Course Cap Policy

Purpose

To establish and manage course caps for all courses to aid in meeting various student and stakeholder needs. Those needs include, but are not limited to: student learning needs, accreditation expectations, Minnesota State system guidelines and collective bargaining agreements.

Definitions

Academic Affairs and Standards Council (AASC)

Faculty have fundamental and unique responsibility in matters affecting the academic well-being of the state colleges. The parties agree that the faculty hold the critical role in academic decision-making at the colleges. In order to ensure such role, the parties agree to establish an Academic Affairs and Standards Council (“AASC”) to which management and faculty will bring all proposals regarding academic affairs and standards.

Collective Bargaining Unit (CBU)

The Minnesota State College Faculty (MSCF) Master Agreement.

Shared Governance Council (SGC)

The Shared Governance Council is established per the CBU to make recommendations to the College on the personnel, student affairs, facilities, fiscal matters and general matters.

Course Cap

The maximum class size for all instruction at the College. Course caps are consistent across delivery modes.

Curriculum Design and Management System (CDM)

M State’s online curriculum approval system and repository of curriculum.

Policy

The College will establish and manage maximum class sizes as outlined in the Minnesota State College Faculty Master Agreement (Article 11, Section 1, Subd. 11) for instruction. The establishment of maximum class sizes supports student learning needs, accreditation expectations, Minnesota State system guidelines and the collective bargaining agreement. Exceptions to a previously established course cap may be needed to address safety considerations, accreditation expectations, clinical site capacity or other factors. Classroom size limitations may result in a course being scheduled in a room that holds fewer seats than the course cap. Course caps are consistent across all delivery modes, i.e. on campus, blended, online, HyFlex, and concurrent enrollment. Course caps will be reviewed as part of the program review process. Final course caps are approved at SGC. Below are M State’s standard course cap guidelines:

• For courses that have a combined lecture and lab, the course cap will be that of the lecture, with the understanding that the course will be broken into two equal lab sections (e.g. a lecture of 40 would break into two labs of 20)
• Courses that are primarily lecture with discussion - cap of 40
• Courses that are primarily lecture with demonstration - cap of 30
• College level math courses - cap of 35
• Courses that are primarily skill-based with formal application - cap of 25
• Developmental mathematics courses - cap of 25
• Developmental English courses - cap of 20
• Internships - cap of 20
• English Language Learner (ELL) courses - cap of 20
• Science labs that are standalone lab courses - cap of 20

Responsibilities

Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs

Responsible to maintain a comprehensive and current master list of course caps within the employee portal.

Faculty

Course caps for new courses or courses undergoing revisions:

• Responsible for consulting with colleagues and their dean prior to entering a course cap into CDM.

Course caps for existing courses not in revision status:

• Responsible for consulting with colleagues and their dean prior to the dean making a course cap change recommendation to the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Deans

Responsible to communicate with faculty, the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs, adhere to course cap guidelines outlined in this policy, and to collaborate and consider college-wide implications for course caps.

References

MSCF Master Agreement Article 11, Section 1, Subd. 11

Related Policies and Procedures

Minnesota State Community and Technical College Course Cap Procedure