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Friday, July 28, 2017

Fall tuition calculation

Fall tuition calculation will be turned on for all careers on the Twin Cities campus, except the Medical School, on August 11, 2017 (tuition calculation for the Medical School will be turned on August 2, 2017). This means that students will be able to view their fall tuition and fees after this date.

High enrollment projections impacting class access

The University is anticipating higher-than-projected New High School (NHS) enrollments for fall 2017 with about 300-400 additional students. This could have an impact on class access. If you are an advisor, please communicate specific courses that you see filling faster or earlier than usual. Email Katie Russell at russellk@umn.edu. We anticipate some courses will fill as they always have.

First-year writing is aware of the increase in students and believes they have scheduled sufficient WRIT 1301 sections to serve the large incoming class. If needed, they will investigate the possibility of adding a section or two for spring 2018.

Enrolling students in chemistry classes

The Department of Chemistry does not anticipate removing a high number of students from CHEM 1061/1065 based on placement score. Students should continue working in ALEKS with the goal of earning 100%. On August 15 the Department of Chemistry will review where enrolled students are at, do some normative analysis, and determine what the final cut-off will be to ensure student success.

Please continue encouraging students who are working in ALEKS and nearing 70% or 80% to enroll in CHEM 1061/1065 if that is the most appropriate course for them. With transfer student orientation beginning next week, there are 10 seats reserved in each section of CHEM 1065 for NAS students. If an NAS student is not able to access a particular section or you need more seats, please contact Nancy Thao (thao@umn.edu) in the Department of Chemistry.

Academic calendar changes

Beginning with the 2018-19 academic calendar, the spring term will change from having 74 instructional days to having 70 instructional days. This change means that fall and spring semesters will have the same length going forward, and there is room for an additional study day for students in the spring term.

The full calendars for 2018-22 can be viewed on the University Senate page.

Spring 2019
January 21 (Monday) - MLK holiday
January 22 (Tuesday) - Classes begin
March 18-22 (Monday through Friday) - Spring break
May 6 (Monday) - Last day of instruction
May 7, 8, and 12 (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday) - Study days
May 9-11 and 13-15 (Thurs.-Sat. and Mon.-Wed.) - Final examinations
May 15 (Wednesday) - End of term

Note that spring term will continue to start on the Tuesday after the MLK holiday, the second half of the term will still begin the Monday after spring break, and there will be no finals on the Sunday of finals week.

Because some classes may have 1 to 2 fewer meeting dates (depending on meeting pattern), syllabi may need to be reviewed. Please communicate these changes to those within your departments so that they are able to prepare accordingly.

PeopleSoft Campus Solutions 9.2 upgrade

The PeopleSoft Campus Solutions Technical Upgrade (moving from version 9.0 to 9.2) is progressing as planned. Go-live for this phase is still on track for September 24, with system downtime starting September 23.

The Functional Upgrade (implementing process improvements) has been scoped to these initiatives. Project teams have already begun chartering and planning their work. More information about the entire upgrade effort can be found on the project website.

Canvas announcement

In June, it was announced that Canvas was selected to be the successor to Moodle. As the U begins the transition process, Discover Canvas events will be held each Thursday this summer. Members of the Canvas transition team will be available in-person and online to help faculty and staff explore this new learning environment.