Minimum Class Size Policy - Northern Michigan University

Purpose:

Class size has a bearing on both the efficiency and effectiveness if the instructional resources used to provide designed learning opportunities for enrolled students.  The establishment of minimum class sizes for undergraduate classes, and procedures for documenting departures from these minimums, provides both the assurance of stewardship of resources and the flexibility to deal with variable conditions.

Applicability:

All for-credit undergraduate classes taught by NMU employees.

Definitions

• Lower division courses are those undergraduate courses with numbers below 300.
• Upper division courses are those undergraduate courses with numbers of 300 or greater but less than 500

“Course” means any regular credit bearing undergraduate course taught by an NMU employee but excludes Directed Studies, Independent Studies and other “single student enrollment” courses.

Policy

• One week prior to the start of classes in the fall or winter semester lower division courses must have an enrollment of 20 students or more.
• One week prior to the start of the classes in the fall or winter semester upper division courses must have an enrollment of 10 students or more.