Please carefully review this document in full before beginning your Final Call processing and reach out to your Curricular Services contact with any questions.

Overview

Room Assignment Information

Preparation Resources

Policies

Guidelines and Reminders

Overview

The fall and spring curricular builds consist of two call periods: Initial Call and Final Call. As the name suggests, Final Call allows departments a final opportunity to carefully review their schedule of classes and make edits before publication. Class information can be updated and new class sections can be scheduled. Curricular reps should also review their room assignments if they requested a General Assignment classroom during Initial Call and may request new rooms if necessary.

Final Call is much shorter than Initial Call because most of the work to build the schedule of classes should have been completed during Initial Call. Following Final Call, curricular reps’ update access in SIS will again be temporarily limited while Curricular Services reviews course listings in SIS, conducts final audits, and adjusts room assignments before the schedule of classes is released.

Room Assignment Information

The following room assignment information is unique to Final Call. Please review these details carefully and follow the outlined procedures at all times during this last period of the curricular build.

General Assignment Classroom Requests and Assignments

General Assignment (GA) classroom assignments, although completed, are subject to change by Curricular Services following Final Call. Requests for classroom changes should only be made if the assigned room is too small or lacks characteristics required for teaching.

Classroom availability at prime hours is very limited. Please do not add new sections that require a GA classroom at prime hours.

During Final Call, requests for new GA classroom assignments must be initiated in SIS. In addition to updating the Facility ID (more details below), be sure to update Requested Room Capacity and indicate required Room Characteristics as appropriate. Information about GA classrooms for each term are available on the GA room lists posted on the Classroom Scheduling webpage.

LYNX

LYNX is the interface used to synchronize data between SIS and 25Live and is turned on for a term at the start of Final Call. When a change is made to Facility ID, Mtg Start, Mtg End, Days, and/or Requested Room Capacity in SIS, LYNX captures the changes within a few minutes and attempts to synchronize that data in 25Live.

Because LYNX is attempting to sync data between SIS and 25Live in real time, when a room change is made, it will drop the old room and try to assign the new room. LYNX will remove the old room even if the new room is not available. This also happens when entering 0000 GA RM, since the old room is no longer displaying in SIS. When a classroom change has been requested during Final Call, Curricular Services cannot guarantee the old classroom back or a better assignment.

Requesting Any GA Classroom

• Enter 0000 GA RM in the Facility ID field in SIS.
• Curricular Services will then assign a room based on the requested room characteristics, room capacity, and department building preferences.

Requesting a Specific GA Classroom

• Use 25Live to view classroom availability. You may also use the Class Facility Usage page in SIS (Curriculum Management > Facility and Event Information > Class Facility Usage), but any special events or room blocks entered in 25Live will not be reflected there.
• Once you have found a suitable classroom, enter the Facility ID in SIS. LYNX will capture this update and will make the assignment in 25Live if the room is available. If the specific room is not available, Curricular Services will instead assign the best available room.

Swapping Rooms

• All parties involved in a room swap should update the Facility IDs in SIS.
• Send an email to your Curricular Services contact with the details of the swap. LYNX may or may not process the changes successfully on its own, so it needs to be monitored carefully.
• For more complicated swaps involving multiple classes, it is recommended that curricular reps do not make the changes themselves. Instead, please work with Curricular Services to ensure that all room changes are fully processed in both SIS and 25Live.
• Note: This guidance also applies to any internal classroom swaps that you make within your own subject. Swaps are not complete until room assignment data on all involved sections matches in SIS and 25Live. Failure to notify Curricular Services of any and all swaps may result in mismatched data and uninvolved parties securing your preferred room. Curricular Services cannot guarantee the resolution of a swap if you do not promptly notify us after making the Facility ID updates in SIS.

Classroom Scheduling Policies

Departments are expected to comply with the university's Classroom Scheduling policies regarding the use of classrooms for credit instruction. Your subject's classes should be spread throughout the day and week and should conform to standard class meeting patterns. Discussion sections should primarily be scheduled during non-peak hours.

Preparation Resources

The following preparation resources that were relevant during Initial Call remain relevant during Final Call. As such, it’s important to keep them in mind as you make adjustments to the schedule of classes during this last period of the curricular build.

