Room & Course Scheduling Policies & Procedures

Policy and Regulations Governing the Use of Centrally-Scheduled Classrooms 

Download the full University of Arizona Centrally Scheduled Classrooms policy and regulations 

Basic policy overview:

  1. University classrooms are non-public forums, devoted and maintained for the purpose of providing higher education and are not places of public access unless they are reserved as set forth in this Policy, in which case they become limited public forums as defined below. 
  2. The University is committed to protecting the free speech rights of students, faculty, staff and invited guests. The purpose of this policy is to respect the dedicated educational purpose of University classrooms while making such space available for expressive activity when not otherwise in use for its dedicated purpose. 
  3. The University may regulate the time, place, and manner of free speech and expressive activities in order to prevent unreasonable interference or disruption of its educational, research, outreach and business functions, normal or scheduled uses of University property by the Campus Community, as well as protecting public health, safety and welfare. Commercial Activity is prohibited on campus except as authorized by the Sponsored Commercial Activity on University Property Policy. 

UArizona Colleges and Departments must follow the guidelines below so spaces are utilized in the most efficient manner, allowing the most class sections to be scheduled in each Centrally Scheduled Classroom (CSC).  

  1. Peak Hours: Peak hours in Centrally Scheduled Classrooms are defined as 9:00am – 3:00pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and 9:30am – 3:30pm on Tuesday and Thursday. 
  2. Standard Meeting Patterns: Classes meeting during peak hours must be scheduled according to the Standard Meeting Pattern for the term they are scheduled in. Classes with nonstandard meeting times during peak hours cannot be guaranteed Centrally Scheduled Classroom space, but may be scheduled at the discretion of RCS if classroom space is available after all classes with standard meeting patterns are scheduled. 
  3. 35/35/30 Policy: Departments should balance their class offerings equally between Monday/Wednesday/Friday and Tuesday/Thursday meeting patterns. No more than 35% of a department’s classes scheduled in Centrally Scheduled Classrooms should meet during peak hours on MWF, no more than 35% during peak hours on TR, and the remaining 30% during non-peak hours (before 9 or 9:30am, after 3 or 3:30pm, or on weekends). 
    1. This rule does not apply to classes meeting in Departmentally Scheduled rooms or off campus; classes scheduled in those rooms will not count towards the total percentage. 
    2. If a conflict arises wherein otherwise equivalent classes from different departments request the same room at the same time, preference will be given to the department which best complies with the 35/35/30 policy. 
  4. Historical Enrollment: Use historical enrollment when requesting a centrally scheduled classroom. A class should fill at least 70% of seats in the classroom assigned.   
  5. Room Requests: Rooms are assigned to classes for each term based on room size, room preferences, and technology needs, independent of any room assignments that were made for previous terms. 
    1. In order to receive an appropriate room assignment, the Enrollment Capacity, Requested Room Capacity, and Room Characteristics fields should be accurately filled out in UAccess Student before the end of the Open Scheduling period for each term. Class requests submitted after this deadline will be assigned rooms after the initial room assignment process through the Section Form request. 
    2. For special needs such as disability or hybrid scheduling, please fill out the Priority Scheduling request.

In order to reserve a Centrally/Departmentally Scheduled Room for an event, please ensure you follow the regulations below. 

The event is sponsored by a U of A Staff/Faculty, ASUA Student Organization, or Insured Off-Campus Organization. 

The event sponsor and organization have read the University of Arizona's Office of Registrar's Policy and Regulations Governing the Use of Centrally Scheduled Classrooms (download) and agrees to abide by them. 

The event fills at least a 70% capacity of the room requested. Exceptions may be granted if a specific room is needed with an appropriate justification. i.e. The event is requesting a room with a stage for a performance, etc. 

Scheduling Tools:  

If you need any security or safety assistance at your event, please contact the University of Arizona Police Department at 520-621-8273.

The Global (GLBL) campus

The Global (GLBL) campus is used solely to schedule classes that are offered at our microcampuses. Due to the different timelines of our partners, GLBL courses are not scheduled during Open Scheduling and must be scheduled via the ticket process. 

To ensure these courses are ready to begin by the partner’s start date, the following two-part workflow should be followed: 

1. Upon receipt of the partner institution’s academic calendar dates, the RCS scheduler will submit an ADD ticket with the appropriate term, session, dates, campus, and instruction modality.  

2. Once meeting times are confirmed and shared with the RCS scheduler, the department will submit a CHANGE ticket with those meeting times.  

Due to the unique nature of our global partners, meeting times are commonly received late in the preceding semester. GLBL courses may be submitted without meeting time patterns up to the day before the start of the partner’s semester.  The global education office works to collect and distribute these details from our partner institutions and can be reached at global.curriculum@arizona.edu for any related questions. 

In order to facilitate co-teaching and course modifications for our microcampus courses, the dates must be submitted as early as possible to ensure UA Faculty can request their course D2L shell and add their DCC co-instructor. 

  • The course will generally be dynamically dated (DYN) or carry-over (COC).  
  • All GLBL course sections must use 5xx section numbers. 
  • GLBL campus courses will also be listed under the specific microcampus location. 
  • The U of A Faculty Member will be listed as Primary Instructor and Global Lecturer as Secondary Instructor.  
  • Microcampus students are unable to be enrolled in two campuses. If a GLBL course is to be co-convened course with a MAIN/UA Online/GLBD campus, an additional GLBL section must be created and co-convened. 

The Global Direct (GLBD) campus

The Global Direct (GLBD) campus is used for international students outside of the United States that are not part of the microcampus program. This campus was created to accommodate visa and travel restrictions imposed in certain regions in response to Covid-19. Generally, students in this campus plan to transfer to MAIN campus once able. These courses are generally co-convened with courses that are asynchronously online on other campuses (ex. MAIN or ONLN).  

  • When submitting a ticket for a GLBD section, please indicate which course, section, and class number it will be co-convened with in the “Additional Comments” section.  
  • All GLBD courses should use 4xx section numbers.  
  • Global staff members will inform the RCS scheduler as to how many seats the GLBD section will need; this number can be added to the “enrollment capacity” section of the add ticket form.