Printed on: 04/02/2020. Please go to http://policy.umn.edu for the most current version of the Policy or related document.
University of Minnisota  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:
Dec 22, 2009
Effective Date:
Apr 8, 2009

Policy Statement

  1. Enrollment limits for course sections
    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.
  2. Cancellation of low-enrollment courses
    1. Each campus and college must maintain a policy regarding the cancellation of low-enrollment courses 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 effect of cancellation of a course or courses on student academic progress 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.
    2. Courses may not be cancelled after the fifth day of classes for that term.

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 course if it is too under-prescribed to warrant offering it, as well as to limit the enrollment to maximize learning. Students need adequate time to select a replacement course if a course is cancelled.

Procedures

There are no procedures associated with this policy.

Forms/Instructions

There are no forms associated with this policy.

Appendices

There are no appendices associated with this policy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can college guidelines on canceling low enrollment courses be found?
Each college of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities should have its guidelines for canceling low enrollment courses on its website. Policies for the University of Minnesota, Morris and the University of Minnesota, Rochester can be obtained in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

Contacts

SubjectContactPhoneEmail
Primary Contact(s) Sue Van Voorhis (undergraduate)
Karen Starry (graduate)		 612-625-8098
612-625-2815		 vanvo002@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.

Related Information

There is no related information for this policy.

History

Amended:
December 2009 - Policy now applies to Crookston.
Effective:
April 2009

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