Schedule an Online Course

Course Approval

The UNM Scheduling Office is the curriculum scheduling authority for main campus. It is the role of the Scheduling Office to review requests and enter approved courses into Banner. While academic units work to ensure accurate form preparation, only the Scheduling Office has the authority to finalize scheduling requests.

Given the differences with scheduling an online course, the Scheduling Office authorized UNM Online to manage requests. As a result, UNM Online pre-approval is required to schedule an online course. It is the role of UNM Online to pre-approve online course scheduling requests and forward them to the Scheduling Office for final processing.

Online Course Types

The following instructional types require pre-approval from UNM Online:

Online courses can either have no scheduled meetings, scheduled online meetings, a very limited number of in-person scheduled meetings, or a combination of the above. Online courses are limited to three in-person meetings per 16-week term, and these meetings are often used for orientation and exams. All mandatory meetings, either virtual or in-person, must be scheduled in Banner.

Meetings that occur in an online course must comply with distance education regulations. Instructors use the Online with Meetings form to ensure compliance.

Online courses undergo a quality review process when they are initially developed.

Accelerated Online Programs are undergraduate degree completion programs and full master’s degrees that meet specific characteristics: 

  • Students must be admitted to an Accelerated Online Program to be eligible to enroll.
  • Courses are in an 8-week format.
  • Courses have no scheduled meetings.
  • Tuition is a flat, cost-per-credit-hour rate, regardless of residential status.
  • Additional costs may include a college differential, upper-division course premiums, and the student technology fee.

To schedule hybrid courses, UNM Online approval is no longer required. Submit requests to schedule hybrid course sections directly to the UNM Scheduling Office (schedule@unm.edu).

Online DESRs

Online Department Enrollment Status Report (DESR) instructions are available here.

Each semester, UNM Online Scheduling follows the online Department Enrollment Status Report (DESR) timeline.

Fall 2024Deadlines                                  
No first Online DESR submissionNone
Final online DESRs due to UNM Online SchedulingMonday, February 26, 2024
Online Course Proposal Forms: best consideration dateFriday, January 26, 2024
Summer 2024Deadlines                                  
No first Online DESR submissionNone
Final online DESRs due to UNM Online SchedulingMonday, February 26, 2024
Online Course Proposal Forms: best consideration dateFriday, November 17, 2023
Spring 2024Deadlines                                  
No first Online DESR submissionNone
Final online DESRs due to UNM Online SchedulingMonday, October 9, 2023
Online Course Proposal Forms: best consideration dateFriday, August 18, 2023

Forms

Use the Online Scheduling Form to schedule or cancel the following types of course sections:

  • Online Course
  • Accelerated Online Program Course

Submit forms to Online Scheduling (onlinescheduling@unm.edu) after obtaining chair and dean signatures (if needed). Do not submit online or AOP scheduling forms directly to the main UNM Scheduling Office.

Once UNM Online has submitted a form to UNM Scheduling for processing, expect to see the schedule changes reflected in Banner in about 7 business days. In the month leading up to the start of a semester, allow for longer processing times.

If an AOP section must be added after registration opens, submit the add form to Online Scheduling at least one month in advance of the class start date. This allows time for the class to be added in Banner, for the class to be grouped in Canvas as needed, and for students to enroll in the correct sections.

FormExamples
Online Scheduling Form

Approval is necessary to schedule a course that is new to the online delivery mode. For a course to be considered, follow the process below. Departments must obtain approval through this process before requesting to schedule online courses that are new to online instruction.

  1. The academic unit submits a fully signed and completed Online Course Proposal (OCP) Form to unmonlineproposals@unm.edu. Best consideration dates are posted on the Online Course Proposals webpage. Direct questions about OCPs to unmonlineproposals@unm.edu.
  2. UNM Online Proposals will notify the academic unit if the OCP form requires corrections to be considered for development.
  3. OCPs are scored against a rubric and weighted according to how well the course will support unit and institutional goals. After the vetting process, select courses are approved for development. Generally, no more than 3 to 4 proposed courses can be approved per term per academic unit due to limited development resources. To keep instructors’ workloads manageable, no more than 2 new courses are typically approved per instructor who will be designing the courses.
  4. UNM Online Proposals notifies the academic unit whether the course was approved for development. Departments can expect to receive OCP approval decisions 1-2 weeks after the best consideration date for the term.
  5. If the course has been approved for development and offering, the academic unit’s scheduler may request to schedule the online course. To do this before the final DESR deadline, the scheduler adds the course to the bottom of their online DESR submission. If it is after the final DESR deadline, the scheduler uses an Online Scheduling Form to add the course instead of a DESR.

