Review spring 2021 room assignments

While OCM is still working to assign classrooms for all classes, most room assignments for spring 2021 are available on the Class Schedule. Most classes that needed a general purpose classroom received one. However, we are still working to find room for others. Please review assignments for your department to ensure all classes requiring a general purpose classroom have been assigned.

Please note the following:

• If you notice a class without a room assignment, notify ocmsched@umn.edu ASAP so we can work to find a classroom.
• Remind instructors to verify their classroom assignment before the first class, as room assignments are subject to change prior to the start of the term. Also, be aware that many instructors will be teaching in buildings that may be new to them. Know that we made every effort to get classes into the buildings they normally teach in, or at least, we assigned buildings close to it.
• If you plan to schedule classes in departmental space, please notify ocmsched@umn.edu if it means a general purpose classroom can be released, or if you need any assistance.

Departmental spaces and labs for spring 2021 reminder

Classes in departmentally controlled classrooms, labs, and specialized department rooms were not rescheduled by OCM. However, these spaces must still comply with physical distancing guidelines.

• If you need assistance in determining the physical distancing capacities for your departmental classrooms, please submit a request to the online Space Management Request form.
• The Space Management department will contact you shortly after receiving the request to review in further detail.

Spring 2021 session date changes

The Regents recently approved to move spring break for both the UGRD and GRAD career students to take place from April 5 - 9. Currently, the professional schools are still deciding on their spring break dates. This change for UGRD and GRAD did affect the dates for the upcoming 1st and 2nd half term classes and have been updated as indicated below. A complete list of session dates may be found online.

• First Half of Term (session 009): 1/19/2021 - 3/8/2021
• Second Half of Term (session 010): 3/9/2021 - 5/3/2021

Astra server upgrade

There will be an upgrade to the Astra server on October 28, 2020. Astra will not be available to make any changes from 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. on that day.

Spring 2021 CCS extension - Oct. 2nd

Numerous departments have expressed that more time is needed to update spring classes due to the 6 ft. physical distancing guidelines still in place and instructors still determining their modality for their courses.

Departments now have until the end of the day on October 2, 2020 to edit their spring schedules in CCS. All General Purpose Classrooms (GPC’s) for the spring semester have already been released.

Classes will be assigned rooms using Requested Room Capacity. Make sure to adjust the requested room capacity on your classes as necessary. This is particularly important for classes offered in a mixed format where only a fraction of the students attend in-person each day, while the rest are online and students rotate which day they attend in-person.

Please try to limit shifting class times from previous terms so students’ degree progress is not negatively impacted due to required courses offered during overlapping times. We will be reaching out the week of Oct. 5-9 if we notice some concerns. Please see the UMNTC Spring 2021 class setup guide for additional help.

Add Class Notes

Pre-formatted class notes in the 5xxx range that need to be added to meeting patterns based on teaching modality (in-person, blended, remote, or online) are new for spring 2021. Please refer to the UMNTC Spring 2021 class setup guide for details.

If the modality of the class changes, please remember to change the note number or delete the class note.

By adding a pre-formatted class note based on the modality of the class, an attribute will automatically be added to the class which allows students to search for classes by modality in Schedule Builder.

Specific requests and enrollments over 30

You may send in specific classroom requests to ocmsched@umn.edu, but we will not review requests until the week of Oct. 5. We will make every attempt to give departments their preferred classrooms, but you should be prepared to have some classes in rooms you normally do not use.

Also, if you are planning on offering an in-person class with an enrollment capacity of more than 30, please let us know, and we will try to accommodate a classroom.

Please email ocmsched@umn.edu with any additional questions (sooner rather than later)!