3 Tips for Building a Student-Centric Academic Schedule at Your College or University

CourseLeaf’s Serena Severance shares her tips on building schedules that support student success.

Every college student dreams of the day they will walk across the stage and collect their diploma. They can’t wait to don that cap and gown, celebrate their success, and move on to a rewarding career in a field they enjoy. Sadly, not every student is able to reach that goal.

In 2023, the US graduation rate was roughly 62%. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, the nation’s graduation rate has stalled in recent years, a situation many in higher education find troubling.

There are many strategies being deployed by campuses to help improve that statistic. One strategy that has seen success is the implementation of student-centric course scheduling.

Putting students first

Student-centric course scheduling focuses on students' needs, including their extracurricular schedules. Many students work at least part-time, and some have family responsibilities. Perhaps they drive children to school or care for a parent or grandparent. Juggling academic, work and personal commitments can make it difficult for some students to attend a course held during a typical 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. campus schedule.

How can a campus build a student-centric schedule that caters to these students and offers more flexibility in general? In my work with clients nationwide, I have seen several methods that work. They require schools to 1) implement standard meeting patterns across the entire campus, 2) offer multiple course time slots throughout the day, and 3) propose various instructional methods.

Standard meeting patterns

When campuses create standard meeting patterns and require all academic departments to respect them, students have an easier time registering for classes. In any one term, a student might need to take a course in their major in one academic department, a course in their minor in a second department, and a general education course in a third. If each department operates on a different course schedule, you can bet students will encounter conflicts when registering. Standard meeting patterns avoid scheduling conflicts.

Multiple course time slots

Some faculty members prefer to hold their courses on certain days and times. However, if too many instructors schedule classes for the same time slots, students have fewer options for planning their school, work, and personal schedules. This is why it’s essential to schedule courses throughout the day—from early morning to late evening—and throughout the week. This way, students who need to cover a morning work shift can find a course offering that works for them in the afternoon or evening.

Diverse instructional methods

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many institutions moved classes online. Since then, most have switched back to an in-person format. However, there’s still an excellent case to be made for offering a mix of course formats—in-person, online, and hybrid—so that working and non-traditional students can enroll in the classes they need to graduate.

How CourseLeaf can help

At CourseLeaf, I work with colleges and universities who use our Academic Scheduling software, called CourseLeaf CLSS. This software allows administrators to centralize and easily manage course schedules across departments while maximizing class placement. Many campuses I work with have used CLSS for years to boost student success.

CLSS allows administrators to create “rules” to encourage faculty members and department personnel to adhere to specific scheduling standards, including a standard meeting pattern. With a standard meeting pattern rule, anyone wanting to set up a course at a non-conforming time must receive special approval.

Rules are easy to configure, and I have had many clients set them up to reinforce specific student-centric scheduling behaviors. For example, if your campus wants to ensure that only 30% of courses in a particular department are offered online, you could set up a CLSS rule that would trigger a warning signal when department schedulers exceed that limit. Rules can also be used to encourage certain behaviors, such as scheduling at least 20% of sections for a department after 3 p.m.

Many institutions have implemented a “primetime rule” that encourages a variety of course offerings across instructional time slots. This benefits students, as they don’t have to cram all their courses into a specific time window. A primetime rule can also ensure the effective use of classroom and lab spaces.

CLSS is designed so that everyone with access to the software can view the entirety of the schedule but only those with specific authorization can make changes. This transparency in scheduling means that deans, department chairs, and administrators have the same information and that no one is caught off guard.

Success stories

I’m grateful that our CourseLeaf clients have had positive experiences using CLSS to create student-centric schedules that make it easier for students to plan their learning journeys. They tell me they’re thankful for a tool that simplifies their work. Do they ever want to go back to the old days when they used spreadsheets and web forms to create new course schedules? No way!

Before I came to CourseLeaf, I worked at a university in Washington State, so I know the challenges institutions face when implementing new software and/or scheduling policies. However, in my experience, once faculty and staff get used to new policies and processes, they never look back.

If you’d like more information about CourseLeaf or to book a short call or demo of CLSS, please let us know. We would love to see how we can help your team move to student-centric scheduling in support of your campus goals!