Introduction
Classes are maintained in the Student Information System, also known as SIS. The module within SIS where classes are maintained is called the Schedule of Classes or SOC.
Course Catalog
In order to fully explain the Schedule of Classes, we need to start with the Course Catalog.
The Course Catalog is the collection of courses university departments can offer during a given term. The catalog includes non-term-specific information such as course name, units, description and cross listed courses. The University Registrar’s Office maintains the Course Catalog within SIS.
To add new courses to the catalog or make changes to existing courses, administrators use the Course Action Form.
Schedule of Classes
The Schedule of Classes is created each term (fall, spring, and summer) based on the previous like term. It includes term-specific information such as class section number, days and times of class meetings, building, room number, and instructor. Individual departments maintain the class schedule for their unit within SIS.
The process of creating a new term’s schedule of classes begins with the University Registrar’s Office rolling forward the class data from the last like term to create the new term. For example, this spring is rolled forward to create next spring’s offerings.
Once this happens, you’ll be notified by email and can begin editing your classes. The email will also give you a deadline for updating class information and for notifying the appropriate person or office that your updates have been made.
The person or office you notify will then review and update settings within the SOC to make your classes available in Class Search for student registration.
Maintaining Your Classes
Here are the suggested steps to take to maintain your classes:
- Print your class schedule
- Distribute to department members for review
- Makes changes as necessary
- Add and remove classes as needed
- Identify cross-listed classes and create their combined sections
- Run SOC error reports and make corrections
- Print revised schedule, review and verify
- Notify your SOC representative to mark your classes as Display in Class Search
We’ll go through them one at a time.
Print Your Class Schedule
You’ll do this by running the Print Class Schedule process within SIS. This will generate a report of all the classes currently on your schedule. You should print out this report.
Distribute Report
Your next step is to distribute this document to department members for review.
Make Changes
To make changes to your classes, you’ll go to Maintain Schedule of Classes in SIS. This is where you’ll spend the majority of your time working on SOC edits.
You’ll make changes as necessary to things like meeting days and times, instructors, enrollment limits, etc.
Add and Remove Classes
You’ll also add classes to and remove classes from the schedule. If a class doesn’t appear in your schedule but needs to be added, you’ll create the class using Schedule New Course.
This could happen if it’s a new class that hasn’t been offered before or if the class wasn't offered in the term that was copied to make the new term.
Note: The Schedule New Course process is not used for entering a new course into the Course Catalog. If the course doesn’t exist in the Course Catalog, your department will need to submit a Course Action Form in order to have a new course added.
Sections that either rolled forward from a prior term or were added and are not going to be offered should be deleted or cancelled.
If the class section has not been made available to students in Class Search yet, then you should delete it. Once a section has been made available in Class Search but is no longer going to be offered, it should be cancelled.
Identify Cross-listed Classes and Create Combined Sections
A combined section is two or more classes that meet at the same time in the same place but are offered under multiple subjects or are offered under different academic levels, such as ASTR 323/423.
Run SOC Error Reports and Make Corrections
Once you’re finished making changes, you’ll run the SOC error reports and make corrections.
Before your classes are made available in Class Search, it is important to run this series of reports to look for errors in the schedule that can prevent students from being able to register for the classes.
Print Revised Schedule, Review and Verify
Once the corrections have been made, you will print the revised schedule using the same process as in step 1, and then review and verify it.
Notify your SOC Representative
Finally, you will notify your SOC representative, letting them know your class schedule is ready for student registration.
- College of Arts & Sciences Departments and Case School of Engineering Departments - Contact your school’s dean’s office.
- All other schools and departments - Contact the University Registrar’s Office, courses@case.edu.
Detailed instructions for most of these steps can be found on our SIS Resources page under the Schedule of Classes section.
Here are some other concepts you may need to know about to maintain your classes:
Other Concepts
Sessions
The session you select for a class determines the default dates of that class, although they can be changed.
The 5-year academic calendar is posted on the University Registrar’s website. On that calendar you can find the start and end dates for classes for a particular term. The dates listed for Fall and Spring are considered the regular academic session, or session 1.
Some of our professional schools operate on their own start/end dates but still have what we consider a regular academic session.
This session can also be divided into 1st or 2nd half offerings. This is typically used by our physical education classes.
Dynamic Dates
Classes that don’t fall within the regular academic session should be coded as dynamically dated or DYN.
A class that was dynamically dated in the past will roll forward and default to the same dates as the regular academic session. You should update the dates that the class will actually meet in the term.
If the class should use the regular session dates in the new term, you should change the session to the regular academic session.
Multiple Components
A component is a class format such as a lecture, lab, or recitation. In some academic departments, it is common to have more than one component for an individual class and those components can be required or optional.
This is all determined by the course's catalog entry. For example, PHYS 115 requires both a lecture and a laboratory component. When a student registers for one component, they are required to register for the other component too.
See a full list of component types and definitions in use at Case Western Reserve University and find instructions to schedule a class with multiple components.
More Resources
All other training videos and guides can be found on SIS Resources in the Schedule of Classes section.
We’ve also created a checklist to make the process easier to move through. You can print it and keep it handy when you’re working through updating your class schedule for a new term.