Course Numbering System and Components of a Course Description

Course Numbering System

Components of a Course Description

In addition to providing a brief description of the course content, it may also include:

• Course grading policy (e.g., May not be taken Pass/Not Pass.)
• Repeat limitations (e.g., Variable content course, may be repeated to a total of 6 hours.)
• Supplemental course fee (assessed in addition to tuition)
• Limitations on course applicability to degree requirements (e.g., May not count toward a major or minor.)
• Identical course is offered in another department.
• Course has a graduate-level parallel course.

Prerequisite

• A prerequisite may consist of a single course, multiple courses, or choice of courses; class standing or other criteria such as placement test scores, admission to a specific program of study, or departmental permission.
• Some courses may require concurrent enrollment in another course during the same semester (referred to in the online class schedule as a "corequisite").
• Prerequisites and corequisites change over time and are not dependant on the student's catalog of graduation. The registration system will enforce prerequisites that are in effect for the semester of registration.
• The student is responsible for having the appropriate prerequisites prior to enrollment in a course. If any academic department determines that a student does not have the appropriate prerequisites for a course, registration for the course may be cancelled either prior to or after classes begin. Any questions concerning the prerequisite should be directed to the academic department offering the course.

Credit Hours

Credit hours represent a unit of academic credit measured in semester hours. Some courses may be offered with a range of credit hours (i.e., 1-3).  Read more about credit and contact hours.

Contact Hours

Contact hours appear in parenthesis before the periodicity.  

• Lecture Contact Hours appear to the left of the hyphen and represents the number of hours per week the class will meet in a lecture environment (based on a 15-week semester). For courses which are lecture only, the lecture hours will equal credit hours. 
• Lab Contact hours appear to the right of the hyphen and represents the number of hours per week the class will meet in a laboratory environment (based on a 15-week semester). At least two laboratory contact hours are required for one credit hour. For example, a four credit hour course with three contact hours of lecture will have two contact hours of laboratory.
• Some courses include clinical contact hours which represent the number of hours per week the course will meet in clinical experiences outside the classroom and may not be listed in the lab hours area and/or in the course description. Some typical clinical courses be in Nursing or Physical Therapy. Normally clinical hours will require 3 or more hours per hour of credit.
• Courses with no contact hours indicate class time is spent outside the normal classroom environment (i..e. internships, service learning, supervised teaching, thesis, etc.)

Periodicity

Periodicity indicates the anticipated semester offering. This information is provided to help students plan their class schedules. The anticipated semester offering is not the same of the schedule of classes, and the semesters listed are indicative of when the courses may be offered, not a guarantee that the course will be available as indicated in the course description.

• "F" indicates Fall
• "S" indicates Spring
• "Su" indicates Summer
• "E" indicates offered in even-numbered years
• "O" indicates offered in odd-numbered years
• "D" indicates offered only upon sufficient demand

Variable Content Course

The variable content course statement indicates course is defined as one having in either its course title or its description any of the following terms: variable content, special topics, issues, mini problems, seminars, projects, independent study, or readings. Variable content courses include any courses that may be substantially different from one semester to another. Not included in this category are special problems, special projects, readings, and research conducted on a tutorial basis with individual students. Unless otherwise stipulated in the course description, a variable content course may be taken only once for credit.