The Curricular Build webpage and Box folder are useful resources that contain examples, documents, and links to assist you in building and maintaining your schedule of classes.

The Student Information System (SIS) KnowledgeBase is home to several useful documents related to various aspects of the curricular build (and other SIS functionality that you may use in your work). These documents include important process and policy reminders, step-by-step instructions, and screenshots.

The following resources are available in the Curricular Build Box folder for your review in preparation for updates. Note that the posted reports are static, point-in-time snapshots. You have access to run updated copies of these and other reports on demand in SIS anytime you'd like; please consult SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - Curricular Reports for guidance.

• Final Call PDF Schedule of Classes: All courses being offered in a term. Note: Classes set to not display (i.e., the Schedule Print box is unchecked) are excluded from this report.
  
  
• Distance Education Sections: All sections scheduled with an instruction mode of WO (online only) or WC (online, some classroom).
  
  
• Independent Study Sections: All scheduled independent study sections.
  
  
• Meets-With Sections: All coded meets-with sections (MW, SL, and XM).
  
  
• Not On Schedule of Classes List: All sections that have the Schedule Print box unchecked and therefore will not display in Course Search & Enroll.
  
  
• Optional Attendance Sections: All sections set as Optional on Adjust Class Associations.
  
  
• Room Request List: All sections assigned to a General Assignment (GA) classroom space.
  
  
• Section-Level Requisites: All section-level requisites attached to classes.
  
  
• Variable Credit Course Offerings: All variable credit courses scheduled in the term and their current minimum and maximum credit values.

Policies

The following policies that were relevant during Initial Call remain relevant during Final Call. As such, it’s important to keep them in mind as you make adjustments to the schedule of classes during this last period of the curricular build.

75-Minute Undergraduate Sections

Undergraduate classes (courses numbered 699 and below) scheduled for 75-minute meetings on M, W, F, MW, MF, WF, or MWF between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. are not permitted to be offered without dean's recommendation and vice provost's approval. See also: Process Guidelines for Scheduling 75-minute Undergraduate Lecture Sections.

Classroom Scheduling Policies

Departments are expected to comply with the university's Classroom Scheduling policies regarding the use of classrooms for credit instruction. See the Room Assignment Information section above for more details.

Evening Midterm Exams

All classes giving evening midterm exams must include a Class Note so students are aware of potential conflicts with evening courses or other commitments. Whenever possible, the times and/or dates of the evening exams should be included in the Class Note.

Nonstandard Fees Courses

All approved sections of courses that charge a rate different from the standard fee structure should include a Class Note stating "Nonstandard fees course."

Special Course Fees

In accordance with UW System policy, special course fees may be assessed in order to pay for certain instructional costs that are not covered by the course’s regular instructional budget. Special course fees may be used for a variety of purposes, as deemed necessary by the institution, for the delivery of a credit course. Departments should add a Class Note denoting special course fees once approval has been granted. Refer to the Division of Business Services' Special Course Fee policies and procedures for more details.

Guidelines and Reminders

The following guidelines and reminders that were relevant during Initial Call remain relevant during Final Call. As such, it’s important to keep them in mind as you make adjustments to the schedule of classes during this last period of the curricular build.

Deleting Sections

Use the Delete Row button in SIS to remove a class section from the schedule during the curricular build. Do not use the Canceled Section function during Initial or Final Call. Sections should be canceled only after the schedule of classes has been published. See also: SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - Deleting vs. Canceling Sections.

Scheduling a New Course

The Maintain Schedule of Classes page in SIS lists all classes that were term rolled from the prior like-term (at the beginning of Initial Call) and those that have been added during the build. If you are searching in Maintain Schedule of Classes and do not see a course that your department plans to teach, you will need to use the Schedule New Course page to add it to the schedule of classes for that term. See also: SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - Scheduling a New Course.

Never Key-Change Section Numbers or Session Codes

All section number and session code changes must be done by adding and deleting sections. For example, do not change a LEC 004 to a LEC 003. Instead, delete LEC 004 and add a new section for LEC 003. Additionally, if a class is going to be offered in a different session than it was in the last like-term, do not key-change over the existing session code. Instead, delete the incorrect section and rebuild it in the correct session. Key-changing over existing text in the Class Section or Session fields can corrupt your data, rendering the course/section inaccessible.

