FTES and Attendance Accounting

• Weekly Student Contact Hour Procedure

• Weekly student contact hour procedures may be applied to

•1. Any credit course

•2. Scheduled regularly with respect to the number of days of the week and the number of hours the course meets on each scheduled day

•3. Scheduled coterminously with the primary term. This is administratively interpreted to mean any course scheduled for the same number of hours (including TBA) for each week of the primary term (at least 3 days), inclusive of final examination scheduling, and legal holidays

• DEFINITIONS

Class Hour

The "class hour" is the basic unit of attendance for computing full-time equivalent student (FTES). It is a period of not less than 50 consecutive minutes of scheduled instruction and/or examination. There can be only one "class hour" in each "clock hour," except as provided for multiple class-hour classes. A class scheduled for less than a single 50-minute period is not eligible for apportionment. For purposes of computing full-time equivalent student (FTES), a class hour is commonly referred to as a "contact hour" or "Student Contact Hour" (SCH).

Clock HourA "clock hour" is a 60-minute time frame, which may begin at any time, for example, 8:00 to 9:00, 8:10 to 9:10, 8:20 to 9:20.

Passing Time/BreakEach clock hour is composed of one class hour segment and a segment referred to as "passing time," "break," etc.

• Partial Class Hour • A “partial class hour” is that fractional part of a

class hour in a class scheduled for more than one clock hour.

• Multiple Hour Class

A multiple hour class is any period of instruction scheduled continuously for more than one clock hour.In block scheduling, each 50 minutes exclusive of breaks is a class hour. However, each fractional part of a class hour beyond the last full clock hour may be counted for apportionment, starting from and including the 51st minute of the last full clock hour.

The divisor for this fractional part of a class shall be 50.

There shall be no class break in the last full clock hour or the partial class hour.

The sum of class hours cannot exceed the total number of elapsed clock hours for which the class is scheduled.

• Daily Student Contact Hour Procedure

1. Any credit course

2. Scheduled to meet for five or more days

3. Scheduled regularly with respect to the number of hours during each scheduled day

4. Not scheduled coterminously with the primary term (includes courses of independent study and work experience education)

Daily student contact hours procedure may be applied to

The calculation for a DSCH class is

The Student contact hours of each meeting multiplied by the number of meetings

BASIC PRINCIPLES

• A. Follow Guidelines in Title 5 and Student Attendance Accounting Manual

Class scheduling shall be done in accordance with the provisions of Title 5, California Code of Regulations (Chapter 9 - "Fiscal Support," Subchapter 1 - "Attendance Accounting") and the California Community Colleges' Student Attendance Accounting Manual.

BASIC PRINCIPLES

• B. Utilize Comparable Student Contact Hours, Regardless of Course Length

The scheduling of classes, to the extent possible, shall be equal to the total number of student contact hours, including final examinations, taught during a traditional 18-week semester. This should be true for compressed primary terms, summer sessions, winter intersessions, and other short-term classes. In this way, historic instructional time and historic apportionment are maintained. However, the total of the weekly hours scheduled (exclusive of scheduled holiday and vacation hours) for a class can not be less than the number of standard class hours listed in the course outline of record multiplied by 16 (see Title 5, section 55002.5).

BASIC PRINCIPLES

• C. Utilize Class-Scheduling Patterns That Achieve Optimum Apportionment

To the extent possible, no class shall be scheduled in a pattern where the number of attendance-accounting hours does not match the number of classroom instructional hours

BASIC PRINCIPLES

• D. Publish Explicit Start and Stop Times

The start and end of each face-to-face class meeting time shall be explicitly stated in every published schedule of classes.

• E. Provide Appropriate Passing Time

For each class there must be a passing time, which is outside of the class meeting time, and which is of such duration as to allow students to travel from one class to another.

18 week term

• 3 Credit Class - Lecture• Course outline – 48 to 54 hours (50 minute)

2400 to 2700 minutes of instruction

• 3 hours per week for 18 weeks (54 hours)• Maximum term length multiplier 17.5

3 hours per week * 17.5 = 52.5 hours2625 minutes

16 week term

• Flex calendar – 5 flex days (TLM 16.5)• 2625 minutes / 16 weeks = 164 minutes per

week or 55 min. per day (3 days per week)• 3 Hr per week * 16.5 = 49.5 hours (52.5 hrs)• FTES accounting - Reduction of 6%

16 week term

• Flex calendar – 5 flex days (TLM 16.5)• 2928 minutes / 16 weeks = 183 minutes per

week or 61 min. per day (3 days per week)• Increase of 8% in contact hours• FTES accounting - 1 Hr plus 11/50 = 1.22 • 3.66 Hr per week * 16.5 = 60.39 hours (52.5

hrs) Increase of 15%

• Recent research appears to indicate that the following are potential problem areas for community colleges related to scheduling and academic calendars

• Passing Time– a. The start and end of each class meeting must be

explicitly stated in every published schedule of classes and addenda.

– b. For each class there must be a passing time, which is outside of the class meeting time, and which is of such duration as to allow students to travel from one class to another and/or to allow a faculty member to set up or close up a class.

• Block Scheduling– 1) Individual class schedules must be based on five-

minute increments for starting and ending times (e.g., 8:00 a.m to 9:25 a.m. or 8:00 a.m. to 11:10 a.m.).

– 3) Scheduling of courses must be consistent with the class hours indicated in the approved course outline for completion of the course. Reasonable variances are permitted if caused by legitimate scheduling considerations caused by course compression or computational exigencies or exceptions provided for in Title 5.

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• Appropriate Term Length Multiplier for Compressed Calendar Districts that have Approved Flex Calendar Programs

– A review of course contact hours generated by compressed calendar districts that have approved flex calendar programs seems to indicate that “flexible time” is not always in-lieu-of classroom instruction

16 week term – I am a FTES GOD scenario

• Flex calendar – 5 flex days (TLM 16.5)• 2928 minutes / 16 weeks = 183 minutes per

week or 61 min. per day (3 days per week)• White paper solution

2625 min / 16.5 = 159 minutes per week 53 minutes 3 days a week – 49.5 hours

• Will schedule 160 minutes (80 minutes two times a week – total contact min 2560)

• Faculty objectionsMeetings per week

Changed from 3 to 2Contact minutes

Changed from 2700 minutes (18 weeks * 50 minutes 3 times a week) to 2560 (16weeks * 80 minutes 2 times a week)