Spring Break
UConn Changes Course Numbering System
Christopher Duray
Issue date: 2/8/08 Section: News
The University Registrar's office is enacting a change in UConn's course numbering system, extending the code to four digits instead of three. The new system will take effect in time to register for summer classes.
The new number system was designed to allow for more classes to better reflect the level the class is intended for. Classes labeled 1,000 are meant for freshmen, 2,000 courses will be for sophomores and so on, with courses above 5,000 reflecting graduate student courses. The current system, which was first implemented in the 1930s, only extends through 300.
A list of the new class numbers is accessible from the registrar's Web site and an updated course book is set to arrive at the beginning of April.
The new method of numbering will not be retroactively applied to previously completed courses, however. The registrar's office will instead program Peoplesoft to recognize the old numbers for the purpose of graduation requirement and registration pre-requisites. They will also include information about the change on official transcripts to try and avoid confusion.
"Some of the problems people had with the old system was that certain departments were running out of numbers so they couldn't offer new classes," said UConn Registrar Jeffrey von Munkwitz-Smith. "The other key issue was that our current system, which only uses 100 and 200 for undergrad[uate] courses, is somewhat out of step with what universities nationally are using. They use numbers 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, any 4,000 to differentiate between grade levels."
Von Munkwitz-Smith said that his office would frequently receive phone calls from confused parents and graduate institutions who did not understand the system and assumed that students taking 200 level courses during their senior years were only taking classes meant for sophomores.
Problems with the current method also arose in areas of sequencing.
"There are places where the most advanced undergraduate course is labeled 210 and has prerequisites numbered at 270 or 280 because those were the numbers that were available," von Munkwitz-Smith said.
The new number system was designed to allow for more classes to better reflect the level the class is intended for. Classes labeled 1,000 are meant for freshmen, 2,000 courses will be for sophomores and so on, with courses above 5,000 reflecting graduate student courses. The current system, which was first implemented in the 1930s, only extends through 300.
A list of the new class numbers is accessible from the registrar's Web site and an updated course book is set to arrive at the beginning of April.
The new method of numbering will not be retroactively applied to previously completed courses, however. The registrar's office will instead program Peoplesoft to recognize the old numbers for the purpose of graduation requirement and registration pre-requisites. They will also include information about the change on official transcripts to try and avoid confusion.
"Some of the problems people had with the old system was that certain departments were running out of numbers so they couldn't offer new classes," said UConn Registrar Jeffrey von Munkwitz-Smith. "The other key issue was that our current system, which only uses 100 and 200 for undergrad[uate] courses, is somewhat out of step with what universities nationally are using. They use numbers 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, any 4,000 to differentiate between grade levels."
Von Munkwitz-Smith said that his office would frequently receive phone calls from confused parents and graduate institutions who did not understand the system and assumed that students taking 200 level courses during their senior years were only taking classes meant for sophomores.
Problems with the current method also arose in areas of sequencing.
"There are places where the most advanced undergraduate course is labeled 210 and has prerequisites numbered at 270 or 280 because those were the numbers that were available," von Munkwitz-Smith said.
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