Course Section Size

1. Introduction

There are multiple factors that can be considered to determine the appropriate course section size for any individual course. Among those factors are best practices in pedagogy, fiscal health considerations (e.g. how many instructors the University can afford to support, optimizing space and services utilization), and consideration of faculty instructional workload equity.

This Rule provides transparency and clear information about what the University deems appropriate course section size.

This Rule pertains ONLY to “Lecture” and “Lecture and Lab” courses (hereafter, Lecture Course) taught in Fall and Spring semesters. This Rule should be reviewed annually to determine whether it should apply in the future to Summer courses or other section instructional types.

2. Definitions

• 2.1 Course. A “Course” is defined by an entry in an East Carolina University Course Catalog with a course prefix (e.g. HNRS) and a course number (e.g. 4500) that includes a course description.
• 2.2 Course Section. A “Course Section” is an individual section of a Course that has its own instructor(s), location(s), and meeting patterns. Course Sections have their own section code.
• 2.3 Section Size. “Section Size” refers to the number of students enrolled in a Course Section that is taught by one or more faculty.
• 2.4 Lecture Course. A “Lecture Course” is a course requiring the extended expression of thought supported by generally accepted principles or theorems of a field or discipline led by an expert or qualified representative of the field or discipline. Lecture Courses are denoted as an Instructional Format (operationally, also known as Schedule Type) of “Lecture.” A course designated as “Lecture+Lab” is deemed to be a “Lecture Course” for purposes of this Rule. A Lecture+Lab course is one that requires the combined attributes of a Lecture course and a Lab course.
• 2.5 Low Enrollment. “Low Enrollment” refers to the status of a Course Section that does not meet or exceed the minimum Section Size enrollment standards noted in Section 3. Enrollment totals will include registered students and withdrawals.
• 2.6 “Writing Intensive” courses are those with an approved WI designation in the ECU Undergraduate Catalog.

3. A Lecture Course will be defined as “Low Enrollment” if it has a Section Size less than the minimums noted below.

• 3.1 Undergraduate lower-level Lecture Courses (numbered 1000-2999) with enrollments of less than 25. Undergraduate lower-level Lecture Courses designated as Writing Intensive with enrollments of less than 20. Undergraduate upper-level Lecture Courses (numbered 3000-4999) with enrollments of less than 20.
• 3.2 Graduate-level Lecture Courses (numbered 5000-7001) with enrollments of less than 10. Doctoral-level Lecture Courses (numbered 7002+) with enrollments of less than 10 for professional doctoral degrees or less than 5 for research doctoral degrees.
• 3.3 A Lecture Course listed as both a Graduate-level course and also an Undergraduate upper-level course will be considered a Graduate-level course for purposes of this rule.

4. Individual College Standards for Course Section Size

• 4.1 Due to the complexity of course and degree offerings in a large University, some Low Enrollment Lecture Course sections will always exist. It is one of the goals of this Rule that the proportion of Low Enrollment Lecture Course sections is reasonable given needs of students and faculty, ongoing resource constraints, and good fiscal stewardship. For each College, the goal is to have no more than 15% of Lecture Course Sections that are Low Enrollment.
• 4.2 No later than Spring 2028, each College must have no more than 15% of Lecture Course sections that are Low Enrollment. For purposes of this Rule, this standard is evaluated at the level of the College for all Lecture Course Sections offered. Colleges may choose to evaluate and monitor their Low Enrollment Sections at a more granular level.
• 4.3 All Colleges must reach the 15% goal by Spring 2028. However, because Colleges are starting at different levels, the phase-in timing will differ.
  • 4.3.1 The phase-in schedule for the College of Health and Human Performance, the College of Allied Health Sciences, the College of Business, the College of Nursing, and the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences shall meet this Rule using the following schedule:
    • 4.3.1.1 By Spring 2026 – no more than 25%
    • 4.3.1.2 By Spring 2027 – no more than 20%
    • 4.3.1.3 By Spring 2028 – no more than 15%
  • 4.3.2 The phase-in schedule for the College of Fine Arts and Communication, the College of Education, and the College of Engineering and Technology shall meet this Rule using the following schedule:
    • 4.3.2.1 By Spring 2026 – no more than 35%
    • 4.3.2.2 By Spring 2027 – no more than 25%
    • 4.3.2.3 By Spring 2028 – no more than 15%
• 4.4 Impact to Resource Allocation: Failure to meet the Low Enrollment proportions noted above will adversely impact current and future resource allocations to the College.

5. Responsibilities and Processes Related to Cancelling Low Enrolled Sections of Courses

• 5.1 The decision to cancel or not cancel a Course Section because of low enrollment will be made by the unit administrator (chair/school director) following consultation with the dean of the affected college.
• 5.2 Applicable administrators may choose to cancel or retain a Low Enrollment Course Section. Such a decision should be guided by factors including but not limited to:
  • 5.2.1 Whether the course is a required course for majors.
  • 5.2.2 Graduation considerations.
  • 5.2.3 The number of Course Sections offered in a semester or academic year.
  • 5.2.4 The overall SCH productivity of the department (using appropriate metrics that promote equity among faculty).
  • 5.2.5 The degree to which the course is a critical component in meeting a scheduled degree program offering, e.g. a course offered in an evening program on a planned schedule for degree attainment.
  • 5.2.6 The stage of development of the program.
  • 5.2.7 Space constraints (e.g. course needs to be taught in a unique/special setting).
  • 5.2.8 Total enrollment of cross-listed course sections should be considered when making cancellation decisions (e.g., combined sections listed under multiple prefixes/numbers, or instruction that combines on-campus and distance sections).
• 5.3 Every effort should be made to come to a decision as early as possible regarding whether to offer or cancel or consolidate a Course Section because of small enrollment to reduce the complications stemming from cancellation.

6. Flight Path courses are excluded from this Rule. This Rule applies to instruction funded with budget code 16065.

7. Programs should continually review and update course types.

8. Planning, Monitoring, and Reporting

• 8.1 Planning and Monitoring.
• In planning class schedules, units are encouraged to leverage demand-forecasting tools available from Academic Affairs.
• IPAR will establish a dashboard to track section-by-section course enrollments, whether a Lecture Course Section is under-enrolled, and other appropriate metrics. Once operational, this dashboard will be available to all faculty and staff and will be refreshed daily. Departments and Colleges will be responsible for monitoring this dashboard and using the information to manage Lecture Course Section enrollments to conform to this Rule.
• Units are encouraged to review dashboard information on an ongoing basis to plan for current and future semesters.
• 8.2 Reporting
• At the end of each Fall and Spring semester, each Dean will provide to the Provost information for the Semester on the total number of sections offered, the number of Lecture Course Sections, the number and description of all other Instructional Format Type classifications (lab, independent study, etc.), the average Lecture Course Section size, the number and percentage of underenrolled Lecture Course Sections, and other applicable data. This information will be available on, and should be drawn from, the IPAR dashboard.