2.1.11 Summer Courses

(last updated 03/15/13)

New summer courses or changes to existing summer courses must be routed through the approval process and reviewed in the same manner as all other courses.

Academic units are allowed to bypass COCI review when adding summer terms of six, eight, or ten weeks to courses that have already been approved for the fall and/or spring semesters. In these instances, the number of contact hours for the summer term must be the same or slightly greater than those of the fall and/or spring term. The type of instructional format (lecture, seminar, lab, etc.) must also remain the same.

For example, a three-unit course offered in the fall or spring with three hours of lecture per week has a total of 45 contact hours. If this course were offered for eight weeks in the summer, the format would have to be at least 6 hours of lecture per week for eight weeks, for a total of 48 contact hours. For a six week summer term, the format would have to be 7.5 hours of lecture per week for six weeks for a total of 45 contact hours. In both cases, the number of contact hours is equal to or greater than 45 (the total number of contact hours for the fall/spring semester). A conversion chart of common summer instructional lengths may be found at: http://academic-senate.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/workhourschartf14.pdf

To add a summer term of six, eight, or ten weeks for an already approved course, submit a proposal in the Course Management System (CMS), updating the format section to add the new summer term(s). Senate staff will approve the proposal, as long as the contact hours are equivalent.

If the number of contact hours for the proposed summer term is not consistent with the fall or spring term offerings or if there are any other changes being made to the course, the summer term will not be automatically approved. To make any additional changes to the course for the summer term, such as changing the unit value or description, submit a proposal and the course will undergo review by COCI. In addition, any summer courses with a term of fewer than six weeks must undergo review by COCI.

Departments should use the N prefix for summer courses that are different from regular term offerings. For example, English N25, which is taught in the summer, is not the same course as English 25, which is taught in the fall and spring, because it has fewer units. Differences in instructional format, such as the presence or absence of a discussion section for the summer term, also require an N prefix. If the course is already differentiated from the original course (e.g., English 25C), then the N is not required.