Enactment & Revisions

Enacted: 8/17/20

Revised: 9/16/20

Policy Statement

Context 

While small class sizes can provide real benefits to students, financial realities constrain how many instructors we can employ. As a result, class enrollments that are too low are unaffordable for the college and institution. Moreover, workload inequities among faculty can occur when the same low-enrolled classes are allowed to continue over time. 

Because of these concerns, the policy below provides transparent and consistent guidelines about what constitutes appropriate minimum class size. It also provides exception criteria in recognition of the value we place on certain unique class offerings and ensuring degree progress for our students. 

Classes should be cancelled when enrollments do not meet the minimum class sizes, and this policy provides more details about that below. Mindful that class cancellations are something to avoid because of the disruption to instructors and students, departments should use these class size benchmarks proactively to be strategic in creating the class schedule, to discontinue/reduce scheduling classes that have had low enrollments in the past, and to consider student-centered curriculum changes to offer classes that enroll well in your degree programs. Minimum class sizes can also help department heads ensure that assigned teaching loads are equitable across instructors. 

Class enrollments are an important metric in our annual budget meetings and ultimate budget allocation for each department in the College. Running small classes (outside of exceptions) is a strong indication that resources for instruction in the department will likely be reduced. The College (and recently the Provost’s Office) has developed data-based analytics to monitor class sizes by departments and instructors to better document these past enrollment patterns, and these can be made available to departments. 

Minimum Class Size 

Except for the cases discussed below, departments should cancel classes that are below the following minimum enrollment levels (measured in counts of students): 

• 20 for lower-division undergraduate (100- and 200-level) classes 

• 15 for upper-division undergraduate (300- and 400-level) and 500-level classes 

• 5 for 600-level classes 

In addition, low-enrollment sections of multi-section classes, when sufficient seats are available in other sections to accommodate expected enrollment, should be cancelled. 

There are institutional and pedagogical reasons for the following exceptions to these minimum enrollment guidelines: 

1) When cancellation of the class would likely delay or impede the enrolled students from making sufficient progress to their degree and other alternative classes or arrangements are demonstrably not possible. 

2) Capstone, honors, or similar classes that provide students a unique opportunity for a small-class, intensive experience. These need to be limited in number and ultimate approval for offering these classes is at the discretion of the dean. 

3) Graduate classes that are essential to program requirements. These need to be limited in number, and ultimate approval for offering these classes is at the discretion of the dean 

4) Core educational classes where class maximum enrollments have been set fairly low for pedagogical reasons. These include composition classes and some introductory language classes. In these cases, class cancellation should be tied to how full the class is relative to the class maximum with a typical standard of considering cancellation when the class is below 2/3 of the class maximum. 

5) Independent study classes (e.g., classes taught out-of-load and numbered 401 through 409 at the undergraduate level and individual study classes at the 600 level). 

Class Cancellations 

Classes should be cancelled at least one week in advance of the start of a term if they are not meeting minimum class size and don’t fall under one of the exceptions. The department head is ultimately responsible for cancelling classes, ensuring that a cancellation is communicated immediately to the students enrolled in the class and an alternative teaching or other professional assignment is found for the instructor, though they may delegate these tasks to the department manager, associate head, or other staff in the department, as appropriate. 

The department and College will follow the Collective Bargaining Agreements with United Academics and the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation, as well as other related policies and past practices, in determining course assignments and workload adjustments for instructors whose class has been cancelled. 

On a final note, these guidelines are for academic year enrollments, not summer term. They are also for classes, not discussion sections, though similar principles should be applied to discussion sections, which may be likewise cancelled when they are significantly under-enrolled.