6.1

Policy Statement: Intersessions vary in length from two to four weeks and are front-end extensions of the semester or term. Maximum undergraduate course load limits are determined by combining the intersession weeks and the semester weeks, allowing students to earn 50% more credit hours than the combined number of weeks. (OSRHE policy II-2-34, 3-99, IV-C.)
Examples:

Background: Courses offered for academic credit must meet all academic requirements and standards associated with traditional semester/block time-based course offerings. Responsibility for course rigor and integrity rests with the faculty, chairs and deans.

Purpose: Develop common standards for delivering and awarding academic credit during intersessions.

Coordinating Offices: Enrollment Management, College Deans, and Academic Affairs.

Academic Affairs Point-of-Contact: Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs

Policy approved by the Vice President for Academic Affairs on January 25, 2000.

Revised: 8/17/2001
This policy replaces Intersessions-Maximum Course Load policy dated 1/25/2000

Intersession Procedures

Intersession dates will be established three years in advance by the Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management/Registrar in consultation with Academic Affairs and the deans as long as the University has created and maintained the three-year calendar development process.

Saturdays will be used as instructional days when a holiday occurs during the week or if a class week cannot begin on Monday. However, when a holiday falls on a Saturday, the holiday will be observed and classes or exams will not be held on that day.

The last Saturday during the intersession will be used for administering the final examination for the course.

All intersession course proposals will be reviewed and approved by the department chair, college dean, and the Office of Academic Affairs.

Intersession course offerings are not necessarily limited to special topics and seminars; however, regular courses may not be suited for the intersession format.

Intersession courses must be identified with a specific schedule of dates and hours within the intersession date structure. Arranged hours are not acceptable.

A topic or seminar number such as 200x, 399x, 491x, 496x and 300x will not be used when a previously established course number exists for that course.

Student evaluations will be administered just prior to the conclusion of all intersession courses, i.e. the last day or two of the course.

No blanket “I” grades will be issued to the entire class for the purpose of completing papers or projects due after the course is officially over.

The mandatory minimum class size for an intersession course, graduate, undergraduate, or combined, will be twenty-two (22). An intersession course will not be offered unless this minimum is met.

To ensure timely notice to enrolled students, the minimum twenty-two (22) must be met no later than one week prior to the start of the class. As per the UCO class cancellation policy, the sponsoring department/college will, if the class is canceled, notify, in the most expedient manner, all enrolled students.

Faculty will be limited to a maximum teaching load of four credit hours per intersession.

Intersessions exceeding three weeks in length will have block guidelines applied to the courses offered.

At the conclusion of the intersession, each college will review courses offered to determine if the goals and objectives established by the sponsoring department were met. Such a review will determine whether or not the course will be continued as an intersession course.

Revised: 8/17/2001
Revised: 9-4-02
This policy replaces Intersessions-Maximum Course Load policy dated 1/25/2000