Contract Courses 101

What are contract courses?

Continuing Education and Community Engagement (CECE) provides a valuable resource to colleges and departments allowing them to extend their classes and programs to groups or organizations outside the University such as educators or other working professionals. 

 

Why offer a contract class?

• Students can take courses and/or earn credit hours without formal admission to the University.
• Departments set the tuition rate; the U’s regular tuition rate schedule does not apply. Courses can be offered at minimal or no cost to students if the department has received a grant for that purpose.
• Flexible payment options – contracted organization can pay for all students with one payment, students can pay individually, or departments can pay via tuition authorization.

 

Which classes qualify to be offered as a contract?

•  A contract should exist between the academic department and an organization outside of the University to provide instruction, or the course(s) have restricted enrollment.
• Only students that are part of the group may register for the course(s), and are not typically admitted or working towards a degree the U.

 

Contract Course Details: 

• Classes are suppressed in the U’s class schedule, and are not available to University of Utah students for registration.

• Classes are typically offered off-campus at a location convenient for the outside organization, but can be offered on campus.
• Students taking contract classes do not pay student fees, so they do not receive student benefits such as admission to athletic events, the library or the UTA Ed Pass.
• Financial aid is not available to students taking contract students. Students must to be matriculated and working towards a degree to qualify for financial aid. In some cases, students that meet the qualifications to register for a contract class may already be admitted to the U and working towards a degree, and would therefore qualify for financial aid if the timing of their enrollment meets the applicable deadlines.
• Students taking contract classes are not eligible to work towards a certificate program. Students must be admitted to the University prior to taking coursework that leads to a certificate program.
• Departments are not allowed to offer contract classes as a way to help students avoid paying full tuition, or to bring in more funding than is typically earned through the SCH funding system. This is not the intent of contracts and is monitored by CECE and Cathy Anderson, the U’s Associate VP for Finance. 

 

What is CECE’s role with contract courses? 

• CECE administers the courses - sets up the course and fees in PeopleSoft, processes registrations, tuition payments, coordinates grading, financial transfers, etc.

 

Is there a fee to offer contract courses? 

• CECE collects a $50 processing fee per enrollment.
• Bankcard fees (estimated at 2%) are charged to the department for students paying with a credit card.

 

How to get started? 

• Once the department has identified an outside organization, or a restricted group of students, that need for a specific class or group of classes, they should contact CECE to verify that the proposed coursework meets the criteria of a contract course and to request a Contract Course Proposal Form. Contact information for CECE is provided below.

• Complete the Contract Course Proposal Form, obtain the appropriate signatures from the department chair and college dean, and return to CECE.  Please note: this form requires an existing course number from the sponsoring department for use in setting up the course in PeopleSoft, the U’s database.  

• Once CECE has received the Contract Course Proposal Form they will work with scheduling to schedule the class and make sure the appropriate fees are applied. 

• After the class has been scheduled CECE will email a registration link to the department contact that students use to register for the class.

 

Who do I contact in Continuing Education and Community Engagement with questions? 

Tracey Arlen at 801-581-7912 or tracey.arlen@utah.edu

 

Examples of current contract classes: 

• Communications partners with SLCC students interested in transferring to the University of Utah. 
• City & Metropolitan Planning partners with SLCC to offer classes for students interested in transferring to the University of Utah as Architecture majors to better prepare them for the rigor of the program. 
• English 
• Writing and Rhetoric partners with SLCC to offer a course for students to meet the writing department faculty, connect with advising staff and current students and build a diverse and supportive learning community of fellow SLCC transfer students within the department.