Office of the Registrar

How to Build Your Courses

Throughout the year, the Registrar’s Office works in conjunction with academic departments across campus to create the schedule of courses for each upcoming semester. The course building process begins well in advance of the start of each term. Classes offered in the Fall begin being developed in early December, Spring classes in early August, and Summer classes in early October.

As the beginning of the course building process draws closer, our office sends out an email to departmental staff announcing training opportunities and providing updates and general information about the process.

Resources

Please review the Schedule of Courses Tools section on the Dean or Chair page of myUVM.

Spring 2023 Schedule of Courses Timeline

Date(s)ActivityAugust 1, 2022 at 8:00AMSWCSCHD opens to departmentsSeptember 6, 2022 at 8:00AM*Dean’s Office access turned on (department access off); course fee reports will be distributed
to colleges/schools for review by Student Financial ServicesSeptember 19, 2022 at 8:00AMRegistrar’s Office begins review (dean access off)September 30, 2022See Also entries due from College of Arts and SciencesOctober 4-5, 2022Department proofingOctober 7, 2022Faculty begin loading Expanded Section DescriptionsOctober 7-14, 2022Classroom scheduling (individual meetings with Registrar’s Office and Associate Deans)October 17-21, 2022Registrar’s Office schedules general purpose classroomsOctober 24, 2022Schedule of Courses posted online; faculty can issue overrides and add TAs to BlackboardOctober 24-28, 2022Deans’ Offices review classroom assignmentsOctober 31, 2022Expanded Section Descriptions deadlineOctober 31-November 4, 2022Faculty review classroom assignmentsNovember 4-11, 2022Registrar’s Office addresses classroom change requestsNovember 11, 2022Limited edit mode in SWCSCHD begins – those with Dean access can edit the following:

  • INSM code
  • Max Enrl (provided it does not exceed room capacity)
  • Instructor
  • Permission Indicator
  • SOC Comment

November 11, 2022Deadline for adding course fees; sections with course fees pending will not be published in the SOC or open for registrationNovember 14, 2022Registration begins

*Beginning September 6, 2022, departments must submit changes via the SOC change/new section request forms in myUVM. Changes resulting from proofing must be submitted no later than 4:30PM EDT on Wednesday, October 5, 2022. Changes to sections scheduled in a non-GP classroom submitted after this deadline will be processed starting October 24, 2022; changes to sections scheduled in a GP classroom will be processed beginning October 27, 2022.

Please note the following important information regarding Schedule of Courses processing:

  1. Spring 2022 course information has been rolled to the Spring 2023 semester in SWCSCHD. Please make sure to delete any courses that will not be offered, and if you do not find a course that you expected to have rolled, please add it.
  2. Courses with the following titles have now been set up for each unit:
         a. Undergraduate Research
         b. Independent Study
         c. Internship
         d. Teaching Assistantship
    Please use the regular course number for these courses. Please do not submit them as Special Topics.
  3. Please make sure to review the course and program fee policy:
    Fees and appropriate detail codes should be entered in the comments section of SWCSCHD during department or dean loading periods, or submitted via the new course/change forms. Courses with fees that have not been finalized prior to November 11, 2022 will be changed to pending status and will not display on the Schedule of Courses until the detail code and fee amount is submitted to the Registrar’s Office. No modifications or fee additions are allowed after student registration for the course has opened.
  4. Semester courses must span the full term (15 weeks in fall and spring) of the semester in which they are offered, with a minimum of 45 hours of total effort per credit. Part-of-Term courses in the semester or summer must span the full part-of-term in which they are offered and distribute the 45 hours of effort per credit over a shorter time window. For more information, please see the University policy regarding the Definition of a Credit Hour.
  5. Please work with your Associate Deans to follow these guidelines when building the schedule: Spread out course offerings over all the meeting patterns. There are enough rooms to accommodate sections if all the meeting patterns are used. Please use the Course Distribution tab in myUVM to view distribution of courses across the day. Please contact your Associate Dean or email regsoc@uvm.edu with any questions about using these reports.
  6. Expanded Section Descriptions (ESDs) are due by October 31. Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), Article 16.20, faculty members must provide ESDs or a link to a recent syllabus for all of their course sections in the upcoming semester. ESDs help students understand the nature of a course, its learning objectives, pedagogy, and methods of evaluation. The link to post an ESD, including an instructional video, is located on the Teaching tab of myUVM. Department Chairs, Associate Deans, and Deans can view the status of ESD entries via the “Expanded Section Description Report” located on the Dean/Chair tab of myUVM in the Schedule of Courses Tools section.
  7. Travel Courses: Please use “DOM TRAVEL” for domestic travel courses and “INTL TRAVEL” for international travel courses. Alternatively, you may put information about domestic versus international travel in SWCSCHD notes and we will enter the “classroom” information.
  8. NEW! Course Safety: If your course will use hazardous materials (chemicals, biological hazards, radio-isotopes) please enter “HAZMAT” in the SOC comments. The Registrar’s Office will move this information into the SOC Notes section of SWCSCHD for tracking purposes only. The information will not appear in the SOC. Please refer to the following information on hazardous materials.
  9. Please review the Instructions for SWCSCHD by logging into myUVM, selecting the Dean/Chair tab and clicking on SWCSCHD Instructions in the Schedule of Courses Tools section. You will also find a helpful Banner 9 User Guide on the Registrar’s Office website.
  10. In addition to providing a Teams SOC training in August, the Registrar’s Office is happy to provide additional assistance to departments in using SWCSCHD. One-on-one help sessions can be arranged by emailing regsoc@uvm.edu.
  11. Important Safety Reminder – Please Distribute to All Faculty
    This is a reminder for faculty. UVM strongly discourages the practice of holding classroom break-out groups in hallways, stairways, or other areas not designed for assembly. Assembled groups of people in these areas may inhibit safe passage or impede egress in the event of a need to evacuate. In the case of laboratory buildings, the risks are elevated. Active laboratories transfer and receive potentially hazardous materials and supplies through these areas. Navigating through groups of people increases the risk of an accident or unplanned release. Please contact safety@uvm.edu with any questions. While this reminder pertains to all locations, current laboratory buildings include:
    • Aiken Center
    • Colchester Research Facility
    • Bioresearch Complex
    • Delehanty Hall
    • Discovery Building
    • Given Building
    • Health Sciences Research Facility
    • Hills Building
    • Innovation Hall
    • Jeffords Hall
    • John Dewey Hall
    • Marsh Life Science Building and Carrigan Wing
    • Perkins Hall
    • Rowell Building
    • Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Center
    • Stafford Building
    • Terrill Building
    • Votey Building

How to Request a Change

Contact Information

For specific questions or further assistance with the course building process, please contact our office by email or by calling (802) 656-2045.