Lansing Community College
Procedure Details

Procedure Title: Canceling Course Sections
Procedure #: AA.032
Revision #: 002

Unit Responsible: Academic Affairs
Individual Responsible: Director of Academic Operations

Effective Date: 02/28/2025
Initial Approval Date: 10/18/2019
Last Review/Update Date: 02/28/2025
Next Review Date: 02/01/2028

*Does this procedure support a Board Policy? Yes
If yes, identify: 3.080 - Cancelling Course Sections

Board policies can be found at: LCC Board of Trustees Policy Page

*Does this procedure support HLC criteria and/or Assumed Practices? Yes
If yes, identify: 5A, 5C

HLC Criteria can be found at: HLC Accreditation Criteria
HLC Assumed Practices can be found at: HLC Assumed Practices

*Does this procedure support a State or Federal Regulation? No
If yes, identify: N/A

*Note: Standard Operating Procedures should be in furtherance of some LCC policy and/or accreditation criteria, even if the relationship is not direct. Assistance in determining this information can be obtained from the Academic Procedure Advisory Committee (APAC) and/or the Accreditation Liaison Officer.

Canceling Course Sections, BP 3.080

1. Purpose

To establish a process for canceling credit-bearing sections that do not have sufficient enrollment.


2. Scope

Applies to all course sections except those covered under grant requirements or special considerations.


3. Prerequisites

Lansing Community College’s (LCC) financial responsibility to its taxpayers requires that, in general, we not offer course sections that have insufficient enrollment. Although student enrollment compared to section capacity is one factor in determining course section cancelations, other factors shall also be considered such as; scheduled day, time, or location of a section, student need for particular sections, etc.


4. Responsibilities

  • Provost Cabinet – Responsible for reviewing the data regarding cancelation of course sections and addressing any concerns or process changes.
  • Director of Academic Operations – Responsible for providing the data on the impact of course section cancelations on overall enrollment.
  • Supervisor or designee for each teaching area with the faculty chair/lead faculty – Responsible for monitoring student enrollment in course sections and determining if the section should remain open or canceled.  The supervisor is also responsible for informing faculty when cancelation is required.
  • Division Instruction Coordinator or designee – Responsible for canceling sections, dropping students, and providing class lists to the support staff.
  • Support staff in the teaching area – Responsible for informing enrolled students of the cancelation and to suggest alternative sections or courses when possible.


5. Procedure

  1. The supervisor for each teaching area will monitor student enrollment in course sections prior to the start date of the teaching period (16-week, last-14-week, last-8-week, etc.), especially at 4 weeks, 3 weeks, and 2 weeks out.
  2. One week prior to the start date of the teaching period for each section, the supervisor for each teaching area, following consultation with the program faculty chair/lead faculty, will determine whether each course section shall remain open or shall be canceled.
  3. For the majority of courses, a section with student enrollment of at least 12 shall remain open. A course section with student enrollment under 12 shall be evaluated for consideration of additional criteria such as; whether it is the only section of a course available for students at a particular day, time, or location (e.g., weekend, evening, or particular campus), whether it is needed for students to graduate without delay or to stay on track in a sequence of courses needed for graduation, the number of students its cancelation would affect, etc. The supervisor for each teaching area may request the Division Instruction Coordinator to cancel any course sections which are below 12 and not required to run.  Other courses will be evaluated at other thresholds based on maximum enrollment for the course.
  4. As soon as possible, the supervisor or designee for each teaching area will inform the faculty of any course section to be canceled.
  5. The Division Instruction Coordinator or designee will cancel any course sections requested and will drop students from these canceled course sections.
  6. The Division Instruction Coordinator or designee will send class lists of the canceled course sections to support staff in each teaching area or, if appropriate, Extension Center. When possible, suggestions of other sections for student reenrollment in the same courses will be sent as well.
  7. Support staff in each teaching area, via telephone or other electronic means, will attempt to contact all students dropped by the course section cancelation process and explain their options for reenrollment. Students with further questions will be referred to resources such as Program Director, Star Zone, Academic Advising, Academic Success Coaching, Financial Aid, etc. as needed.
  8. At the end of each academic year, the Director of Academic Operations will provide the Provost Cabinet an audit of the course cancelations impact on overall College enrollment. 
  9. The Provost Cabinet, will examine the yearly audit of course section cancelations to identify and address any areas for process or curricular improvement. 


6. Reference

N/A


7. Definitions

N/A