Understanding the Schedule of Classes

Timing

The Schedule of Classes is a working document used by University of Waterloo employees to list upcoming class offerings. It is normally finalized about a week or two before the applicable term's Drop/Add Period begins. Until that time, data will fluctuate.

The Schedule of Classes is updated every 30 minutes between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

Sample course offering listing

sample schedule of classes listing for GEOG 181

The Schedule of Classes Table Explained

Schedule of Classes Field	Full Title	Description
Subject	Subject	The subject is the area of study (e.g., ECON or MSCI). See the full course subjects/abbreviations list.
Catalog # (number)	Catalog number	The three- or four-digit number that identifies a particular course (e.g., AFM 121). It sometimes has one or more letter(s) as a suffix (e.g., FR 192A).
Units	Units	The credit value associated with a course. Unit weights are used in the calculation of averages for academic standing. Unit weights vary from 0 to 3.0 and most courses have unit weights of 0.5.
Title	Course title	The title of the course; a shorter version than what is found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Notes	Notes	Provides additional information and instructions.
Class	Class number	A four- or five-digit number that identifies a particular course component and class section (e.g., 5852 LEC 001; 11617 LAB 106).
Comp Sec	Component section	Refers to the various parts of courses (e.g., lectures, labs, tutorials, etc.). See course components for a full list. Sections identified by #8# (e.g., 081, 181) are online classes offered by the Centre for Extended Learning.
Camp Loc	Campus location	The campus (the first letters) indicates which institution offers the course. The location (second grouping of letters) indicates where the course is taught. Most courses are offered and taught through the main University of Waterloo campus ("UW U"). Here is the list of codes you might encounter: Camp (Offered by): UW: University of Waterloo (Main) CGC: Conrad Grebel University College REN: Renison University College STJ: St. Jerome's University STP: St. Paul's University College WLU: Wilfrid Laurier University BLND: Blended course (Main) BLNDG: Blended course (Conrad Grebel University College) BLNDJ: Blended course (St. Jerome's University) BLNDP: Blended course (St. Paul's University College) BLNDR: Blended course (Renison University College) ONLN: Online course (Main) ONLNG: Online course (Conrad Grebel University College) ONLNJ: Online course (St. Jerome's University) ONLNP: Online course (St. Paul's University College) ONLNR: Online course (Renison University College) OFF: Off campus Loc (Taught at): U: Main campus G: Conrad Grebel University College J: St. Jerome's University P: St. Paul's University College R: Renison University College L: Wilfrid Laurier University ONLINE: Online course STRATFORD: Stratford campus Some example combinations: STJ U = St. Jerome's University-owned course, offered at Main campus UW J = University of Waterloo (Main)-owned course, offered at St. Jerome's University campus BLNDR R = Blended class, offered in person at Renison University College campus
Assoc. Class	Associated class number	The number assigned to each component (i.e., Primary Component, Related 1, and/or Related 2) that links the components together for selection purposes. For example, if you choose a primary component with an associated class number of 1, the Related 1 and/or Related 2 components must be chosen from those with the same class association number. Note: An associated class number of 9999 means that any time slot can be chosen. In the above image, for GEOG 181, a student in LEC 001, must choose a LAB from 101 to 106 only (because the Associated Class number is 1). Whereas a student in LEC 002 must choose LAB 107 (because it is the only Associated Class with the number 2). .
Rel 1	Related component 1	The second component of the course. It begins with a "1" in the leading position of the class section number (e.g., LAB 101).
Rel 2	Related component 2	The third component of the course. It begins with a "2" in the leading position of the class section number (e.g., TUT 201).
Enrol Cap	Enrolment capacity	Indicates the maximum number of students allowed to enrol in each section.
Enrol Tot	Enrolment total	Indicates the number of students currently enrolled in each section.
Wait Cap	Waitlist capacity	0 by default - wait lists are currently not in use.
Wait Tot	waitlist total	0 by default - wait lists are currently not in use.
Time Days/Date	Time, days, date (weekdays)	Time: Times normally fall within the 8:30 a.m. to 9:50 p.m. teaching window. Although a.m./p.m. is not indicated on the Schedule of Classes, you can verify this information in Quest. Days: The following list of the abbreviations are used for the days of the week. M (Monday) T (Tuesday) W (Wednesday) Th (Thursday) F (Friday) S (Saturday) U (Sunday) Dates: Some offerings are listed with specific dates, for example due to bi-weekly meets or a test slot on a specific date (e.g., 01:30-03:20T 09/14-09/14, 01:30-03:20T 09/28-09/28). For online asynchronous activities, this area is blank.
Bldg Room	Building, room	The building and room where the individual meet will be held. See campus map. For online activities, this area lists "Online".
Instructor	Instructor name	The name of the instructor for the individual component.

Other terms you might see, dependent on the class section:

Reserve: It is the portion of a class enrolment capacity that is reserved for a particular group of students. To take that seat in the class, you must meet the criteria. See below how to determine if there is still space in the class.
- E.g., Reserve: Level at least 2A GBDA students (spaces open only to GBDA students in 2A or higher)
Held With: Indicates the subject, catalog number, and section that a particular class that is combined with the class in question. Two or more sections may be combined. Classes will be taught as a single class with one instructor. Combinations may occur between several courses at the undergraduate level, between different delivery modes for the same course, or between an undergraduate-level and graduate-level course.
- E.g., GEOG 181 LEC 001 (on-campus) is Held With: GEOG 181 LEC 002 (online).

Determining if there is still space in the class

Determine the number of available seats for the class in question:
Enrol Cap - Enrol Tot = number of available spaces
Determine whether the available spaces are reserved or unreserved.
1. Review each reserve and ask yourself, do I fit the reserve category?
  1. If so, and there is space in the Enrol Tot column, you may add the course.
  2. If not, you can only add the course if there are any unreserved spaces remaining:
    Number of unreserved spaces available: Enrol Cap - Enrol Tot (overall) - remaining reserved spaces
2. If you are having difficulty understanding how many reserved or unreserved spaces are available, review the image below.

Notes:

If there are no free reserved or unreserved spaces available, you will need to obtain a permission number from the instructor or have the instructor sign your Course Override Form (override Class Limit).
If there is room in a class and it looks like you should be able to enrol but Quest will not allow you to enrol, it may be because the Schedule of Classes hasn't been updated.