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Office of the University Registrar

Space Usage Efficiency (SUE score)

Space Usage Efficiency (AKA - the SUE score)

  • THECB (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board) rules over space usage efficiency can be found at the following URL: http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/reports/PDF/1831.PDF?CFID=1925597&CFTOKEN=77518603.
  • In the past, the CB rules were based on room usage and did not take into account the capacity of the room versus the actual enrollment of the sections in that room.
    • Fall 2009 was the first semester these rules went into effect.
  • Seat fill ratio minimum is 75%
  • Class Scheduling
    • The actual enrollment of combined sections, cross listed sections and shared room sections will be added together to present an accurate representation of the room for seat fill purposes.
    • When a large discrepancy is discovered, where a small section has been scheduled in a room with a large capacity, OUR will notify you that the section needs to be moved to a smaller room and assist with alternatives whenever possible.
    • Please remember: sharing is caring.
      • All colleges/departments still have the same priority over the same rooms as usual. 
      • Even the GP rooms have departmental “priority” only until the release date of the GP rooms, at which time the rooms become available for all colleges/departments to schedule.  All of this is on the honor system - as it always has been.
    • Please remember that you will not be allowed to schedule your sections in a GP room that is not in your region until the date the GP rooms are released (see CSD calendar).  The same holds true for all other rooms. 
    • IF you need a room and there are no options in YOUR region, and there are NO general purpose classrooms, then the rule is to ASK permission of the college/department of where you find an available room. 
      • You will have to bring your resolution/deals made with other colleges to our attention to process as you will not be able to schedule a section in a room that is not in your region without gaining permission. 
      • Remember, they will not be able to touch/edit rooms for your subjects and you will not be able to place your subjects in their non-GP rooms. 
      • OUR will process those requests with appropriate permissions provided.
  • If you are unable to find a room assignment for your section please check the following:
    • Are you in a prime time slot? If so, try to change the meeting days and/or time in order to schedule the section. 
    • Is your max enrollment set too high? Check the historical data for actual enrollment and if the section historically has a lower enrollment, reset the max enrollment in order to find a suitable room.

Manage your max enrollment quotas!  The first thing OUR will check is the historical data for actual enrollment of the section.  If the actual enrollment historically is lower, we will recommend you lower the quota to a more realistic number and find another room.