Course Building

• If your course requires a learning tool/platform like Top Hat or Packback that requires students to pay a fee, please enter a LEARN Note stating which learning tool/platform students are required to use. The information will not appear in the SOC.
• To clarify that Special Topics sections cannot have CC designations, even if cross-listed or co-located with a section that does have CC designations, this comment will be placed on all Special Topics sections: “Special Topics sections cannot have CC designations.”   Please note, this refers to UG/UG co-locations.  UG/GR co-locations with Special Topics are no longer permitted.
• Please use ONCMP SEE NOTES sparingly.  Whenever it is used, be sure to put the location in the SOC comment. This is a safety issue.  If something happens on campus, we need to know where the students are.
• Review the Instructions for SWCSCHD and refer to the Banner 9 User Guide as needed.
  • REMEMBER! When it is time to proof, please use the SOC Proofing document: Check SOC Loading (Proofing).  This enables you to ensure the major/class/college restrictions were coded properly. Be sure to check the codes used in major/minor/ concentration restrictions. If you have See Also’s, please use ‘Final SOC Proof for Departments (See Also Version)’ to check the accuracy of that coding.
  • REMEMBER! Please use the Note field to enter information that is just intended for the Registrar’s Office. Use Note type ROOM for room information, INSTR for instructor information, LEARN for learning tool information, and DPT for any other information. The SOC comment should only have information pertinent to students.
  • ∗NEW∗ Ensure the HAZM attribute is on appropriate sections that use hazardous materials in their class. If the attribute is not there, please enter a Note type of HAZMAT.
  • Travel Courses: Please enter “DOM TRAVEL” for domestic travel courses and “INTL TRAVEL” for international travel courses in the building/room fields.
• Co-locations with Special Topics courses (x990) that involve a UG course and a GR course are no longer permitted.  This was only permitted for Fall 23/Spring 24/Summer 24. The only approved UG/GR co-locations are in this list.
• Remember: Course Safety: If your course will use hazardous materials (chemicals, biological hazards, radio-isotopes) Ensure the HAZM attribute is on appropriate sections. See Safety in Academic and Research Environments for information on hazardous materials.
• Important Safety Reminder – 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.  

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
• Discovery Building
• Given Building
• Health Sciences Research Facility
• Patrick Leahy Building
• Innovation Hall
• Jeffords Hall
• John Dewey Hall
• Marsh Life Science Building & Carrigan Wing
• Perkins Hall
• Rowell Building
• Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Center
• Stafford Building
• Terrill Building
• Votey Building

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"Variable Content" Courses and Catamount Core Curriculum (CC) Designation

"Variable content" courses are those courses approved and included in the Catalogue at the course level with very broad definitions but offered in the Schedule of Courses at the section level with permanent content. The content of the sections must align with the broad definition of the course. There are three categories of "variable content" courses: Special Topics, Topics In, and Topics In First-Year Seminar Courses. An example of a "variable content" course and a specific section: Topics in American History (course); Revolutionary War Economy (section). Faculty are encouraged, where feasible, to regularize courses they plan to teach multiple times with similar permanent content by seeking a permanent course designation/number for them.

Special Topics

Special Topics courses and sections may not have CC designations in and of themselves.

Specific Special Topics sections may receive CC designations only as part of the retroactive coding of a permanent content course or when a section of a variable content course is converted to a permanent content course via a new course CAF. Retroactivity may be granted for a period of no more than four semesters.

Topics In 

Multiple "variable content" Topics In courses may be created with similar titles, but with different constellations of CC designations. Ex: SPAN 2200 "Intermediate Spanish II" and SPAN 2202 "Interm Span II: Sustainability".  Topics In courses and their sections must have the same CC designations. 

Topics In courses may only be assigned CC designations when they are initially created. Once the CC designations are approved, they cannot be changed. (This is not the case for permanent content courses.)

Topics In sections must receive Catamount Core Curriculum Committee (CCCC) approval for the identical "variable content" course CC designations in order to be listed under that "variable content" course in the SOC. CC designations will be attached to individual sections for 5 years, at which point proposers will need to apply for reapproval (see “Tracking Process” below).
An individual section that does not receive CCCC approval in the section approval process must be entered in the SOC as, or changed to:

1. A Special Topics section, or a compatible Topics In section with no CC designations, if no CC designation has been approved. As outlined above, Special Topics sections cannot carry CC designations (see note above re: retroactive coding).

Or

2. Another "variable content" course carrying the identical CC designations it did receive.

Timelines

All New Courses

The February 15 deadline remains in place for the establishment of all new courses (whether they are "permanent content" or "variable content" courses).

