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Course Cancellation Guidelines

(Updated January 13, 2026)

These guidelines apply to both campus-based (“day”) and OCE sections.

  1. Classes are subject to cancellation if enrollment is below prescribed minimums – 6 for graduate courses, 14 for undergraduate courses and 10 for grad/undergrad co-convened courses. The minimum applies to the total number of students in combined sections taught concurrently, for example, cross-listed courses. Courses that are required for students’ on-time degree completion may be exempted from these minimums in cases where there is no other solution for students’ progression. In such cases, the Department Chair shall provide appropriate documentation, including a list of enrolled students who must take the course to remain on track. Classes with enrollment greater than these minimums may also be subject to cancellation if there is capacity in other courses that meet the same degree completion requirements.
  2. Enrollment calculations for course cancellation decisions shall take into account factors such as whether the course is cross-listed, the course’s place and role in the program curriculum, and whether the course is required for another program of study.
  3. When there are multiple sections of a course being offered, sections may be combined. If necessary, the Department Chair shall work with the Dean’s Office to find a schedule for the course section that works for all of the students.
  4. To serve student and faculty advance planning and advising, departments should prepare draft two-year class schedules based on program graduation requirements, historical enrollment trends and projected demand. Course rotations in this two-year period should be clearly indicated to make clear which courses will be offered just once in this period.
  5. Departments should plan course capacities (both the number of sections and section sizes) proactively by reviewing historical enrollments as well as projected student demand based on the number of majors, minors, availability of alternative course choices, etc. Proactive increases or decreases in course capacity should be made accordingly at the time the schedule is submitted to the Dean’s Office.
  6. Enrollment in all “day” courses should be monitored by chairs and college deans throughout the open enrollment period to ensure class cancellation decisions are made early enough for affected students to make necessary adjustments to their schedules. Since graduate students have a tendency to register late, some departments have found it useful to email their graduate students to let them know that a particular course may be canceled if enrollments do not soon meet the minimum.
  7. Enrollment in all OCE courses shall be monitored following the guidelines described in the faculty federation agreement article XII, B, 1.
  8. Faculty workload questions should be discussed between the Department Chair and the Dean. While chairs should make every effort to inform faculty of any changes in teaching assignment as early as possible, when a class is canceled, chairs may have to reassign faculty to a class they have not taught previously. Contractually, a two-week notice is required for the hiring or releasing of part-time lecturers. Decisions regarding the reassignment of faculty should be discussed between the affected faculty, the Chair, and the Dean.
  9. Initial course cancellation decisions will be made one month after the start of each registration period and no later than four weeks prior to the start of the fall and spring semesters.
  10. Where a course is subject to cancellation, the Dean’s Office will work with department Chairpersons to identify acceptable alternatives. If a course subject to cancellation is a prerequisite course in other programs, the Chair of the other Department(s) shall be notified before the action to cancel is taken in order to identify acceptable alternatives.
  11. Each Dean’s Office will identify a college process to notify impacted students of course cancellations. Departments should, as appropriate, advise students in canceled sections about alternatives.
  12. If students require a low-enrollment course to graduate and are in their last semester, or the students are nearing graduation and cannot be accommodated in the class in a subsequent semester without disrupting their path to degree completion, Deans will work with Department Chairpersons to identify acceptable alternative courses or other solutions that keep the students on track for timely completion.