Session Codes

A session is an identifier that denotes the begin date, length, and number of weeks of instruction. A list of session codes is available online. When adding a section in SIS, choose a valid session code. If you need to build a class in a session that is not available in SIS, submit a New Session Code Request Form (opens in new tab).

Check all sections to ensure that their session code corresponds with when the class will be taught. Scheduling classes in the correct session is essential, as sessions can affect add/drop deadlines, tuition refund schedules, housing payments for students using veteran education benefits, compliance with state law and federal Title IV financial aid regulations, and more. See also: SIS/Getting Started - Codes in SIS: Terms, Sessions and Subjects.

Never Repeat Section Numbers Within a Course

Every section of a course must have its own unique section number, even if scheduled in different sessions. Courses using repeated section numbers across multiple sessions are known to cause issues with enrollment.

Associated Class Numbers

Review and update your associated class numbers as necessary. Do not repeat associated class numbers across offerings in different sessions. Each unique enrollment package must have its own association number. Use associated class number 9999 for Range 1 components associated with multiple Range 2 components. For example, if a lecture is associated with multiple discussion sections, the lecture should have the associated class number 9999 and each discussion should have a unique associated class number. Remember that variable credits, honors designations, and section-level requisites are coded based on associated class number. See also: SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - Class Associations.

Instruction Mode

Instruction mode values roll forward from the last like-term. Check to ensure that each section's instruction mode accurately reflects the instructional plan. Review the Distance Education Sections report to ensure that distance learning courses are correctly identified. When using Course Search & Enroll, students have the option of filtering by Instruction Mode. See also: university policy on modes of instruction.

Topics Courses

Topic titles roll forward from the last like-term. Carefully review all topics courses to determine if updates are needed. Topics classes with multiple components (ex: LEC/DIS) must have the Topic ID assigned to all sections/components so that the topic details display properly in Course Search & Enroll and on student transcripts. New topic titles can be added in SIS at Curric & Enroll Rep WorkCenter > Add Course Topics. See also: SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - Add a New Topic.

Given intricacies with the indexing of course data in Course Search & Enroll, changes to topics on scheduled sections must be finalized by the Final Call deadline. After the schedule of classes is published, changing topics on existing sections is not permitted. If a topic needs to be changed post-publish, you must cancel the old/incorrect class section and build a new class section with the new/correct topic title.

Community-Based Learning Courses

Departments should have the course attribute for community-based learning placed on community-based learning sections in SIS, which allow users to search for these offerings in Course Search & Enroll. See also: SIS - Class/Course Attributes.

Meeting Patterns

When entering meeting pattern information in SIS, be sure to enter both start/end times as well as day(s) of the week, or use a standard meeting pattern value. Keep in mind that entering a begin time without an end time will default to a 50-minute section when a standard meeting pattern value has not been entered. See also: SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - Maintain Schedule of Classes: Meetings Tab.

WC Instruction Mode and Multiple Meeting Patterns

When scheduling WC (online, some classroom) sections, add a day/time meeting pattern and facility ID for the in-person portion of instruction as usual. You may also add a second day/time meeting pattern as needed for synchronous online instruction. However, you should not add a second meeting pattern for online instruction that is wholly asynchronous. That is, do not add a second meeting pattern that has no day/time and only has the ONLINE facility ID assigned. Such “extra” asynchronous online meeting patterns are a source of confusion for some students and other users of Course Search & Enroll and SIS. They have also posed technical challenges for processing room assignments because of nuances in how multiple meeting patterns are handled in 25Live, our classroom scheduling platform. 

Instructor Assignments

Assign instructors to class sections as those details are finalized within your department. See also: SIS - Instructor Assignments: Guidelines and Considerations.

Requested Room Capacity

Requested Room Capacity is used by Curricular Services when assigning GA classrooms. Review your requested room capacities in SIS and/or utilize the Room Request List report. See also: SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - Maintain Schedule of Classes: Enrollment Control Tab.