Course Revisions

The February 15 deadline remains in place for all course revisions except CC designation of sections of "variable content" courses.

"Variable Content" Course CCCC Review Process

CAFs seeking CC designations for a new variable content COURSE must be in the GenEd queue by January 20. Submit the CAF with the requested CC designation(s). The CCCC only requires that the requested CC designation(s) "make sense" with respect to the course title and description. Please do not wait for a section syllabus review to request a new "variable content" course with a particular CC designation for the COURSE. Missing the January 20 deadline to ensure the course has progressed fully through the CAF workflow by February 15 will delay the creation of the "variable content" COURSE until the following catalogue year. 

"Variable Content" Course Sections for CCCC Review

The CCC designation review of sections of the following "variable content" courses may continue beyond February 15; multiple sections of the same course may be attached to a single CAF for CCC review/processing.

When entering a CAF:

1. Attach a copy of the syllabus for each section (if multiple sections are submitted on a single CAF).
2. Check “Yes” for “Does this course action include a General Education action?”
3. In the “Brief Description” box list title(s), the desired CC designation(s) (all must be the same on the CAF and must match the course CAF designations), the first term the section is to be offered, and if retroactive coding is desired, to which terms.
4. Do not check any of the General Education boxes

The General Education process coordinator (John Sama) will notify both the RO and the Provost’s Office when CCC CAFs need to be advanced through workflow after February 15. Note that the deadlines below do not reflect any additional time that would be needed in cases of requests for proposal modification, and committee decisions will be final for the following semester.

Extenuating circumstances such as late hires, instructor changes due to medical leaves, etc. may allow for expedited approval of an offering within a Topics In "variable content" course carrying CC designations. In these cases, the Associate Dean responsible for enrollment management should contact J. Dickinson and Veronika Carter as soon as possible with a copy of the proposed syllabus.

Tracking Process

The General Education Coordinator (John Sama) will maintain a spreadsheet of all "variable content" course sections approved or denied for CC designation(s), as well as the date by which approved courses must be reapproved (generally, 5 years from the approval semester). The Registrar’s Office will refer to this spreadsheet to confirm the eligibility of "variable content" course sections listed in the Schedule of Courses.

Variable Content Sections, CC Designations, and Co-Locations

Cross-listings and co-locations are only permitted between sections that have the same CC designations.

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General Purpose Classrooms

Refer to the appropriate attribute column to determine which fields can be updated based on access status. 

* Updatable fields: subj, crs, sect, schd type, insm code, camp code, max enrl, proj enrl, bldg, room, begin/end/days, instructor, credits, perm ind, note, SOC printed comment. Sections may be deleted.

** Do not remove or change information about enforced pre-reqs from the SOC comments. Pre-reqs enforced by the system are hard-coded at the catalogue level and will still be in place even if the language is removed. Removing the language will cause confusion during registration.

** Do not change any wording pertaining to cross-listing or co-locating in the SOC comments. Please submit a section change form if you have changes.

Please review each section and indicate in the comments whether it is open to PACE students, or open with permission and override. If the section is not open to PACE students, no comment needs to be added. You will notice there are new attributes on sections this time.

There are three access options:

Please review course sections thoughtfully and select the most appropriate access option. Courses will retain these attributes when rolled to future terms, so please ensure your selections are intentional. If the attribute is incorrect on a section, please use the Note field in SWCSCHD using the type of ATTR and we will adjust the attribute at the catalog level.

Registration waitlisting is available for all sections. We strongly recommend NOT enabling this function for any section that is managed. 

Required Information

1. Waitlist Maximum – The maximum number of students that can be added to the queue.
2. Waitlist Priority – Determines who gets open seats first.
   • First-come, first-served (FCFS). This is the default.
   • Priority by class (CLASS). Higher-level UG students may be notified before all other students, and Graduate or PACE students will be given a lower processing order. It is important to note that class priority can ONLY be designated at the course level. It is not possible to have one section of a course with CLASS and another with FCFS.

Waitlisting is managed differently based on where we are in the SOC build/semester. Please see below for instructions:

During the SOC Build

1. On the Banner form SWCSCHD, enter a note type of “WAIT”. In the instructions area, add the waitlist max number and “CLASS” OR “FCFS”. If there is no priority designation entered, it will default to FCFS.

        2. Enter the following in the SOC Printed Comments:
           “System waitlisting enabled for this section.”

After SOC Build

Submit either a New Section Request or SOC Change Request form.

Select the desired priority from the drop-down menu and enter the waitlist max.