New online courses can include (but are not limited to):

  • Classes that have never been taught at UNM with Online (ONL) or Accelerated Online Program (formerly known as MOPS) instruction method. Classes that were only offered under a remote modality (such as Remote Arranged or Remote Scheduled) are new to the online offering since remote classes did not have ONL or AOP instruction methods.
  • New topics classes. Each new topic offered under a topics course number must be approved for online offering because it will require the development of a new online course in Canvas.
  • Existing online courses that the instructor or Academic Unit wants to extensively redesign.
  • Courses that require redevelopment because they have not been offered online for several years.

An Online Course Proposal (OCP) is not needed to offer an existing online course under a new course number or course title. If an online course is changing to a new course number or title but the course content will remain the same, notify Online Scheduling.

Email Online Scheduling with the course number, title and instructor name if you are unsure whether a class requires an approved OCP to schedule.

Use the Online Crosslist Form to schedule a group of equivalent and interchangeable online courses. With each crosslisted group, there is a "home department." A home department is the academic unit responsible for submitting crosslist forms and ensuring identical scheduling of all participating sections. Obtain signatures from the chairs of all departments that will be involved in the crosslist group before submitting the Online Crosslist Form to Online Scheduling. The home department submits any schedule revision requests for the crosslisted courses using an Online Scheduling Form. A signed crosslist form is required every year for interdepartmental crosslist groups that rolled over from the previous year to maintain the crosslisted courses on the schedule. Some online courses are crosslisted per the UNM Catalog, requiring the submission of a crosslist form with every scheduling request.

FormExamples
Online Crosslist FormCrosslist sections

For an online section, changing the instructor of record is done through the UNM Online Scheduling Office. Departments must not make such instructor updates themselves. With online courses, an instructor change impacts course development, resource allocation, and budget decisions. To change an instructor, email onlinescheduling@unm.edu and include: term, CRN, subject, course number, instructor name, and UNM Banner ID number.

FormExamples
Instructor UpdatePrimary instructor change

Academic departments submit their own section capacity updates for online and AOP courses the same way they would for in-person courses.

Fall intersession courses are typically placed on reserve status (deactivated for registration) during the fall schedule build. Forms to add or reactivate fall intersession classes are usually not accepted until mid-October. To add or reactivate an online section for fall intersession, submit an Online Scheduling Form to onlinescheduling@unm.edu with appropriate signatures. Instructional designer support is unavailable when UNM is closed for Winter Break. Schedulers should submit online intersession forms by November 1, as this will help ensure instructors can set up their classes in Canvas with designer support before the break.

Each Special Event and Classroom Request is reviewed by the UNM Scheduling Office. The office accepts requests at least 4 days prior to the event from UNM colleges, departments, and chartered student organizations. Allow more processing time for events occurring on the weekend. Incomplete forms will not be processed.

FormExamples
Special Event and Classroom Requestn/a

RASI Training Requirement

Before teaching an online or hybrid course in Summer 2021 or later, instructors must have completed one of the following trainings:

  • Evidence Based Practices for Teaching Online (EBPTO)
    • EBPTO is a six-week course for instructors (open to any instructor) offered multiple times per year. The training is fully revamped. Those who completed a similar training before Fall 2019 are strongly encouraged to take EBPTO.
  • Regular and Substantive Interaction (RASI) training in Learning Central
    • RASI training takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. This course provides instructors with training on regulations related to regular and substantive interaction in online courses, student privacy and security in the online environment, and guidance on providing effective student support in an online format. Instructors teaching classes that are not fully online but still contain online components will also benefit from completing this training. Tips for finding RASI in Learning Central are available here.

Direct general questions regarding RASI training to onlinescheduling@unm.edu.

Resources

Contact UNM Online Scheduling

UNM Online supports scheduling coordinators. Expert staff are available to clarify the nuances of scheduling an online course.

Email: onlinescheduling@unm.edu
Web: onlinescheduling.unm.edu
Phone: (505) 277-8585
Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Contact UNM Online About Course Proposals

UNM Online's Curriculum Development Coordinator is the contact for questions about the course proposal process.

Email: unmonlineproposals@unm.edu
Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.