Re-programming the Fall Schedule

Before COVID-19 arrived in early 2020, the fall 2020 semester was developed like it had been many times before: planned, scheduled and available for students to register for courses prior to the end of the spring semester. However, the spring semester was unlike any other when the global pandemic forced a swift mid-semester change to remote learning; a shift that would extend into the summer session.

Amidst the changes to spring and summer offerings, UB leadership began diligently developing potential blue prints for the fall semester on the horizon.

When the announcement came in June to offer a modified in-person instruction in the fall, faculty and staff across the College of Arts and Sciences jumped into action to re-program the entire fall schedule of courses for its students.

With only a two-week time period to revamp the fall schedule and enter it into HUB, the enormity of the project took on a new level of complexity. The myriad of challenges to take in to consideration to reprogram the schedule were daunting.

To begin, courses had to be reclassified according to new instructional modes of delivery: in-person, online, hybrid, or hyflex. Subsequently, the courses were rescheduled into an entirely new standard class time format to accommodate the University’s health and safety guidelines. New class times were transitioned to be offered between 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. to optimize space and course delivery format.

Instructional mode and time were only the start of the list of reconfigurations that were needed. Additional considerations also included the prioritization of any necessary seated courses, those that are in-person, hybrid, or hyflex.

Lastly, overlay the process to ensure guidelines required for social distancing and the resulting constraints in classroom capacity in most spaces.

Now imagine this in addition to the fact that the College provides the majority of the undergraduate course offerings at UB, delivering courses for every single unit on campus. The truth behind the enormity of the process can be told by the numbers.

• Courses offered by the College of Arts and Sciences typically account for 14,000-15,000 undergraduate students, many students with majors from other UB schools.
• Approximately 200,00 credit hours are offered by the College.
• In total, the College, rescheduled a total of 5,728 graduate and undergraduate courses. Of these courses, approximately 1,060 requested classroom space for in-person, hybrid, or hyflex delivery.
  

The result came on July 15, 2020, when students were able to successfully access their new fall schedules.

“The staff schedulers were the heroes of the entire operation and their dedication to this work has been nearly flawless,” stated Justin Read, associate dean for undergraduate education and experiential learning. “Almost every faculty member, adjunct instructor, lecturer, teaching assistant and departmental staff person in CAS were involved in some way. It was truly a team effort.”

“The last few months of this unprecedented time has shown the resolve of the faculty and staff of the College and their dedication to students,” he continued.  

“The collective effort of department chairs and directors, directors of graduate and undergraduate studies, assistant to the chairs, departmental and program schedulers and staff made this seemingly impossible task, possible.”