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Academic Scheduling Policy

Ref. No. Executive sponsor Policy steward Approval authority First approved Last reviewed Effective date Next review
26.01 Vice President, Academic Director, Academic Operations & Planning Executive Council July 2019   Apr. 2022 Apr. 2023
  1. Purpose
    1. NSCC is committed to providing a quality teaching and learning experience through the development of an academic schedule that supports approved program/course delivery, focused on the student experience, maximizes space utilization and sustainability goals, supports the needs of students, faculty and the institution and ensures academic
      programming delivery requirements are met.
    2. This policy is developed and supported collaboratively by Academic, Campuses and Communities and College Services. Its purpose is to establish a framework that supports the creation of academic schedules that foster  excellence and equity in teaching and learning, while optimizing human and physical resources.
  1. Scope
    1. This policy applies to the creation of faculty, student and program schedules for all credit and non-credit programs and courses offered through NSCC.
  1. Definitions
Term Definition
Academic Chair A College position at a campus that leads the delivery of high quality and consistent teaching and learning in programs assigned to their portfolio.
Academic Schedule The dates, events and timelines that outline the academic year, beginning in September and ending in August.
Bookable Space Common areas including classrooms, laboratories, computer labs, kitchens, shops, theatres and meeting rooms.
Infosilem Enterprise The software platform used to manage room schedules for all meetings and event bookings.
Infosilem Suite The software platform used to design student, faculty and room schedules.
Academic Flow Chart The document issued by the Registrar’s Office that guides scheduling and enrolment timelines.
Events Course related exceptions, such as guest speakers or an extra help class, non-course College related activities, and activities occurring  on campus, organized by external clients.
Faculty Any person who performs instructional and related professional responsibilities with NSCC.
PeopleSoft Student Information System (SIS) The campus solution application that manages student enrollment and program planning.
Program Schedule The list of dates, times and locations for students, faculty and physical space.
Scheduling Constraints Parameters placed on the scheduling system to ensure key requirements which benefit students, teaching and learning are considered.
Student Anyone who is active in a program and/or enrolled in courses.
Work Integrated Learning (WIL) Practical learning in programs that include field experience, cooperative education, internship, mandatory professional practice and/or service learning that is a program or course outcome.
  1. Policy
    1. Statement of Guiding Principles
      The following principles will guide the development of academic schedules:
      1. Academic program schedules will be designed to meet the needs of the students and requirements of the program curriculum and to deliver a safe working and quality learning experience.
      2. Bookable spaces will be scheduled for optimal efficiency and effective use.
      3. Faculty and Academic Chairs will work together to identify bookable space requirements that support the program and course delivery.
      4. The College will meet its obligation to provide accommodation and accessibility to both faculty and students in the assignment of physical teaching and learning spaces.
      5. Personal preferences in teaching and learning spaces will be granted, where possible, as a secondary consideration in the development of the academic schedule.
      6. Academic Chairs will use the Instructional Contact Hour Guidelines in developing schedules and adhere to the principles outlined in the NSCC Collective Agreement.
      7. Scheduling timelines will be guided by the Academic Term Flow Charts managed by the Registrar’s Office.
    2. Development of Academic Program Schedules
      Academic program scheduling will prioritize the student experience and meet all requirements to deliver course and program curriculum each semester:
      1. Program delivery is approved by the Board of Governors and schedules must adhere to the approved delivery for each offering.
      2. Program schedules are developed in accordance with the timelines outlined in the Academic Flow Chart.
      3. The program schedules are the responsibility of the Academic Chair supported by the Scheduling Office.
      4. Student, faculty and room schedules are published and available a minimum of three weeks before the start of a semester.
      5. All student instructional contact hours associated with a program must be scheduled each term. This includes all components associated with the course and program delivery, including  classroom, lab, shop, independent study, etc. regardless if a class/lab/shop is required. Start time and end times scheduled for Work Integrated Learning may not reflect actual times students are scheduled in a workplace or practice setting.
      6. Changes to approved and published schedules should be limited to allow faculty and students to plan with greater certainty. Request for changes after the schedules are published will follow the Scheduling Change Request approval process.
    3. Academic Schedule and Timelines
      The Registrar’s Office develops and publishes milestone academic dates for each academic year. Timelines for developing academic program schedules are set by the Registrar’s Office and indicate major milestone dates to support the scheduling process.
    4. Scheduling Constraints
      The Academic Schedule will, as reasonably as possible, consider the scheduling constraints that are outlined below as well as any additional parameters to support the student experience:
