Reserving General Assignment Classrooms
  Cancelling General Assignment Classrooms
  Standard Time Blocks
  Prime Time Definitions
  Classroom Requests at Semester Start-up
  Classroom Access for Disabled Students
  Enrollment Limit Policy
  Request and Reservation Forms
  Alternative Campus Event Facilities

 
Reserving General Assignment Classrooms

Registered Student Groups Signatories for registered student groups may make room reservations during the current semester through the fourteenth week of instruction. Academic Departments Designated staff in academic departments may submit room reservation requests for departmental events via the online reservation request form. Requests must be submitted no later than 10:00am on the day of the event. Some restrictions apply during the first three weeks of instruction. Faculty Please see the designated scheduler in your department. Every academic department has at least two persons recognized by our office. To find out who your designated scheduler is, please call 642-0313. Administrative Offices Staff in administrative offices may submit room reservation requests for university events via the online reservation request form. Requests must be submitted no later than 10:00am on the day of the event. Some restrictions apply during the first three weeks of instruction. Staff Organizations Bonafide staff organizations may submit room reservation requests for staff events via the online reservation request form. Requests must be submitted no later than 10:00am on the day of the event. Some restrictions apply during the first three weeks of instruction. Non-University Users of General Assignment Classrooms Special restrictions apply.

Cancelling General Assignment Classrooms

Existing room reservations can be cancelled via the online cancellation form.

Standard Time Blocks

The heavy demand for classroom space requires us to assign facilities to academic courses according to standard time blocks (see list below). We urge you to schedule nonstandard time requests in your department space.

All prime time (see definition below) hours are in bold type. Rule of Thumb: If it starts in prime time, it's prime time. If it starts in non-prime time, it's non-prime.

MWF: 8-9, 9-10, 10-11, 11-12, 12-1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, etc

TT: 8-9:30, 9:30-11, 11-12:30, 12:30-2, 2-3:30, 3:30-5

TT: 8-9, 9-10, 10-11, 11-12, 12-1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, etc.

MTWTF: 8-9, 9-10, 10-11, 11-12, 12-1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, etc.

One-hour Discussions: Any day of the week on the hour
(cannot begin on the half hour)

Two-hour Seminars: 8-10, 10-12, 12-2, 2-4, 4-6, 5-7
(must begin on the even hour unless it's after 5:00pm)

Three-hour Seminars: M, W or F 2-5, 3-6, 4-7 and Tu or Th 2-5, 3-6, 3:30-6:30, 4-7
(must begin after 2:00pm)

Exceptions: MW, MF or WF 4-5:30, TT 3:30-5:30

Prime Time Definitions

You must limit your prime time requests for academic courses to no more than 70% of your total general assignment space requests. These restrictions have been approved by the Campus Committee on Classroom Policy & Management. Tuesday and Thursday 9:30-11, 11-12:30 and 2-3:30 are the most heavily requested teaching times. Consider carefully the courses you choose for these times. Many students need to take courses in more than one department. We suggest you consult with other departments to coordinate the time classes are offered to avoid conflicts for students. This will help students avoid the problem of having a majority of their required courses scheduled at the same time.

Classroom Requests at Semester Start-Up

Department Schedulers:

Here are the guidelines to use that will help us respond to your requests. Please inform your instructors of the following deadlines.

Classroom Requests for Academic Classes
	We will accept requests for either primary or secondary sections starting with the first day of the Tele-BEARS Adjustment Period. All room requests should be sent via fax at 642-0238 or mail on a Room Request Form. You may download a PDF version of this form. Room requests will not be accepted after Friday of the second week of instruction. You will receive final notification concerning your requests by Friday of the third week of instruction. Please do not call us regarding the status of previously submitted requests; you will be notified of the final outcome. Please do not submit requests more than once or otherwise duplicate your requests. Changes or cancellations involving a cross-listed course scheduled in a general assignment classroom must be submitted on a General Assignment Room Switch & Release Form. You may download a PDF version of this form. All other changes may be made directly online.
Special Event Room Reservation Requests
	For the first three weeks of instruction, we will not make any daytime reservations (MTWTF 8:00am-6:00pm). Daytime requests for the fourth through the fifteenth week of instruction will be filled starting on Monday of the fourth week. Same day requests must be submitted no later than 10:00am on the day of the event. Evening and weekend requests can be submitted up to one year in advance. Requests should be submitted via the online reservation request form. Requests are filled in strict chronological order by the event date. Please do not call about the status of your request; you will be notified as soon as an assignment is made. The fee to reserve rooms after 10:00pm on weekends and after 10:30pm on weekdays is $27.65 per hour (or any portion thereof). The fee to reserve rooms during holidays is $41.47 per hour. Fees are due by noon on the Friday before the event. They are payable at the Custodial Services Office which is located at 2243 College Avenue (behind Wurster Hall). Custodial Services can be reached at (510) 642-6515. Call (510) 642-1032 if you are locked out of your reserved room after 5:00pm during the week or anytime Saturday and Sunday. Bring your confirmation with you as you may be asked to show it as proof of your reservation.

