Academic Policies

17: Guidelines for Utilization of General Purpose Classrooms, Laboratories, Technology Classrooms, and other Academic Space at Penn State Harrisburg

Purpose

To establish a rationale and process for scheduling academic space at Penn State Harrisburg.

General Principles

The primary mission of Penn State Harrisburg is educating students through the delivery of instruction, presentation of cultural programs, enhancement of learning, and implementation of the teaching and learning goals of The Pennsylvania State University. Since teaching is the College’s highest priority, the scheduling of classrooms and other learning spaces is critical if the College is to meet its mission.

The scheduling of classrooms and other learning spaces is the responsibility of the College Registrar. With the concurrence of the Chancellor, the Registrar may delegate certain specific responsibilities to other offices in accordance with these guidelines, e.g., requests from outside organizations may be delegated to the Office of Continuing Education.

No teaching spaces can be scheduled until the Registrar has completed the space assignments for each semester and the course schedule is distributed on the web.

Classrooms and instructional spaces do not “belong” to academic units or individual instructors. As a rule, all computer/technology-equipped classrooms not subject to specific controls approved by the Chancellor are open to students according to the hours posted at the entrances to the rooms.

Some spaces, because of the specialized equipment or technology, e.g., the Sun computer classrooms, are not designed for use by the general student population. Such spaces are to be considered “controlled” and will not be available for scheduling on the college’s room inventory. Special arrangements for the use of these rooms must be made by the Administrative Assistants or designees with the approval of the unit administrator and the Senior Associate Dean.

All classrooms and instructional spaces can be viewed on the College’s web page under the “Classrooms at a Glance” address. Any person interested in viewing a particular general purpose classroom, technology classroom, or any other teaching space should review the information.

Once a teaching space is assigned by the Registrar and approved by the head of the academic or administrative unit, no faculty member can change the teaching location, the meeting time, or the day the class is scheduled without the written permission of the School Director.

Guidelines and Practices

Each classroom, laboratory, seminar room, or other space has a limit on the number of persons permitted. Schedulers should make sure that the limits are included in the planning for teaching, meetings, or other events. Once the course limits are set by the School Director, unit administrator, or other appropriate authority, the Registrar will enforce the University’s health and safety guidelines.

The following paragraphs establish scheduling guidelines. Schedulers should attempt to work together to resolve any conflicts at least 21 days before any event is scheduled.

Room Schedulers: Who is authorized to schedule rooms in campus buildings?

Each academic and administrative unit may designate two persons as primary and secondary schedulers. Each scheduler will have access to the two scheduling screens known as AXUR and AXUE.
A list of authorized schedulers will be maintained by the Chancellor and the Registrar. Each scheduler will also have a copy of the list.
Each unit may designate two other individuals who will have access to the read-only screen. These designees will not be able to schedule rooms.
Neither the Registrar nor any other office will accept any telephone or written requests for classrooms or other teaching locations from any one other than the authorized schedulers.
All outside organizations, that is, units not supported by Penn State general funds budgets, must schedule rooms through the Office of Continuing Education. Academic units interested in scheduling rooms for outside groups should cooperate with the Office of Continuing Education.

Scheduling Practices: How are rooms scheduled?

All rooms must be scheduled through the ARUXE screen.
All arrangements for furniture set-ups, catering, telecommunications, and other needs must be made by the authorized scheduler. None of those arrangements will be made by the Registrar.
Any classroom changes after a semester or period of instruction begins must be approved by the administrator of the unit, e.g, a School Director, Director of Student Activities, and so on.

Scheduling Calendar: When can rooms be scheduled?

Once the Registrar has completed the semester class schedule, authorized staff members may schedule general-purpose classrooms and other common spaces. The Registrar will notify all authorized schedulers as soon as the semester schedule has been completed.
For the fall 2003 semester, no classrooms may be scheduled for the evening until the Registrar has completed the room scheduling process.
No office can schedule any rooms during the final exam period, during breaks in the academic year, or at other restricted times designated by the Registrar.
The list of authorized schedulers will be maintained by the Registrar or delegate and the Office of the Chancellor.

Effective: September 15, 2003

Senate Policy 34-20 states “No instructor has the right to change the regular schedule of classes or to allow students to attend other sections of the same course without the consent of the Chancellor, except when a student is directed to change from one section of a course to another section of the course by the instructor’s department head.”