Introductory Seminars

Scheduling Guidelines and Coursedog Updates

Introductory Seminars are expected to meet university expectations regarding in-class hours per week. Scheduling guidelines differ by seminar type.

IntroSems are scheduled by the offering department or program. The department course administrator also handles classroom reservations.

SIS IntroSems Program administrators make a handful of updates to the class record in Coursedog Scheduling to facilitate batch priority enrollment in IntroSems each quarter, before Simple Enroll opens to students for course enrollment. The Program always manages enrollment in IntroSems that fulfill WRITE 2, the university's second level writing requirement, in consultation with the PWR Office.

Scheduling Guidelines

  • A 3-unit Frosh IntroSem is generally expected to meet twice weekly, in two 75-minute meetings, or 150 minutes of weekly in-class time.
  • Sophomore IntroSems may have more flexibility in meeting pattern; however, the preferred schedule for a 3-unit Sophomore IntroSem is two 75-minute meetings per week, or 150 minutes of weekly in-class time.
  • Sophomore IntroSem Dialogues may have more flexibility in meeting pattern; however, the preferred schedule is two 75-minute meetings per week, or 150 minutes of weekly in-class time.

SIS IntroSem Updates to the Class Record

To facilitate the batch priority enrollment of admitted students before Simple Enroll opens for registration each quarter, please be aware that IntroSems Program administrators will make the following adjustments to the class record for each IntroSem:

  • Set the add consent field to "Instructor Consent Required"
  • Adjust the enrollment capacity to 16, or per instructor request
  • Add note indicating seminar cohort preference and providing the IntroSems catalog url (this note appears in ExploreCourses)

Department course administrators are asked not to change these adjustments prior to the opening of Simple Enroll for course registration each quarter, especially during periods of batch priority enrollment of admitted students.

Consent Settings for WRITE 2 IntroSems

IntroSems that fulfill Stanford's second level writing requirement, Writing 2 or WRITE 2, remain set to "Department Consent Required" for both add and drop consent in Coursedog. IntroSems Program administrators oversee enrollment in WRITE 2 Introductory Seminars in consultation with the course instructor, their waitlist, and the PWR Office.

Students admitted to a WRITE 2 IntroSem must contact introsems@stanford.edu if they decide to drop the class prior to the Final Study List deadline. They cannot drop the class themselves in Axess.