Course Scheduling Guidance, 2023-24

A wide range of data was evaluated in making the allocations. The majority of the data is consolidated in each program group’s data sheet, linked in the next section.

As you consider this data, keep in mind that the metric of 12 students in a class as a “break-even” point was created when our enrollment was higher. Many of our costs are fixed: they don’t vary in proportion to our enrollment. For instance, whether our headcount is 5,000 or 3,000, the same amount of work is required to prepare and file required government reports. A more current metric to use is 15 students in a class (or 15 credit hours per workload hour).

For the Program and General Education allocations, the following information from Fall 2018–Fall 2022 was considered:

• Average course enrollments. ¹
• Total credit hours. ¹
• Total workload hours and ratio to credit hours. ¹
• Number of majors, both in total and by class standing. ¹
• Course capacities. ¹
• Total number of sections. ¹
• Program requirements. ²
• Number of sections per course per year. ³
• The overall enrollment levels and trends at WOU. ⁴

The data was reviewed at the program level (aggregated and/or averaged) and, where applicable, by type of course (e.g. lower/upper/grad level; Gen Ed).

Where to find the data listed above:

1. Data sheet for each program, as linked below.
2. Official WOU catalog.
3. Class schedule. Accessible in multiple locations, including the online class schedule, Banner (SSASECQ), and Cognos.
4. Instructional Research Office.

* These releases are included in the “Provost Releases” category.

Instructional service refers to courses that are a required part of a major in one program group, but have to be taught by another program group. These courses are generally not part of the curriculum for majors in the program group that teaches the course.

The allocations listed below are preliminary: If you find errors or missing courses, please email the information to westb@wou.edu

Note: You must be logged into your WOU portal for the instructional service list to display.

Specific course counts for the individual Gen Ed categories are not yet available, but programs are expected to work with their college dean to offer Gen Ed courses based on demand and major requirements across the college (e.g., even if a Gen Ed course in your program always fills, it wouldn’t be appropriate to add sections if there are other, lower-enrolled courses in that category that need to run to serve major requirements).