Last Update:
October 2010 Release 7.4
Activities: Academics This lesson is specifically designed for users responsible for scheduling academic sections in the Astra Schedule sys足 tem.
Astra Schedule VII 足 Training Manual Document by: Terry L. Saye Training Developer
Ad Astra Information Systems, LLC. 6900 W. 80th Street, Suite 300 Overland Park, KS 66204 www.aais.com
Table of Contents
Lesson Objectives
3
Common Practices
3
Best Practices
3
Concept Introduction
3
Area Overview
4
Section Import
5
Managing Meeting Types
6
Creating a Term
7
Managing Subjects
8
Managing Courses
9
Managing Departments
10
Section Scheduling
11
Managing Cross足lists
16
Exercise Solutions
17
Page 3 · · · ·
Provide an overall guide to the components and fields that support section scheduling in Astra Schedule. Introduce preference settings and how they affect the Ad Hoc scheduling tools for academic sections. Teach end users how to edit section information and use the manual scheduling tool to assign rooms. Locate academic data and report views.
Common Practices
· Roll forward of offerings and room assignments from previous terms · Dual entry and errors due to SIS system / Scheduling incompatibility · Inability to support multiple users creating paperwork nightmares for the scheduling office · Lengthy scheduling processes and unrealistic deadlines on course scheduling · “Grandfathered” use of room resources resulting in over/under usage of space · Extensive data manipulation and compilation in order to get utilization and scheduling results in an acceptable report format
The “Return on Investment” possibilities with Astra Schedule are vast. With refined scheduling policies and procedures, and the software to support these efforts, our customers have found ways to better manage space for growing enrollments, schedule in a zone based method to save enormous amounts on heating and cooling, and speed up the event and section scheduling tasks through automated room availability checking and messaging. For further information, please check out our customer Case Studies, Testimonials, and Best Practices documentation available on our website www.aais.com. · · · · ·
Lesson Objectives
Best Practices
SIS integration with scheduling software Distributed scheduling capabilities to avoid complicated paper trails Webbased toolset Optimized scheduling based on the institutions scheduling policies through preference weight costing analysis Resource utilization reporting for immediate result analysis
Concept Introduction
Astra Schedule is a bestinclass transactional scheduling application. It can be used by fulltime schedulers and anyone outside of your scheduling office: departmental or event schedulers who need occasional access, instructors and students who want to view realtime academic and event schedules and resource managers who want to confirm resource requests and view reports.
Astra Schedule manages Room Scheduling for your entire campus. It provides everything you would expect in an advanced scheduling system and a few things you wouldn't expect. Its bulk room optimizer can be tailored to the needs and politics of your campus. Availability lookups simultaneously check all event assignments, bookings inherited from your Student Information System and other academic assignments made by Astra Schedule.
Page 4
Notes:
In this lesson we will cover the academic information as managed in Astra Schedule. This data comes into the system through an import of section records from a student information system or by creating them using the Sectioning tool available (based on licensing) in the Astra Schedule Suite. ·
· ·
Area Overview
Once the initial course and instructor information have been added to the system, scheduling preferences may be configured at the global level. (Global preferences are covered in detail in the Sandbox training modules.) Academic section meetings may then be assigned rooms in bulk using the optimizer or individually as needed using the ad hoc room assignment tool. Edits and room assignments will be pushed back to the student information system as changes are made, or as a batch upon schedule completion based on interface settings.
Vocabulary Terms: Section: A Section record is a termspecific offering of a course. Arranged Section: A section that has components of its meeting pattern that are undetermined. CrossListed: Two or more sections that share meeting patterns and room assign ments for the entire term or session. This is often referred to as a combined section. Meeting Type: Meeting Types are a subdivision of courses, defining the instruc tional delivery type for a course section offering. Term: Terms are defined date ranges during which course sections are offered. Terms are manually created and configured before section records are imported. Term Type: Label used to categorize a term. Examples include “Summer”, “Fall”, “Intercession”, etc.
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Section Import
Section imports and interface settings will be configured by the system administrator in the Setup tab upon implementation. Once the configuration is completed, each new term must be added to the Astra Schedule system prior to section import. Course, Subject, Faculty, and Meeting Type tables are created and maintained as sections are imported into the scheduling system.
If academics are not imported into system, but created using the Survey Tool or Platinum Analytics, these data lists must be entered manually by the institution, prior to section creation. The data maintained in these tables is not date based and therefore can be accessed by all sections regardless of term. These tables are also updated as new information enters the system from the SIS. View / Edit imported Sections
Manage section support data
Some features may not appear as active depending on the institution’s license agreement.
While academic scheduling preferences (or business rules) may be applied at the section or section meeting level after import, it is recommended that they be configured at the global level to avoid duplicating effort term after term.
