| Week | Fall 2011 | Week | Spring 2012 | |
| Preview | August 29 | Preview | January 16 | |
| 1 | September 5 | 1 | January 23 | |
| 2 | September 12 | 2 | January 30 | |
| 3 | September 19 | 3 | February 6 | |
| 4 | September 26 | 4 | February 13 | |
| 5 | October 3 | 5 | February 20 | |
| 6 | October 10 | 6 | February 27 | |
| 7 | October 17 | Break | March 5 | |
| 8 | October 24 | 7 | March 12 | |
| 9 | October 31 | 8 | March 19 | |
| 10 | November 7 | 9 | March 26 | |
| 11 | November 14 | 10 | April 2 | |
| Thanksgiving Break | November 21 | 11 | April 9 | |
| 12 | November 28 | 12 | April 16 |
The dates shown below are the suggested windows for course meetings. The dates coincide with course materials.
Fall 2011 Semester
First Course Group Meeting: August 29 - September 11
Second Course Group Meeting: October 3 - 9
Final Course Group Meeting: November 28 - December 7
Spring 2012 Semester
First Course Group Meeting: January 16 - January 29
Second Course Group Meeting: February 20 - February 26
Final Course Group Meeting: April 16 - April 25
Electronically-delivered learning materials will be transmitted on Monday of each week for downloading and printing by each participant. The DataStreme Ocean Weekly Ocean News and Supplemental Information files are also available by noon Eastern Time Mondays. The Weekly Ocean News file may be updated during the week as additional ocean news items occur. Additional environmental data relevant to ocean issues are linked from the homepage and always available.
A two-week start-up period is incorporated into the schedule to practice downloading and printing of electronically-delivered course materials. The same Investigations Manual activities will be delivered for both weeks, however only one week needs to be completed.