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Facilities Scheduling Offices

Campus Buildings and Facilities

Facility Phone/Email
Burke Museum [Burke-campus map] 206-543-2525
lkmonroe@uw.edu
Center for Urban Horticulture [CUH-campus map] 206-221-2500
Conference Housing 206-543-7636
confhouse@uw.edu
Catering, University 206-685-2051
catering@uw.edu
Classrooms and Auditoriums, Upper-campus 206-616-1287
specialevents@uw.edu
Don James Center (Tyee) Located at Husky Stadium 206-543-2246
Friday Harbor Laboratories 206-543-1484
fhlfac@fhl.washington.edu
Health Sciences Classrooms & Auditoriums 206-543-6729
crshelp@uw.edu
The HUB – Husky Union Building [The HUB-campus map]
(Student Union Building)
206-543-8191
hubres@uw.edu
Meany Hall [Meany-campus map] 206-543-4882
quincy@uw.edu
Olympic Natural Resources Center 206-543-9467
360-374-3220
Outdoor Campus Spaces (Physical Plant) 206-616-5042
Pack Forest 206-685-4485
packconf@uw.edu
Parking Division 206-685-7167
specevnt@uw.edu
Pavilion, Stadium, Sports Facilities 206-543-2246
Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center [ECC-campus map]
Ethnic Cultural Theatre [ECT – campus map]
206-543-4635
ecc@uw.edu
South Campus Center [SCC-campus map] 206-543-0530
University of Washington Club [UW Club-map]
Formerly: The Faculty Club
206-543-0437
faclub@uw.edu
Waterfront Activities Center [WAC-campus map] 206-543-9433
h2o@uw.edu

Large Class Scheduling

Annual Scheduling of Large Classes

One of the recommendations of the Learning Spaces Policy is the annual scheduling of large (250-size and above) classes. This page will detail the process, as well as address some questions around the scheduling.

Background Information

The Learning Spaces Committee identified one major issue due to the scarcity of large classrooms on campus. Many units are unable to be assigned large classrooms at their desired time and/or size during the initial scheduling phase. Because there are often many dependencies with the rest of a unit’s schedule, it is often detrimental to a unit to have to move a large class after assignments have been made.

To help alleviate this, the Learning Spaces Committee recommended scheduling large spaces on an annual basis prior to the creation of the rest of the schedule. This is to help create some schedule certainty for units to build the rest of their schedule around.

Procedure

  1. Go to the Annual Large Class Scheduling Form (Google Doc) and submit a request for each large (200-size and above) class you wish to offer for each quarter available on the form.
  2. For each request, you must also provide a viable alternative time outside of prime time (i.e., outside the 9:30 a.m.-2:20 p.m. instructional hours). This time will be used only if a room cannot be secured at the requested time.
  3. After the deadline, the Time Schedule/Room Assignments Office will take all requests and schedule the classes, notifying you of what room(s) and time(s) you were assigned.
  4. For Autumn 2019-Spring 2020 the deadline for submission is November 2, 2018. The Time Schedule/Room Assignments Office will notify you of the annual assignments by November 16.

Large Classes Scheduling FAQs

Large Classes Scheduling FAQs

Knowing the classes slightly smaller than the 250-sized threshold will help the Time Schedule Office better determine annual assignments. The classes that meet the size determined by the policy (250-size and above) will be given priority.

Yes. All aspects of the policy are applicable to the annual scheduling, including preference given to classes that follow the block scheduling guidelines.

This process is a supplement to the larger target of 12% distribution of classes. You are still required to evenly distribute your classes across the instructional day.

The Time Schedule Office cannot guarantee it will be able to assign your requested or alternative times, but every effort will be made to do so. If the Time Schedule Office cannot find you a room at either the requested or alternative times, it will work with you to try to find something that works.

Once the Time Schedule Office has notified you of the annual assignment of your class(es), you may enter those time(s) into TSConstruction. If you enter a time in TSConstruction different than the one you were given for your annual assignment, the Time Schedule Office will use the time submitted in TSConstruction. (If we can, we will contact you to make sure you didn’t just make a mistake in TSConstruction.)

Feel free to email questions to times@uw.edu. This policy is a work in progress and we would like any feedback or questions you may have.

Learning Spaces Policy

Frequently Asked Questions

Learning Spaces Policy FAQs

The final policy report is available to download – Recommendations of Learning Spaces Committee [PDF].

This FAQ page applies to all Seattle main-campus classes. The policy implementation for sections occurring in the Health Sciences (the Health Sciences Building, UW Medical Center, Foege Hall, and South Campus Center) will be different.

For more information, visit HSS Classroom Services, email hsbrooms@uw.edu, or call 206-543-6729.

