course; the minimum informs when a course may be cancelled and the maximum informs when a course is considered closed to additional enrollments.

Responsibilities

Departments (Twin Cities)

Establish minimum and maximum course limits.
Proactively monitor course enrollments so as to cancel courses as early as possible so students can still register for additional course(s) without needed permission to do so.
Promptly notify students of course cancellations.

Deans (Twin Cities)

Maintain college policy on course enrollment limits and ensure it is published.

Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (Crookston, Morris, Rochester)

Maintain college policy on course enrollment limits and ensure it is published.

Related Information

There is no related information associated with this policy.

History

Amended:

April 2020 - Comprehensive Review.

Reduces the deadline for cancelling classes due to low enrollment from the 5th day of classes to the 1st day of classes.
Incorporates new responsibilities for the maintenance and publishing of college-level policies for cancellations.