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Course Capacity Requirements

Story Prefix: CAP Feature Area: Course Capacity System Overview: university-reg-features.md Related docs: Waitlist behavior (when capacity is reached) → course-waitlists-requirements.md

CAP-001: Set Section Capacity​

As an Academic Staff member I want to set a maximum enrollment capacity for each course section So that the section does not exceed the physical or instructional limits of the room and instructor

Acceptance Criteria​

  • Academic Staff and Administrators can set a numeric capacity (≥ 1) on a section at creation time or before the section's registration opens
  • Capacity changes after registration opens are permitted only for Administrators and require a confirmation step
  • Reducing capacity below current enrollment is rejected with an error message showing the current enrollment count
  • The set capacity is displayed on the course catalogue detail page (CAT-004)

CAP-002: View Real-Time Enrollment Count​

As an Academic Staff member I want to see the current enrollment count for each section in real time So that I can monitor demand and make timely capacity decisions

Acceptance Criteria​

  • The enrollment count (enrolled / capacity) is visible on the section management dashboard for Academic Staff, Registrars, and Administrators
  • The count updates within 5 seconds of any enrollment or drop event
  • Students see the enrollment status (Open / Waitlist / Full) on the catalogue but not the exact count unless the university opts to display it

CAP-003: Enforce Capacity at Enrollment​

As a Student I want the system to clearly tell me when a section is full and offer me the waitlist option So that I can decide whether to wait or choose a different section

Acceptance Criteria​

  • When a student attempts to enroll in a section that has reached its capacity, the enrollment is blocked
  • The student is immediately offered the option to join the waitlist (see course-waitlists-requirements.md)
  • The catalogue and section detail page update to show "Full" status in real time once capacity is reached
  • No manual intervention by staff is required to enforce the capacity limit

CAP-004: Reserve Seats for Priority Groups​

As a Registrar I want to reserve a portion of section seats for priority enrollment groups (e.g., seniors, honors students) So that eligible students are guaranteed access before general registration opens

Acceptance Criteria​

  • Registrars and Administrators can define one or more priority groups per section and specify the number of reserved seats for each group
  • Reserved seats are only available to the designated priority group during their registration window
  • Unreserved seats (total capacity minus reserved seats) are available to all eligible students during general registration
  • If the priority window closes and reserved seats remain unfilled, those seats automatically become available to the general pool
  • The catalogue shows total capacity but does not expose reserved seat breakdowns to students

CAP-005: Over-Enrollment Override​

As an Advisor I want to override enrollment capacity in exceptional cases So that a student with a legitimate need can be added to a full section

Acceptance Criteria​

  • Advisors and Administrators can enroll a student in a section beyond its stated capacity limit
  • The override requires a mandatory reason/note field that is saved to the enrollment record
  • The over-enrolled section is flagged with an "Over capacity" indicator on the staff dashboard
  • All capacity overrides are recorded in the audit log (AUTH-010) with the approver's identity and reason
  • The section's displayed enrollment count reflects the actual number including over-enrolled students

CAP-006: Enrollment Reports​

As an Administrator I want to view enrollment reports across sections, departments, and terms So that I can make informed decisions about capacity planning and new section offerings

Acceptance Criteria​

  • The report shows each section with: enrolled count, capacity, waitlist size, over-enrollment count, and percentage fill rate
  • Reports can be filtered by term, department, and delivery format
  • Sections below 50% capacity and sections with active waitlists are visually highlighted for easy identification
  • Reports can be exported as CSV (see reporting-requirements.md RPT-004)
  • Access is restricted to Administrators, Academic Staff, and Registrars