The University Registrar's Office assigns classrooms for most courses in Yale College. Before the beginning of each term, it requests that the director of undergraduate studies of each department correct or update course information in the Course Information Management System (CIMS) with changes in time pattern, instructor, expected enrollment, etc. This information forms the basis for the registrar's assignment of classrooms. Instructors with any special classroom requirements (audiovisual equipment, access for disabled students, demonstration equipment, etc.) should inform the director of undergraduate studies well in advance of the beginning of classes so the DUS can notify the Registrar's Office.
Classroom assignments will appear in the Online Course Information database during the week before the beginning of classes.
If a change is required in the meeting time or the assigned room of a course, the instructor should inform the director of undergraduate studies, who will then convey the change or need to the Registrar's Office. Instructors should keep in mind that most courses shrink in size after course selection period has ended, and many courses that overflow their classrooms in the first few meetings may fit comfortably thereafter. If a room proves to be too small or too large, however, the Registrar's Office will try to make the appropriate change.
Once the number of sections and their meeting times have been established, the instructor should download the form for requesting discussion section classroom assignments. Discussion sections routinely meet in fifty-minute periods. Bear in mind that the most popular hours for discussion sections—early afternoons on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and Friday mornings—are also the most difficult to accommodate with good classrooms.
Evening film screenings should be scheduled at 7 or 9 p.m. If instructors schedule evening midterm examinations during the term, they should consider beginning those at 8 p.m. Some athletic teams practice late into the dinner hour, so some students may have trouble finding time to eat before a 7 p.m. test.
