Academic Year 2024-2025

Motivation

Scheduling classes on our campus is becoming increasingly challenging due to the number of classroom requests and shrinking inventory. Specifically, it is time to evaluate how we schedule classes due to the following:

  • Reduction in available classrooms (Olney renovation; Olsen lab conversions of 6 classrooms; Graduate Online and Professional Studies (GPS) conversions, etc.)
  • Reduction in large-scale classrooms (Elimination of Olney Hall 150 with 460 seating capacity; Ball Hall 214 offline and being reduced from 300 to 160 seats)
  • Expected increase in enrollments (17% increase in applications for Fall 2025)
  • The existing schedule results in a heavy concentration of classes during peak hours, specifically on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Mondays and Wednesdays from 2 to 5 p.m., limiting flexibility for students.
  • Desire to have a vibrant campus throughout the week

Core Objective

The core objective of the Class Scheduling Task Force is to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the university's goals and foster shared governance to advance student success.

Primary Goal

The primary goal of the task force will be to identify the most cost-effective and efficient strategies for collaborating on a scheduling grid. This grid should meet students' degree-completion requirements in a timely manner while optimizing the use of current physical classroom spaces at UMass Lowell.

Membership

To create a holistic approach this task force includes representatives who can provide insights into the academic, operational, and logistical aspects of our university.

Together, members of Faculty Senate, MSP, and the Administration will work to understand our current scheduling challenges, study best practices and examples at other institutions, explore technological resources, and collect data from campus constituencies. The task force will report on its findings during the April 7, 2025 meeting of Faculty Senate.

Membership will include:

  • Two full-time faculty per area (1) Arts and Humanities, (2) Business, (3) Engineering, (4) Health Sciences, (5) Sciences, (6) Social Sciences for a total of 12 faculty with half being nominated by the Faculty Senate and half by the Faculty Union.
  • One adjunct faculty member to be nominated by the Adjunct Faculty Union.
  • Six Staff/Administration members to support with data and feasibility insights, including Registrar, Facilities, Associate Deans, etc.
  • Input sought from students via survey and open sessions.

Taskforce Charge

The task force will develop a set of guiding principles for scheduling classes in the future, including best practices in terms of viable scheduling times and true constraints. This will include a review of our available inventory and examination of scheduling practices at other universities. Furthermore, with the use of AI and/or other scheduling technologies, the task force will evaluate potential schedules to develop further guidelines on future scheduling. Specifically, schedules developed from these technologies will be evaluated for feasibility with respects to implementation. Ultimately, the task force will identify the most cost-effective and efficient strategies for collaborating on a scheduling grid. This grid should meet students' degree-completion requirements in a timely manner while optimizing the use of current physical classroom spaces at UMass Lowell.

The task force will provide a preliminary report at the April 7, 2025 Faculty Senate meeting with recommendations for next steps.

Meeting Schedule

  • January 28, 2025 at 2-3 p.m. via Zoom
  • February 2025 - TBD
  • March 2025 - TBD
  • April 2025 - TBD

Task Force Members

Arts and Humanities

  • Kevin Petersen, English, Liberal Arts
  • Janet Welby, Music

Business

  • Sangphil Kim, Finance
  • Michael Ciuchta, Marketing

Engineering

  • Tzuyang Yu, Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • David Kazmer, Plastics Engineering

Health Sciences

  • Herpreet Kaur Thind, Public Health
  • Heidi Fantasia, Nursing

Sciences

  • Cory Fournier, Mathematics and Statistics
  • Michael Graves, Biological Sciences

Social Sciences

  • Hannah Johnson, Psychology
  • Joseph Gonzales, Psychology

Adjunct Faculty

  • Kelly Drummey, English, First Year Writing Program

Staff / Administration

  • Mai Nguyen, Registrar
  • Gerry Nelson, Web Services - Brand, Communications and Creative Strategy (BCCS)
  • Richard Yeager, Facilities
  • Jon Victorine, Transportation and Parking
  • Noureddine Melikechi, Academic Dean
  • Julie Nash, Provost's Office

Students

  • Gavin Robillard, Accounting and Finance, Student Government Association (SGA) Academic Affairs Chair