Office of the University Registrar

Academic Scheduling

Classroom Scheduling Policies

The Office of the University Registrar is responsible for managing the utilization of university classrooms at all of Mason's campuses. The priority for the Office of the University Registrar is to maintain efficient use of classrooms while also working to meet the needs of all university departments that require use of classrooms.

Policy for all credit-bearing courses (including contract courses):
Effective Fall 2011, courses that are scheduled in Mason-owned spaces (includes university classrooms and department-owned spaces) must have start and end dates that fall within the established Fall, Spring, or Summer semester dates. Academic calendars for Fall and Spring are approved by the Faculty Senate and are posted online at http://registrar.gmu.edu/calendars/index.html.

Therefore, we follow a three-tiered approach to assigning classroom resources:

First Tier: Regular Academic Credit Courses

Regular academic credit courses are defined as those that are open for general registration to any admitted student who meets the required criteria to take the course.

The Academic Scheduling Office collaborates with academic departments to produce the Schedule of Classes each semester. This process begins approximately one year in advance of the future semester. All academic classrooms must be available to accommodate the courses that are requested.

Second Tier: Contract and Non-credit/CEU Courses

After all first-tier courses have been assigned classrooms during the initial schedule production for a given term, the Academic Scheduling Office staff will assign classrooms for contract and non-credit/CEU courses. University classrooms will only be assigned to these courses once they are entered into the Banner system by Office of the University Registrar's Contract/CEU coordinator.

Third Tier: Ad-Hoc Reservations

The Office of the University Registrar must assure that courses have been scheduled in university classrooms before allowing the scheduling of ad-hoc reservations within of the start and end date for the term.

• The Academic Scheduling Office schedules classrooms for course-related events by academic departments such as study/help sessions, group meetings, etc. Requests must be associated with a specific course and must be submitted by the instructor of record for the course or the department scheduling coordinator.
• The Office of Events Management schedules classrooms for non-course related events such as meetings, conferences, workshops, etc.

Ad-hoc reservations cannot be scheduled in university classrooms on reading days or during the final examination period.

For ad-hoc reservations requested before the last day to add for a semester, university classrooms may be scheduled for academic or non-academic events on Saturdays and Sundays only. At the Arlington campus, university classrooms may also be scheduled Monday through Friday before 4:30pm.

After the last day to add until the last day of classes for a semester, ad-hoc reservations can be scheduled in university classrooms based on availability.

In addition, the Scheduling Office staff may consider exceptions to this policy, but these exceptions must be reviewed and approved by the Academic Scheduling Manager in advance and will depend upon our ability to meet academic course needs around the event request.