POLICY NO: 2-4
VCCS POLICY NO: 5.3.0.2
EFFECTIVE DATE: 02/22/1988
REVISED DATE: 05/26/2022

  1. Purpose:

    To define the number of instructional minutes required per contact hour, and the number of additional minutes required for the examination period, for credit courses.

  2. Definitions:

    N/A

  3. Policy:

    All courses for which credit is offered shall provide 750 minutes of instruction per semester, or the equivalent, for each course contact hour prescribed by the Master Course File. The required minutes of instruction may be provided through classroom instruction, appropriate laboratory hours, and appropriate outside projects. These techniques may be used individually or in combination to accomplish the goals of the course.

    In addition to the 750 minutes of instruction per course contact hour, a minimum of one academic hour (50 minutes) of scheduled evaluation or examination time per semester credit hour shall be scheduled for each course, not to exceed a total of three academic hours (150 minutes) per course. Any exception must have prior approval by the requestor’s dean.

    For those courses in which instructional activities include instructional time other than in-class instruction or laboratory hours, the methodology for providing the appropriate amount of instructional time shall be clearly articulated in the course syllabus and shall be made known to each student. In the event the course is not offered in accordance with the college's normal schedule, any information distributed to the public concerning the course shall clearly articulate the complete time requirements of the course.

    All classroom instruction, laboratory hours, outside projects, and other activities that comprise a portion of a particular course shall be properly supervised and shall be included in the evaluation of the student for grading purposes.

    Breaks and lunch times are to be scheduled as follows:
    Continuous Instructional Minutes Provide
    From 0 to 90 minutes No break required
    From 91 to 180 minutes One ten-minute break
    From 181 to 300 minutes Two ten-minute breaks
    From 301 to 420 minutes One ten-minute break plus a forty-minute lunch
    Greater than 420 minutes Two ten-minute breaks plus a forty-minute lunch

    The published starting and ending times for each course section must be sufficient to incorporate all instructional time plus required breaks and lunch as stipulated above.

    In those occasional cases where the total number of published instructional minutes (including breaks) do not reflect the total number of required instructional minutes plus breaks, the school dean must document that the course met for the required number of minutes, and must retain said documentation on file. Nontraditional delivery courses, such as those offered via distance education, that do not have scheduled classroom instructional time are exempt from this requirement.

    Nothing in this policy should be interpreted as precluding the offering of distance education courses, supervised study courses, or self-paced developmental courses. Such courses are based on the completion of predetermined objectives which may be accomplished by individual students at various rates, depending on the abilities and schedule of the student.

    School deans are responsible for ensuring that all credit courses contain the required number of instructional minutes.

  4. Procedures:

    Procedures for Actual Minutes of Instruction, 2-4

  5. Other Information:

    N/A