Classroom Access for Disabled Students

The campus is committed to ensuring the accessibility of all its courses and programs. If you are a student who uses a wheelchair and have enrolled in a course assigned to a physically inaccessible classroom, please notify your Disabled Students' Program Counselor. To resolve any other issues related to physical accessibility of a building or classroom, you may submit a Request for Mobility Accommodations or telephone (510) 252-7671 or TDD (510) 642-6376.

Berkeley Campus Policy on Course Enrollments Relative to Classroom Capacity

It is the policy of the Berkeley campus that no instructor or department allow the occupancy of a classroom to exceed the limit specified by fire and life safety codes. To enforce this policy, the default setting for course enrollment limits in the Tele-BEARS registration system is set to equal the classroom capacity as reflected on the campus' computerized room inventory.

The campus recognizes, however, that in most courses, the number of students listed in the Tele-BEARS system as enrolled at the beginning of the semester includes both students who never intended to take the course and those who will drop a few weeks into the semester. Thus it is almost surely greater than the number enrolled - and therefore obligated to be present in the classroom - after the course adjustment period ends. Moreover, the campus also recognizes that not all enrolled students attend class on any given day. To compensate for these discrepancies between enrollment as recorded in Tele-BEARS and actual attendance in a classroom on a particular day (i.e., to allow for both attrition and absence), individual departments will be given the technical capability to raise enrollment limits in individual courses up to 10% above the room capacity if, in their judgment, this is desirable in order to enable enrollment by students whose physical presence is not likely to cause the course to exceed classroom occupancy limits.

Departments do not need special permission to make this adjustment. However, it is the responsibility of the department and the instructor to ensure that actual attendance does not exceed classroom capacity. Questions about the capacity (i.e., legal occupancy) limits of classrooms may be referred to the Classroom Scheduling Office (510-642-0313) or to Space Management and Capital Projects (510-642-1781), which maintains the campus classroom inventory.

In addition, the campus recognizes that in a very few cases, valid academic reasons exist for allowing registered enrollment in a specific course to exceed classroom capacity by more than 10%. (For example, some courses are in great demand but have historical patterns of very high attrition; allowing an over-enrollment of only 10% in such courses would still result in many empty seats.)

In these cases, department chairs may appeal to their deans in writing for special consideration. Special arrangements will be considered only in cases where (1) demand is high and enrollment in the course in question is vital to students' ability to progress through the curriculum and (2) departments can demonstrate that they have a plan in place to avoid over-crowding. Examples of such a plan include: statistical evidence regarding previous attendance relative to registered enrollments that indicates it is extremely unlikely that more than the allowable number of students will actually attend; or reservation of an overflow room and arrangements for instruction of students displaced to that room because the primary classroom is full.

As in the case of over-enrollment by 10%, described above, it is the responsibility of the department and the instructor to ensure that actual attendance does not exceed classroom capacity. This responsibility obligates instructors in particularly crowded rooms to know the capacity of their classrooms, to count the number of students present, and, if necessary, to request that some students leave, for their own safety, before class can proceed.

Questions about this policy should be directed to the Classroom Scheduling Office in the Office of the Registrar (510-642-0313).

Request and Reservation Forms

Click on the links below to download Portable Document Format versions of request and reservation forms. You must have the free Acrobat Reader software installed to view them.

Room Request Form

General Assignment Room Switch and Release Form

Alternative Campus Event Facilities

Visit the UC Berkeley Events website for alternative Campus Event Facilities