  1. The standard instructional day is now defined as extending from 8:30 a.m. to 6:20 p.m.
  2. Classes will have to be more evenly distributed across the instructional day. For the first two years of implementation, scheduling units will be allowed up to 12% of their classes to meet at any given time per week. After the first two years, if more distribution is needed, scheduling units will have to reduce their offerings to no more than 10% at any given time per week.
  3. Class meeting times will now have pre-set days/times for meetings prior to 2:30 p.m. (aka, ‘block scheduling’).
  4. Large classes (250-sized and above) will be scheduled annually (beginning with WIN/2019).
  5. Gateway or required courses will be given priority in the scheduling process.

The first quarter that the policy will be enforced is Spring 2018. The policy will not apply to summer quarter schedules.

A report/visualization tool is available via the BIPortal.

Additionally, you can download an Excel spreadsheet that you can modify and will update a heat map immediately. Download the interactive heat maps (xlsx). [UW NetID login required]

Help files are available – How to Use the Interactive Heat Map and How to Read the Heat Maps.

heat map example

Also, Time Schedule Construction will be updated to accommodate the new scheduling blocks.

  1. Blocks for 50-minute meetings (“hour-long classes”) must have starting times of 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. or 1:30 p.m., and meet at the same starting time throughout the week.
  2. Blocks for 80-minute meetings (’90-minute classes”) have starting times of 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., and meet at the same starting time throughout the week.
  3. Blocks for 110-minute meetings (“two-hour classes”) have starting times of 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., or 1:30 p.m., and meet at the same starting time throughout the week.
  4. Blocks for 170-minute meetings (“three-hour classes”) have starting times of 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., and meet at the same starting time throughout the week..
  5. Classes that meet three times per week at the same time and for the same duration must meet on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
  6. Classes that meet twice per week in large-capacity (250+) classrooms meet only on Tuesday and Thursday. Classes that meet twice per week in other classrooms have more flexible options (Monday/Wednesday, Monday/Friday, Wednesday/Friday, or Tuesday/Thursday).
  7. Classes that meet four times per week can request any four days of the week.
  8. Classes that meet once per week can meet in any of the scheduling blocks.

Visual Representation of the Scheduling Blocks

block schedule example
Figure 1. Illustration of block schedules. 50-minute class meeting times are shown as the beige and brown rectangles. 80-minute classes are shows as the light blue and dark blue rectangles, and the light green and dark green rectangles. 110-minute classes are shown as the black outline around two 50-minute meetings. 170-minute classes are shown as the red outline around two 80-minute meetings. Only certain class-day sequences are permitted (review the preceding chart)

All meetings that conform to the time blocks will be scheduled first. After initial scheduling, meetings that do not conform to the time blocks will be scheduled on a space-available basis.

Yes, the 2:30 p.m. cut-off applies only to block scheduling. The 12% distribution will apply to all times during the instructional day (8:30 a.m.-6:20 p.m.).

Initially, scheduling units will be held to no more than 12% of their total scheduling occurring in any given hour per week. A scheduling unit’s total scheduling will be calculated as follows:

  1. Only instruction occurring in general-assignment space will be considered.
  2. All instructional hours begin 30 minutes after the hour (e.g., 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., etc.) The 10-minute pass time after each meeting will be counted as instructional time for the preceding meeting. If a meeting begins or ends on the hour, only that partial hour will be counted as instructional time.
  3. All instruction occurring on Saturdays or after 6:30 p.m. on weekdays will be considered outside of the instructional day, but will count toward the total instructional time.
  4. For curricular joints (i.e., joints that are listed in the course catalog), only the responsible scheduling unit will be assessed the instructional time.
  5. For ad hoc joints (aka, ‘withers’ — that is, joints that are not listed in the course catalog), each scheduling unit will be assessed the instructional time against their total instructional time. If a scheduling unit has multiple sections in a ‘wither’ joint loop, the class will only count once against the total instructional time.
  6. Once total instructional time is calculated, the 10%/12% weekly limit at any given instructional hour will be calculated. The resulting number will be rounded up to the nearest whole number.

For distribution determination (i.e., for determining the 12% instructional limit), all scheduling units will be considered to have a minimum of 50 instructional hours per week.

Sections scheduled in non-general-assignment spaces will not be considered as part of the distribution requirement. You are not restricted in duration (i.e., you do not have to follow the scheduling blocks) or distribution of those sections.

The central room-management offices (OUR and AT) have limited pre-assignment agreements with certain units due to equipment constraints requiring certain sections to be scheduled into certain rooms. Those sections will continue to be pre-assigned, but they will also count toward the total instructional time.

For additional help or questions about the policy, please contact Learning Spaces Help.

Time Schedule and Room Assignment

Scheduling in General Assignment Classrooms

Visit Event Services for guidelines to reserve General Assignment Classrooms for University-sanctioned or other non-university events.