Enrollment Capacity

Enrollment Capacity is used by SIS and Course Search & Enroll to determine the number of students allowed to enroll in a section. Review your enrollment capacities in SIS and/or utilize the Curricular Enrollment report. Compare enrollment capacities to requested room capacities. Enrollment Capacity should always be less than or equal to Requested Room Capacity. See also: SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - Maintain Schedule of Classes: Enrollment Control Tab and SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - Update Sections of a Class.

Variable Credit Courses

Minimum and maximum credit values roll forward from the last like-term. Newly scheduled sections of variable credit courses will default to the minimum and maximum credit values as set in the course catalog. Carefully review all variable credit courses to determine if updates are needed. Be mindful when scheduling new sections of variable credit courses and pay special attention to topics courses; correctly set the minimum and maximum credits for each offering and be sure you are not inadvertently using the course’s full credit range if that is not appropriate. See also: SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - Editing Variable Credit.

Honors Designations

Honors designations roll forward from the last like-term. Carefully review all courses to determine if updates are needed. See also: SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - Adding Honors Designation.

If you have courses that are always offered for honors in any and all terms (fall, spring, and summer), that designation can be coded at the course catalog level to eliminate the need for manual honors coding when new sections are added. If catalog-level honors coding is of interest, a course proposal must be submitted in Lumen.

Optional Attendance

Review the Optional Attendance Sections report and notify your Curricular Services contact of any optional attendance updates. Add a Class Note to explain enrollment options for classes with optional sections, as students will be prompted to make choices when enrolling (e.g., “Grad students: 3 cr, lec only, no discussion. Undergrads: 4 cr, lec and discussion required.”). 

Section-Level Requisites

Section-level requisites roll forward from the last like-term. Carefully review all courses to determine if updates are needed. If you need a new section-level requisite, submit a Section-Level Requisite Request Form (opens in new tab). See also: SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - Adding Section-Level Requisites.

Independent Study Sections

All active and canceled independent study sections roll forward from the last like-term, along with their instructor assignments. Review the Independent Study Sections report and delete any IND sections that are no longer needed (i.e., instructor has left the university) so that they do not continue to needlessly term roll. See also: SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - Reviewing and Updating Independent Study Sections.

Combined Sections

Combined sections are classes that are connected or "bound" in SIS. There are four different bonds that may exist between sections of courses: XL (cross-listed), MW (meets-with), SL (section-level meets-with), and XM (cross-listed meets-with). Each combined sections bond has one primary subject and one or more secondary subjects. These details can be found on the Combined Section Detail page in SIS. See also: SIS - Combined Sections: Types and Definitions.

For all combined sections, the primary subject should update section information in SIS and submit any curricular forms as necessary. It is also the primary subject’s responsibility to notify the secondary subject(s) of combined course offerings and updates to be made in SIS. The secondary subject(s) should update enrollment capacities, variable credits, and honors as directed by the primary subject. See also: SIS - Updating Combined Sections.

Review the Meets-With Sections report to determine if updates are needed to your non-XL combined sections (MW, SL, and XM). Submit a Combined Sections Form (opens in new tab) to notify Curricular Services of any necessary meets-with updates. All sections that are a part of a meets-with bond must exist in SIS before Curricular Services can build a new combined sections record. Part of the record build requires that we provide the class number of each section to be combined; SIS generates the class number when the section is added. Additionally, all information on the Meetings tab (facility ID, times, days, and instructors) must be the same for all sections involved in a meets-with bond before Curricular Services can establish the combined sections record. The primary department must communicate meets-with information to all secondary departments so they, in turn, can build the meets-with offering before Curricular Services combines the records.

Global Notes

Global Notes roll forward from the most recently published term. Global Notes are meant to display information relevant to all of a subject's course offerings and will appear in Course Search & Enroll under the Subject Notes heading for each course in the subject. Review your subject's Global Notes at Curric & Enroll Rep WorkCenter > Global Notes Table and make updates as needed. See also: SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - Global Notes.

Textbooks

Once an instructor is assigned to a section, they will be able to enter textbooks through the Faculty Center, even if the schedule of classes has not yet been published. Curricular representatives are also able to enter textbook information on behalf of instructors. See also: Faculty Center - Entering Textbooks and SIS/Building Your Schedule of Classes - How to Enter Textbook Information.