This policy is intended to provide predictability and transparency regarding how NESA determines whether low-enrolling courses will run or be canceled. Faculty should consider these guidelines when proposing courses and aim to develop courses that are likely to meet minimum enrollment requirements.

Faculty can help support sustainable course enrollment by:

• Developing high-enrolling GE courses in advantageous GE categories that can be offered regularly.
• Recruiting and retaining NESA majors and minors who enroll in upper-level courses.

If a course has fewer than 18 students one week after undergraduate registration closes, the Chair's Advisory Committee—including the DUS, DGS, Vice Chair, Chair, Advisor, and staff—will review the course and recommend one of the following:

• Move the course to the semester's Second Session and offer it as a hybrid or fully online course.
• Cancel the course and require the instructor to teach a different course in a future semester.
• Allow the course to run if one or more of the following circumstances apply:
  • Four or more NESA majors or minors need the course to graduate on time, and no appropriate substitutions are available. Low-enrolling courses needed by NESA students should generally be offered no more than once every two years.
  • The course is being offered for the first time in a new format, GE category, mode of instruction, or session, with the expectation that future offerings will meet the minimum enrollment requirement.
  • The instructor commits to pursuing an advantageous GE designation to increase future enrollment. A revised syllabus and supporting GE application must be submitted by the end of the semester in which the low-enrolling course is taught.

The goal of this policy is to help faculty anticipate the course approval process and avoid proposing courses that are likely to be canceled due to low enrollment. 

Submission/Development

• ASC Manual
• Course Details
• Distance Courses
• Concurrence Request Form

Submission Policies:

• Important Deadlines
• Definition of a Semester Credit Hour
• Education Abroad Credit Allocation
• Levels for Undergraduate Courses
• ASC Faculty Rules
• OAA manual
• Submission Resources

OAA Procedures and Guidelines Handbook

This handbook contains the faculty and academic unit procedures promulgated by the Office of Academic Affairs. It is an accompaniment to the OAA policies available through the Office of University Compliance and Integrity and posted on the OAA Policies, Guidelines, and Forms website. It is updated annually or in response to a change to the Rules of the University Faculty or the Bylaws of the Board of Trustees. 

Instructors should place their own textbook orders online by the following deadlines: 

Summer: April 1
Autumn: May 1
Spring: October 1

Orders may be placed through Barnes & Noble - The Ohio State University Bookstore, or other preferred bookstores.

The Student Information System (SIS) is accessed through the university’s online academic center Buckeye Link.

Future and Current Students access Buckeye Link for self-service items like managing contact information, registration and class scheduling along with activities like tuition payments and financial aid.

Faculty use the Faculty Center for class rosters and grades, class schedules and student contact information. Faculty who are advisors also have additional access to academic advising tools.

Academic Year 2026-2027

• Director of Graduate Studies - Johanna Sellman 
• Director of Undergraduate Studies - James Moore
• Simple Syllabus - Sarah Schellinger 
• NESA Assessment - Manal Habbal
• Lecturer & Teaching Faculty Representative - Nathan Young 
• Graduate Student Representative - Justin Wheaton 

Previous Versions:

Previous Versions:

Graduate School Handbook

Graduate Student Funding