Freshmen Connection

All newly scheduled courses and courses with changes must include ALL the following information:

1. Term and Year: Fall 2025 = (2508)
2. Center Code
3. Course Delivery Method: F (Face-to-Face); O (Online); B (Blended Learning).
4. Course Rubric and Number: (i.e., BSCI170)
5. Section Number
6. Number of seats being offered
7. Meeting days and time (see Contact Hours and Course Delivery Method Definitions)
   1. Online Asynchronous: List as TBA.
   2. Online Synchronous: List specific meeting days and hours.
   3. Blended: List face-to-face element(s) as lecture, discussion, or lab component. List online component as an additional lecture/discussion/lab; asynchronous list as TBA; synchronous list specific meeting days and hours.
8. Classroom or building location: (Scheduling Office confirms classroom availability)
   1. Locations on UMD Campus: Locations must be added for face-to-face meetings. If you have room priority, those rooms can be scheduled now. If you need a General-Purpose Classroom (GPC) assigned, leave the location field blank. Course and Classroom Scheduling Services will assign classrooms as usual when departmental access to scheduling closes. To request a specific room, location, or equipment, enter a non-print note in the Course Note (CN) screen. Justification is required when requesting a specific room or location. Please provide a short justification or a brief explanation in the non-print note.
      1. Requesting a TERP classroom. Start the note with the word “TERP” and indicate the type (Tiered, 6Round, Eye2Eye, or Media Share) followed with a brief justification.
      2. Requesting a computer lab (ATL 1410 or PLS 1129).
      3. A room with moveable versus fixed seating (for group activities).
      4. Instructor’s special accommodation request (low mobility, limited vision, allergies to chalk, etc.).
   2. Online: List as Web for Building and Online for Room.
9. Instructor name and UID: (if instructor has not been selected, list as STAFF)
10. SIS and ELMS Coding: Provide name and UID of any other individual who needs SIS and/or ELMS access, with appropriate code information. For all non-teaching staff who require ELMS access: The academic unit is responsible for completing the non-paid appointment, as necessary. 
11. Evaluation for each person listed in SIS/ELMS: Y = Yes Evaluation; N = No Evaluation.

FC course meeting times begin after 3:00 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. Discussions, labs, and one-credit courses may meet beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Fridays. FC uses the following time blocks for course scheduling:

Each role listed in SIS/ELMS must also have an evaluation code: Y = Yes Evaluation, N = No Evaluation. With the exception of the Instructor of Record, course roles must be requested each semester as this information does not roll over.

Note: ELMS-Canvas spaces are created for the Instructor of Record listed in SIS. When this role is updated in SIS to a new faculty/staff member a new ELMS-Canvas space is created. The content from the original course space (i.e., announcements, assignments, pages, files, grades, students, etc.) will not automatically move to the new course space.

If the Instructor of Record is changed after the semester has begun and needs this historic content, the new instructor should email itsupport@umd.edu (Attention: ELMS-Canvas Staff) and request the content be migrated. Whenever possible the original instructor should provide approval to migrate the content to the new instructor. If the previous instructor is no longer with the institution, a note to this effect from leadership in the department should be included in the request to IT Support.

Fall 2025 (2508) ELMS space release: March 26, 2025

1. Combining: For instructors teaching more than one course or section that wish to merge the ELMS spaces, visit: How to Combine Sections and Courses in ELMS.
   • Note: The instructor must be an instructor in all merged courses/sections for this action to work. It can take up to an hour for the enrollments associated with the unique course/sections to appear in the new, combined space. 
   • Links to the unique course/section spaces will cease to be visible to the members once the new space has been created by the merging activity.
2. Splitting: For instructors teaching more than one section of a course whose ELMS spaces were combined by default and wish to create individual ELMS spaces for each section, visit: Create ELMS Single Section Course Space.
   • Note: Only one single-section course space can be created at a time. The instructor/requester will have immediate access to the course space. Student enrollment(s) will be imported from UMEG within two hours.

The University of Maryland follows the Maryland Higher Education Commission's (MHEC) policies on "contact hours," a shorthand term referring to the amount of time required in various forms of education to earn credit. Credit-bearing courses are divided into three types based on MHEC contact hour requirements: lectures, laboratories, and internships (Seminars and discussions are classed as "lecture" in the MHEC scheme.) Online courses must be comparable. Contact hour requirements apply to both undergraduate and graduate courses.

Face-to-face courses with an online component must have a scheduled online lecture, discussion or lab component or a section note that clarifies that an online component will account for the remainder of the contact hours not accommodated in class. Contact hours will be confirmed by EXST. Departments needing further recalculations will be contacted. For additional information see Course Policies and Practices.

Once a course is scheduled and advising begins (in mid-February), requests for changes to meeting times or course location must be sent to EXST via email fc-sched@umd.edu for review. Requests for changes to meeting days/times are difficult to accommodate as students enroll in fall FC sections in the early spring. EXST staff has reviewed the comprehensive FC schedule to ensure that General Education options are offered in all available timeslots. Moving course days/times may leave students without adequate course options and may reduce enrollment in other scheduled courses.

Mid-term grades are required for all FC course sections. Departments ensure that all instructors of FC sections submit mid-term grades by the University’s October deadline. Instructors may enter letter grades (A, B, C, etc.) or a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory marking. FC Advisors contact all students in danger of failing a course for mandatory advising. See deadlines.

Final grades are required for all FC course sections and must be letter grades (save for MATH003). Grade insertion deadlines for FC sections are the same as those for all University undergraduate courses. See deadlines.