      1. No courses will be scheduled outside Campus approved operating hours or during dedicated campus meeting times. In consultation with the Campus Management Team any exceptions must be approved by the Campus Principal. Appropriate consideration must be given to user safety, building security, costs and operational efficiency when scheduling outside normal operating hours.
      2. Teaching and learning activities will be allocated to rooms in a manner that considers travel time required between classrooms for students and faculty.
    5. Scheduling Guidelines
      The following guidelines will be used in the development of program schedules:
      1. Schedules must be developed in accordance with the Scheduling Policy and associated procedures:
        1. Ensure that program schedules align to the approved program delivery for that offering
        2. Focus on the student learning experience while ensuring program hours are scheduled to meet curriculum and course outcomes
        3. Support teaching and learning requirements and preferences, where possible, in accordance with the guidelines of faculty employment with NSCC
        4. Assign rooms and teaching spaces that accommodate enrollment capacity of course/program
        5. Optimize space utilization in accordance with College sustainability goals
        6. Follow scheduling guidelines for the development and modification of academic schedules including modifying, cancelling, or deleting a course offering
        7. Accurately be reflected in the College’s Student Information System (PeopleSoft) and Infosilem Enterprise
        8. Be conflict free for all student, faculty and room schedules. Student, faculty and room schedules for the School of Access may have exceptions to support an individualized format of instruction and will be approved by the Academic Chair and Dean, School of Access Education & Language.
      2. The following guiding principles should guide the development of program and faculty schedules where possible:
        Academic Scheduling Guidelines Timetabling Guidelines
        Maximum number of hours in a row 4 hours maximum
        Minimum required time following maximum number of hours in a row At least 30 minutes; 1 hour preferred
        Maximum number of class hours per day No more than 7 hours per day with no fewer than 2 hours on scheduled day
        Maximum number of hours/day from start of class to end of class Maximum 8 hours; 6 hours preferred
      3. Changes to academic schedules once they are available to students and faculty require approval by the appropriate manager depending on the nature of the change. Approval of change is not required for those resulting from faculty hiring or re-assignment. Types of changes and appropriate signatories are:
        Change Required Academic Chair Principal Dean Registrar's Office Academic Ops & Planning
        Room only X
        Faculty assignment X
        Class time* X X
        Curriculum path X X
        Course Delivery Mode X X X
        *Prior to requesting a change in class time, it must be communicated with students enrolled in the class
      4. The quality of program timetables will take priority over faculty timetables, while respecting the employment contract and parameters between faculty and NSCC.
      5. Historical preference will not take precedence over the teaching and learning experience, or the quality of the student experience.
    6. Scheduling of Other Lines of Business
      Timelines will be established for the scheduling of Continuing Education, Customized Learning and Apprenticeship in collaboration with Academic and Scheduling.
      Room allocation for Continuing Education, Customized Learning and Apprenticeship programming will be determined by the Campus and Scheduling teams based on space availability.
    7. Event Bookings
      1. Event bookings for the semester that will occupy academic spaces are not to be scheduled until after the course schedules have been published.
      2. Program / course related bookings, such as guest speakers or tutoring, will be given full consideration as they enhance course delivery.
      3. Event bookings are a Campus responsibility and guidelines for them are based on the Facilities Use and Rentals Policy in conjunction with Campus requirements.
    8. Utilization and Space Allocation in Scheduling
      1. Academic space will be inventoried to assess the design, features and suitability for various teaching modes and capacity on an on-going basis. This information will be used to support Campus and Central program planning.
      2. Scheduling will monitor and report on space utilization trends as it relates to academic scheduling. Based on these trends, recommendations will be made to Campus and Central teams to support optimal use of space.
      3. The Scheduling Office maintains comprehensive room inventories on all bookable space in PeopleSoft, Suite and Enterprise. Campuses are responsible to ensure that all planned facility changes are approved by the Campus Facility Manager and Director, Facilities and Engineering.
  1. Policy Supports

Related Policies & Procedures

13.21 Program Delivery Mode Policy
13.22 Program Delivery Mode Procedures
34.02 Academic Accommodations Policy (formerly Services to Students with Disabilities)
45.13 Employee Workplace Accommodations Policy
61.01 Facilities Use and Rentals Policy
61.02 Facilities Use and Rentals Procedure
41.01 Respectful Workplace and Learning Environment Policy
77.01 Sustainability Policy

Additional Resources

NSCC Instructional Contact Hour Guidelines, May 2015
Instructional Contact Hours – Appendices to Guidelines, February 2018 (PDF 233KB) (login required)
Faculty Collective Agreement 2014-2020
Operational Support Collective Agreement 2015-2021 (PDF 1.17MB) (login required)
Professional Support Collective Agreement 2014-2020
Academic dates – term flow charts

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