Low enrollment course policy

Policy updated June 2026

Each year, the HCDE Chair, Associate Chair for Academic Affairs, Program Directors, and Academic Services meet to determine course offerings for the following academic year. The Curriculum Committee carefully plans required and elective courses to meet the enrollment needs of each program and offer courses at or near capacity. In the event that a course is not meeting enrollment targets, the department will evaluate the potential consequences and impacts of cancelling a course.

For the purposes of this policy, “cancellation” refers to not offering any sections of a course in a given quarter, rather than determining whether to consolidate two sections of the same course in the same quarter into one section.

Promoting courses

For core courses and fixed topic electives, the program director and staff adviser shall have primary responsibility for managing enrollment. For special topics courses (HCDE 418, HCDE 498, HCDE 548, HCDE 598), the instructor is primarily responsible for promoting the course, including timely provision of course title and course description and collaborating with program directors and staff advisers to promote the course and select any topic-specific prerequisites that do not create undue barriers to meeting enrollment targets.

Enrollment targets

Courses will be considered for cancellation if they have not met the enrollment targets below by one week into Period 2 registration for Winter and Spring quarter. For Autumn quarter, since newly admitted students register later than continuing students, progress towards meeting these target thresholds should be assessed ~1 month before the start of the quarter.

Program	Enrollment targets
Undergraduate	5 cr x 12 students 2 cr x 18 students
Master's	4 cr x 12 students 2 cr x 18 students
PhD	4 cr x 8 students

Some courses are joint between programs (e.g., 548 + 598). In such cases, enrollment targets will be based on the combined enrollment of all sections.

Any decisions to cancel a course should be made quickly after the timelines specified above to prevent situations in which additional students register for a course that will be cancelled.

High impact courses

These courses are rarely, if ever, canceled due to significant impacts on course sequencing and graduation timelines.

BS courses

Course(s)	Reasoning
300-level core courses	Required for all BS students, some are sequenced, must be completed by end of junior year, and all 300-level core are prerequisites for capstone
BS capstone series (HCDE 492 and HCDE 493)	Required for all BS students, only offered once per year
Engineering Electives (in situations outlined in reasoning)	Cancellation would be high impact if required for students to meet the minimum engineering credits required by ABET and graduate on time

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MS courses

Course(s)	Reasoning
Core courses (501, 516, 517, 518, 519, 592, 593)	These courses are required for all MS students. Must be completed before taking HCDE 592.
Once yearly course offerings (not including HCDE 598)	In situations where cancelling these courses may impact student degree progression.
Engineering Electives	If enrollment is capped at 20, it may impact graduation timelines.

PhD courses

Course(s)	Reasoning
Core courses (541, 542, 543)	These courses are required for all first year PhD students and may not meet threshold based on cohort size.

Determination for cancellation

If a course is below the above thresholds by the date specified above, the Associate Chair for Academic Affairs will do the following:

1. Consult with the relevant Program Director(s) and the staff adviser about impacts on students (degree progression, prerequisite completion, full-time enrollment, and student policy impacts) and impact on any strategic curriculum development goals. For example, autumn or winter course cancellations with future offerings in winter and spring term have a smaller impact than canceling spring quarter classes.  
2. If additional information is needed, the Associate Chair may ask the academic adviser to provide the following data:
   • Of the students enrolled,
     • How many are HCDE students?
     • How many need the course to maintain graduation timeline?
     • Is there an opportunity for these students to take the course at a later time in the current academic year? Does it conflict with another required course?
     • Does canceling the course put any students at risk of being under enrolled?
3. Consult with the instructor(s) and department chair about impact on instructors, including our contractual obligations, alternative teaching assignments (or use of releases/buyouts), and their scholarship.
4. Consult with the Department Chair and Department Administrator to appreciate the specific financial considerations that might influence the decision. 

The Associate Chair for Academic Affairs, Program Director, and the Department Chair will use the gathered information to come to a decision, with significant focus on minimizing impact on the student experience.

If a course is canceled

• Program Coordinator add code restricts the course to prevent further registration 
• Academic Adviser sends impacted students a notification of the cancellation, including information about when the course will next be offered (if available), signed by the Program Director, and offers support for modifying schedule
• Once the students are notified, the Program Coordinator submits a ticket to the Time Schedule to cancel the course
• The HCDE Department Chair will work with affected educators to address the impact on their responsibilities.