Verifying & Revising Course Information
This information below explains data elements and messaging appearing on the original section offerings pages.
A double asterisk (**) next to the name of the item indicates that this item may not be changed without curriculum committee approval.
Course level is defined at those characteristics that apply to all sections of a particular course and are listing between the course title line and the section detail.
ADMINISTRATIVE COLLEGE CODE – For departments administered by two colleges, this statement indicates which college has primary responsibility for each course. The college designation may be modified for individual sections each term.
APPLIES TO OFF CAMPUS PROGRAMS – A message will appear under comments at the section level indicating which off-campus programs can use this course to meet degree requirements.
CHANGE LIMIT OR WILL BE CANCELED – This message directs departments to change the max limit to something other than zero or cancel the section. If max limit is left at zero, the Office of the Registrar will delete the section.
CROSS-LISTED AND DUAL LISTED**
“ALSO TAUGHT AS…” – This message appears at the course level on the administrative/major department of the courses that are cross-listed. This wording is also used when dual listing applies. To change the administrative/major department on any cross-listed course, signatures of department chairs for all departments listing the course, and college curriculum chair are required on a memo, which is forwarded to the Assistant Registrar for Scheduling, 10 Enrollment Services Center.
“CROSS LISTED WITH…”– This message is printed on the minor department listing of a cross listed course. The maximum limit, existing on the major teaching department section, will list on each minor department section under comments as “TEACH DEPT MAX LIMIT IS…”.
COMMON CLASS LISTS – To establish a common class list, indicate the group under the COM CLASS LIST column. For separate groups, use separate codes. If the common class list should be used for final grades, this should be so noted under comments, e.g. GRADES SUBMITTED ON COMMON CLASS SEC A.
COMMON ROOM CODES – Common room codes are used to group sections which meet together in the same room at the same time. If you have sections that meet together in the same room, you must indicate you need a common room. Failure to do so will result in separate room assignments with insufficient capacity.
COURSE COMMENT – Course comments will print in the Schedule of Classes as notes. Course comments apply to all sections of a course.
COURSE CREDITS** – Course credits from the catalog are printed in bold type on the course information line. Credits are also printed for each section, and should be the same as in the catalog unless noted otherwise. VAR indicates a variable credit course with no specific range indicated. R indicates an R-credit course. “0.0 CREDIT” indicates the course carries zero credit, is remedial in nature, and not applicable towards meeting degree requirements. Changes to the credits published in the catalog or the online Experimental Course form require permission of the College Curriculum Committee.
COURSE DELIVERY – Indicates a delivery type other than in-class instruction.
COURSE TITLE – Abbreviated course title (19 characters) to appear in Schedule of Classes and on students' permanent records. You may recommend adjustments to the 19 character abbreviation that would improve representation of the course on the students’ transcript, but the full title published in the catalog may not be changed.
ENROLLMENT RESTRICTIONS – All existing restriction coding on the Registrar’s file will be listed at the course level. If used on a section, the restriction will list under comments, e.g. NON coding, MAJ coding, or ACT coding. This same message also appears under comments when a section is limited to a certain student groups, topics or delivery types, e.g. WMN suggests women only; WWW indicates course is delivered on the Web.
LEARNING TEAM LIMIT (LTM) – This limit reflects the number of seats reserved by one or more learning communities. For more information about Iowa State University learning communities, go to www.lc.iastate.edu/.
MAXIMUM LIMIT (MAX) – Maximum limit is the "real limit" for the section and is used for room assignment. If a section has a zero maximum limit, you must: (1) Change the maximum limit to a realistic limit of greater than zero, or (2) Cancel the section. If the maximum limit is not raised to something other than zero, we will consider the section cancelled and remove it from the offerings. Any change to the maximum limit resulting in a max limit of 35 or greater may only be done with approval from the Room Scheduling office.
Note: An 888 limit is used for a cross listed course on the minor teaching department. Where a limit of 888 is listed, the registration system will check the major department to determine if the section is open.
MEETING DATES – Start and end dates will print for all courses with non-standard dates. First half, second half, and partial term messages will print.
