COURSE SCHEDULING

AT BSU

STARTING SEPTEMBER 2013

Revised September 2014 – Overview of our Current Scheduling Process

Course Scheduling at BSUHistorical Overview

Challenges of Prior BSU Scheduling Process (in place for years) – as determined at a Business Process Analysis attended by Deans, Chairs, Administrative Assistants, Registrar’s Office, Provost’s Office and Information Technology in January 2013:

• Too Many Drafts, too many “Touches” of all Course Section Data, and too much Room for Error

• Culture of “Bad Data” Submitted up Front Followed by Constant Changes

• Culture of Missed Deadlines

• Lack of Software to Support Scheduling Process

• Elongated Process, in large part due to Manual Data Entry of ALL Course Sections each Semester

• Never Enough Time and/or “Frozen” State of Data to Schedule Classrooms Prior to Advising or Registration

Course Scheduling at BSUHistorical Overview – 2001 to 2012 Serious Classroom Shortage – Ongoing since late

1990s

Fall 2001 Fall 2012 % Increase

Total Headcount 9,038 11,417 26.3%

FTE (full-time equivalents) 6,518 9,200 41.2%

General Purpose Classrooms (GPC) 73 108 47.9%

Number of Course Sections Requiring a GPC * Not available Not available Not available

* Additional Recent Factors: smaller class sizes and increased numbers of sections with the Core Curriculum (2006), new programs with

new course requirements, and many more 1 credit and 4 credit courses.

Course Scheduling at BSUHistorical Overview

“Peak” Class Time Periods (Where Course Section Demand Exceeds Classroom Inventory) Continue to Increase

• “Peak” Time Periods have increased from 7 standard day time blocks in 2001 to ALL daytime periods except 8:00am and Friday afternoon

• Even late afternoon and early evening time periods are increasingly tight

Course Scheduling at BSU Historical Overview

Rules to Assist in Managing General Purpose Classroom Space

at the Front End of the Process for Fall and Spring (for now . . . ): 2000-2010

10% Rule . . . which over time became the 8% Rule due to increased sections

Maximum % of a department’s total daytime general-purpose-classroom sections which could be scheduled in any one “peak” time period 2010-Present

Vernon Number

Fixed number of sections allotted up front to each department per “peak” time period for their general-purpose-classroom sections; calculated by Registrar’s Office based on a proportional assessment of last year’s “like semester” data and number of available classrooms.

EMS – Campus Planning Interface

Scheduling Tool – Software Features *

• Robust Classroom/Space Scheduling Software, Integrated with Banner

• A Scheduling “Work Space” Permits the Rolling of Standard Course Sections in Banner from Like Term to Like Term

• Drop-Down Menus for Data Entry of Faculty Names and Standard Time Blocks – for validation and ease of use

• Classroom Preferences can be Requested Up Front

• Shared View of all Course Section Data – For Deans, Chairs, Administrative Assistants, Specialized Departments and Registrar’s Office During Final Schedule Editing and Post-Publication

* Many of these Features were requested by Chairs at a Provost-Led Focus Group on Scheduling Issues in 2012.

Additional Benefits of New Process

• 1x Submission to the Registrar’s Office – elimination of drafts between offices results in fewer changes and less room for error

• Before Advising and Registration Begin, enforced deadlines and more time permit:o Preliminary Classroom Schedulingo Timely Data to Dean’s on “Roomless” Sections

• Classroom Utilization and Availability can easily be viewed

• Summer Course Sections can now be published early with Registration in March

• Departments that follow similar schedules from year to year, and utilize standard semester and quarter start/ end dates and standard time blocks, will benefit the most from this tool

Ongoing Scheduling Roles of Deans, Chairs, and Administrative Assistants – Standardized across

Departments and Colleges

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Annual Cycle – Fall, Spring, SummerPreplanning and Final Schedule Edit Cycles per Semester

are known up front

Final Course Schedule 7 Week CycleFor Departments That Preplan their Schedule, a 5-Week period

of Final Edits has proven to be more than enough

Biggest Risk Factors. . . Continuation of “Bad Habits”

• “Non-Clean” Data Up Front

• Not Enough Schedule “Preplanning”

• Non-Compliance with Deadlines

• Non-Compliance with Scheduling Standards, including the Vernon Number of Allotted Sections per Peak Time Period

• Non-Stop Day and Time Changes Post Publication

For all of these, we need your help!

EMS-CPI – Overview of Software

Event Management Software - Campus Planning Interface

Scheduling solution that facilitates online collaboration between the Deans, Academic Departments, Specialized Departments, and Registrar’s Office

• Web-Based Access

• Search and Sort Capabilities

• Room Preferences Can Easily be Designated Up Front

• Available Room Search Feature

• Reporting Capabilities

• Direct Tie into the Classroom Scheduling Software

• Integrates (somewhat) with Banner

Schedule Process Flow• Standard ‘like-term’ course sections

are rolled in Banner (Spring to Spring, Fall to Fall, Summer to Summer)

• Banner sections are ‘synced’ into EMS-CPI

• Final Schedule Editing Opens to Academic Departments

• Academic Departments edit/add course sections in EMS-CPI

• Editing closes in EMS-CPI

• Final schedule is moved from EMS-CPI to Banner with home-grown batch processes

• Data is cleaned up in Banner and non-standard courses sections are hand entered/built

• Classrooms are scheduled

• Course sections are published prior to advising and registration

Banner

Department Registrar

EMS-CPI

Accessing EMS-CPIWeb based interface -

Once authorization form has been approved and processed, you may access EMP-CPI through any standard internet browser (ex. Internet Explorer or Firefox).

Viewing a Schedule in EMS-CPI

Academic Browser – Best place to see lists of course sections and download data to Excel using “Export”

Report Availability in EMS-CPI

Report Availability in EMS-CPICourse Change Report – Shows Edits in Red

Report Availability in EMS-CPICourse Preferences – Shows Room Preferences requested during

the Final Schedule Edit Phase

Report AvailabilityInstructor Back to Back – Highlights Potential Instructor Time Conflicts

Requesting Room Preferences in EMS-CPIAn easy step up front as part of the Final Schedule Editing Process

Classrooms May Even be Viewed in EMS-CPI

The Academic BookGraphical View by Instructor for Current and Past Semesters

The Academic Book. . . . Or by Room

Managing User Options

EMS-CPI Password can easily be changed

• Enter current password• Enter new password• Confirm password and Save

Forgot your password? Contact scheduler@bridgew.edu.

Changing Your EMS-CPI Password

Course Scheduling “Central”Via Academic Affair Website – All scheduling needs in one location,

including the link to EMS-CPI

HAVE A QUESTION?

Contact scheduler@bridgew.edu