Course Cancellation Best Practices are determined by the college, under consultation with the Office of the Registrar. Please review the following policies and steps for canceling course sections in Approved status. 

No Students Enrolled - All Colleges

Change the section registration status to "Cancelled" in Offerings Planner

Due to the impact on Schedule Builder for those student who the cancelled section is part of their Preferred Schedules in the Schedule Builder, please use the Schedule Builder panel in Offerings Planner to notify those students. See templates available below.

Students are Enrolled

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 

When course sections are cancelled, it is in the best interest of enrolled students to determine if there are other open sections of the course students can be moved to, in lieu of dropping them from the course. If there are not other sections of the course with open seats, we ask departments to provide impacted students with alternative course options, when possible, and encourage students to connect with their advisor should they need help finding alternative courses. 

When a CLAS department needs to cancel a section with enrollments, the following process must be followed:

  • Change the Registration Status to Pending to prevent additional enrollments
  • DO NOT notify students at this point in the process
  • If there are other open sections of the course, check student schedules to see if students can be moved instead of dropped
    • You will be prompted to provide a spreadsheet with information for moving students to other sections when possible
  • Check to see if there are other courses to suggest to students being dropped
  • Submit the CLAS Course Cancellation Workflow Form

CLAS Course Cancellation Workflow Form

Workflow Routing
  • Step 1: Form routes to the CLAS Dean's Office for review by Cornelia Lang or Jennifer Eimers
    • If the CLAS Dean's Office has any questions or seeks clarification, comments will be posted on the workflow prior to the form being routed to Reg-MAUI-Support 
  • Step 2: If cancellation is approved, form will then route to Reg-MAUI-Support for processing
Cancellation Notifications
  • REG-MAUI-Support will comment on the workflow form indicating to proceed with notifying students about upcoming course changes
    • Department then comments on the form to let Reg-MAUI-Support know students have been notified
  • Reg-MAUI-Support will make enrollment changes and cancel the course section. Reg-MAUI-Support will upload an attachment including information about the administrative enrollment changes made

All Other Colleges

Change the course section registration status to "Pending" in Offerings Planner. Pending the course section prevents further enrollment.

Notify the enrolled student(s) the section is being cancelled.  This would be a good time to suggest an alternative course section (if applicable).

Reg-MAUI-Support will move enrolled students to another section (if applicable) of the same course if another section does not conflict with their schedule. We encourage departments to check student schedules prior to cancellation, and then send Reg-MAUI-Support information for the students to be moved prior to cancellation. 

Once the student is notified, please send reg-maui-support@uiowa.edu a follow-up email including:

  • Session
  • Course Subject:Course Number:Section Number
  • An explanation that students have been notified

Due to the impact for those students who have the cancelled section as part of their Preferred Schedules in Schedule Builder, please use the Schedule Builder panel in Offerings Planner to notify those students. See templates available below.

Please be aware that Reg-MAUI-Support will only move students if a course is being cancelled.  We need a full listing of the students with their HawkIDs, the section they are currently enrolled in, and the section you would like them moved to.

Cancellation Email Template (Schedule Builder)

Dear Student:

You have received this message because you included ABCD:1234:0001 in at least one Preferred Schedule in Schedule Builder.  You will not be able to enroll from Preferred Schedules with section 0001 since it has been cancelled.

If you wish to enroll in ABCD:1234 and section 0001 is the only section in your course cart filter or if this section is the only one indicated in your Preferred Schedules, you will need to rebuild your Preferred Schedules with other sections. However, if you have other sections of ABCD:1234 already indicated in your Preferred Schedules, please use those Preferred Schedules to enroll.

Please disregard this message if you are already enrolled in another section of ABCD:1234.

Fall 2020

Please note: The Office of the Registrar has resumed normal operations; the following information reflects historical operational and policy updates due to COVID-19.  

See the University of Iowa COVID-19 website for the most up to date information.

For fall 2020 courses, contact reg-maui-support to discuss course cancellations prior to notifying students or asking them to drop courses. We know this is a change from our usual practice. We need to consider the course's impact on gateway opportunities, major requirements, pre-req criteria, graduation impact, or any sections that are offered with another college that is vital to another discipline.

Update 5/12/2020:  The Office of the Registrar will not process any request to change or cancel course offerings for Fall 2020 without approval from the Office of the Provost.

COVID-19 Course Cancellation Steps

  • Change the Registration Status of the course from Open to Pending.
  • Do NOT notify students.
  • Contact reg-maui-support and indicate you need to cancel a course. Include the course number and session. If alternate courses are available to suggest to students, please include the course number(s).
    • The Office of the Registrar will reach out to the Office of the Provost to determine if the course cancelation is appropriate.Once approval is received, the Office of the Registrar will adjust student enrollment and work with the department to contact students.
    • Once approval is received, the Office of the Registrar will adjust student enrollment and work with the department to contact students.
  • After all students have been removed from the course, the Office of the Registrar will cancel the course. 

Please feel free to call reg-maui-support at 319-467-0781 or email us if you have any questions.