Lansing Community College
Procedure Details

Procedure Title: Cancelling Course Sections
Procedure #: RO.016
Revision #: 001

Unit Responsible: Registrar's Office
Individual Responsible: Registrar

Effective Date: 01/13/2020
Initial Approval Date: 10/18/2019
Last Review/Update Date: 10/18/2019
Next Review Date: 10/18/2024

*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? Yes
If yes, identify: 5.A.5, 5.C.4

HLC Criteria can be found at: HLC Accreditation Criteria

*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.

Cancelling Course Sections, BP 3.080

1. Purpose

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


2. Scope

This procedure applies to all course sections except those covered under grant requirements or special considerations.


3. Prerequisites

LCC’s financial responsibility to its taxpayers requires that, in general, we not offer course sections that do not have sufficient enrollment. Although student enrollment compared to section capacity is one factor in deciding upon cancelling course sections, other factors such as scheduled day, time, or location of a section, student need for particular sections, etc. also shall be taken into account.


4. Responsibilities

The Provost/Senior Vice President or Academic Affairs is responsible for developing and interpreting this SOP.

The Registrar, as the designee of the Dean of Student Affairs, is responsible for managing student enrollment under this SOP.


5. Procedure

  1. The Associate Dean or designee for each teaching area will monitor student enrollment in course selections prior to the start date of the teaching period (16-week, last-14- week, last-8-week, etc.) for each section, 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 Associate Dean or designee for each teaching area, following consultation with the program faculty chair, will determine whether each course section shall remain open or shall be cancelled.
  3. A course selection with student enrollment of at least 65% of its maximum capacity shall remain open. A course selection with student enrollment under 65% of its maximum capacity 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 (for example, 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 cancellation would affect, etc. The Associate Dean or designee for each teaching area may request the Division Instruction Coordinator to cancel any course sections which are below 65% capacity threshold and which are not required to run by additional criteria.
  4. As soon as possible, the Associate Dean or designee will inform the faculty of any course section to be cancelled.
  5. The Division Instruction Coordinator will cancel any course sections requested and will drop students from these cancelled course sections.
  6. The Division Instruction Coordinator will send class lists of the cancelled 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 cancellation 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 Registrar will provide the Provost/Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Dean of each Division an audit of course cancellations on overall College enrollment.
  9. The Provost/Senior Vice President for Academic Senate, will examine the yearly audit of course section cancellations to ensure quality and identify and address any areas for process or curricular improvement.


6. Reference

N/A


7. Definitions

N/A