ONE-TIME INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT (OTIS)
Enrollment Management Recommendations
The funds used to cover the cost of instruction for OTIS classes come from tuition and are, therefore, dependent upon enrollment. Thus, each section that is funded through OTIS must generate enough income to cover the cost of instruction for that section. Any section with insufficient enrollment is subject to cancellation. Any exceptions must be approved by the Dean’s Office. The later that a class is cancelled, the more difficult it is for both the instructor and the students to make other arrangements. Thus, it is important to (1) restrict OTIS offerings to sections that will generate sufficient enrollment and (2) monitor the enrollment in OTIS classes before the beginning of the semester.
Please consider the following information when scheduling and managing OTIS sections:
1. Pick the right classes. Past performance is a strong indicator of future performance. Make informed decisions about the classes that are likely to attract sufficient enrollment by examining the actual enrollment during the appropriate previous semester. This information can be found at the Credit Hour Summary page (http://www.ou.edu/provost/ir/credit_hour_summaries.htm). Select the PDF file from the appropriate comparison semester to understand past enrollment patterns (e.g., Spring 2008 is a good comparison for Spring 2009). An example is provided below:
2. Pick the right number. Do not offer more sections of a class than is warranted. The goal is to be as efficient as possible. Two full sections are preferable to three under-enrolled sections.
3. Pick the right time. Schedule OTIS classes at times that do not “compete” with other similar sections in the same time slot.
4. Monitor enrollment. When students start to register, go online (enroll.ou.edu) to monitor the extent to which OTIS classes are filling. If several sections of a given class are available for enrollment, an appropriate strategy is to temporarily “close” some sections until other sections gain sufficient enrollment. Then, open the closed classes to allow enrollment.