MEETING DAY/TIME – Meeting days and times are listed. Departments should list specific start and end times for all courses. Refer to the standard day and time regulations available on the Room Scheduling website: https://www.fpm.iastate.edu/roomscheduling/time_sequences.asp
MULTIPLE ENROLLMENT WITHIN TERM – Indicates the student may enroll more than once in this course during a given term. This would be applicable to many 490 courses and other independent study or research courses. This does not apply to half-term courses in which a student may enroll during the second half to repeat a course taken during the first half.
NIGHT EXAMS – The message “Night Exams Scheduled for (term)” will appear for those courses approved to administer night examinations. For night exam approval guidelines and schedule, go to http://www.registrar.iastate.edu/students/exams.
NON-GRADED SECTION –This message appears on the non-graded part of a linked (two-part) course.
PERMISSION STATEMENTS – Permission statements, such as “Instructor permission required”, will display in one of two locations on the report: (1) at the course level, if it applies to all sections or (2) at the section level under the comments.
PREREQUISITES** – Prerequisites should be as they appear in the previous catalog. Some prerequisites are abbreviated to fit available space. A change to a course prerequisite must be approved by the respective College Curriculum Committee, regardless of whether the change makes the prereq more or less restrictive.
REPEATABLE IN GPA** – This will display under course characteristics when the same course may be taken and factored into the gpa more than once.
REVISE DATES – When the course offering report is created, in most cases, dates are adjusted for the new calendar year. However, if the “REVISE DATES” message appears, the department is responsible for providing dates.
ROOM (CHARACTERISTICS/ASSIGNMENTS) – Some room information may be preprinted in this column. Special room characteristics not already printed should be noted under comments. Questions regarding room assignments, special room needs, or existing coding should be directed to roomscheduling@iastate.edu.
S-F** – S-F indicates this is a course graded on a satisfactory/fail basis only. Letter grades A-D may not be given for an S-F only course. A change to or from satisfactory/fail grading requires College Curriculum Committee approval. The exceptions are courses numbered 290, 490, 499 (if practicum or research), 590, 599, 690, 699 and courses titled seminar, workshop, colloquium, symposium, internship, supervised field experience, and special problems. These exceptions may use S-F without seeking College Curriculum Committee approval; however, if they are listed as S-F only in the University Catalog, a proposal to change to letter grading (A-F) should be presented to the College Curriculum Committee.
SECTION NOTE – Section comments also print as notes in the Schedule of Classes, but apply only to a specific section.
SEE DEPT FOR REF # – This message will print under course characteristics. It indicates that no reference number will be displayed for this course in the on-line Schedule of Classes. Students will need to contact the department or instructor to obtain the appropriate reference number. Reference numbers for such courses will be the same as those used for previous semesters.
SPECIAL FEES** – The type and amount of an approved special course fee are indicated in the course criteria. Special course fee information including amount and description will be displayed in the Schedule of Classes. For information on introducing a new special course fee or revising an existing special course fee, go to the Iowa State University homepage index, and choose “S” for Special Course fees.
TERM OFFERED – This information is updated by the Office of the Registrar based on actual offerings for each term. Please check these offerings for alternate year courses and make additions and deletions as necessary.
TODAY'S LIMIT (TDY) – The today’s limit reflects the number of seats currently open and is used by departments to manage section enrollments. The today’s limit plus the learning team limit may not exceed the maximum section limit.
TUITION CATEGORY – Special fee assessment rules apply to this section based on its category. Message appears under comments, e.g. “Tuition Category: Workshop” or “Tuition Category: Saturday MBA”. If coding for a Regents approved tuition category is missing from a course, please add it.
TYPE INSTRUCTION – For valid instruction types, go to http://www.registrar.iastate.edu/faculty-staff/offeringinfo, click on Instructor Information and look for the heading Definition of Instruction Types. Instruction type is typically the same on all sections of a particular course, except where some lectures are accompanied by discussions.
URL – The URL for the course section and/or course syllabus will display as a section comment, if the offering department has entered this information on ADIN in the Course Offering (CO) system on the Web Reference (WR) screen. For information on entering URL information, go to the WR screen, place your cursor in the course or syllabus field and press the F1 key for on-line help. If your department does not currently have access to the WR screen to enter URL information, contact Diane Rupp in the Office of the Registrar to request this access.
U. S. DIVERSITY/INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES** – A message will appear under course characteristics if the course meets the U.S. Diversity and/or International Perspectives requirement.