Notes:
Page 6
Notes:
The meeting type list in Astra Schedule is created and maintained by the system during section import. However, users with security access can edit and add new meeting types from the Meeting Types link in the Academics Admin area of the Academics tab when necessary. Meeting types may also be configured from the Master List area of the Setup tab by users with administrative rights. To add a new meeting type: 1. Scroll to the end of the list. 2. Fill in the Name and Description box. 3. Click Add.
Use the icons to edit or delete existing meeting types.
Managing Meeting Types
Page 7
Creating a Term
Terms are managed in the Academics Admin area of the Academics tab. Terms created in Astra Schedule must match the corresponding term in the student information system in order to properly import the section data. From the Terms list page, users with the appropriate access will add new terms, delete old terms, and manage term settings.
To add a new Term: 1. Click the Add a Term button. 2. Enter the desired Name (descriptive name). 3. Enter the SIS Key (this term code must match the term code in the student information system). 4. Select a Term Type. 5. Select a default Room Preferences set. 6. Enter the Start and End Dates. 7. Check the Active checkbox to activate the term. 8. Add the appropriate Campus Associations. 9. Add any known Exam Sessions (Exam scheduling details are covered in the Exams training module). 10. Click the Save button.
Notes:
Page 8
Notes:
The subject list in Astra Schedule is generally created and maintained by the system during section import. However, users with security access can edit and add new subjects from the Subjects link in the Academics Admin area of the Academics tab when necessary.
Managing Subjects
To create a new Subject record: 1. Click the Add a Subject button. 2. Enter the desired Subject Name (descriptive name). 3. Enter the Subject Code (this should match the subject code in the student information system). 4. Check the Is Active checkbox to activate the subject. 5. Click the Save button.
To edit an existing Subject: 1. Click the edit icon. 2. Edit the record as desired. 3. Click the Save button. To delete an existing Subject: 1. Click the delete icon. 2. Click OK to remove the item.
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Managing Courses
Like subjects, the course list is created and maintained by the system during section import. However, some additional course information may need to be configured within Astra Schedule for advanced feature use including timetabling and sectioning. Courses may be edited and added from the Courses link on the Academics tab.
To create a new Course record: 1. Click the Add Course button. 2. Enter the desired Course Title. 3. Select the Subject. 4. Check the Is Active checkbox. 5. Add a Delivery Method of “Standard” and associate one or more Meeting Types. 6. Click the Save button.
Example: While typically a course may have a single meeting type of Lecture or Seminar, some courses may have multiple delivery meth ods such as those broken in to Lec ture and Lab offerings.
All other settings in the Course details record are further explained in the appropriate modules including exams, timetabling, sectioning, etc. To edit an existing Course: 1. Click the edit icon in the list. 2. Edit the record as desired. 3. Click the Save button. To delete an existing Course: 1. Click the delete icon from the list page. 2. Click OK to remove the item.
Notes:
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Notes:
Departments may be configured in the scheduling system under the Academics Admin area of the Academics tab. This list is currently not used by base Astra Schedule functionality but may be configured for future use of advanced scheduling features. To add a new Department: 1. Click the Add Department button. 2. Enter the desired Name. 3. Optionally enter a Description. 4. Check the Is Active checkbox to activate. 5. Click the Save button.
To edit an existing Department: 1. Click the edit icon at the end of the item row. 2. Edit the record as desired. 3. Click the Save button. To delete an existing Department: 1. Click the delete icon at the end of the item row. 2. Click OK to remove the item.
Managing Departments
Page 11
Section Scheduling
Course sections are located under the Academics tab, Sections link. This list page may be filtered using the options available in the left column. This list may also be exported to Excel if desired for reporting purposes. From this list, sections may be added, edited, assigned, or deleted, depending on user security settings.
Sections may be opened for viewing by clicking on the Course/Section field of the desired row and then placed in edit mode using the Edit button at the top of the details form. User’s may also open the section in edit mode by using the edit icon in the section list row.
Section Details General information about the specific section record is displayed at the top of the Section form. This includes data that defines the section, but is not related to the meeting pattern. For most institutions using Astra Schedule, this information will be maintained in the student information system and will therefore not be editable by users of the scheduling system.
Notes:
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Notes:
This area also contains the Do Not Optimize checkbox. This flag simply indicates that the section should not be given room assignment by the optimizer. Meeting patterns and meeting足specific details are shown in the Meetings tab area of the section form. To view or edit a specific meeting pattern click on the view icon and then use the edit button.
Use the view icon for access to specific meeting pattern details.
In edit mode, this area also provides the ability to edit the meeting pattern, its respective preferences and meeting instances. Icons that appear for each meeting pattern once a section is in edit mode include meeting pattern edit, meeting pattern delete, exam meeting creation, drop room assignment, and the room assignment tool. Edit the meeting pattern.
Add an exam meeting.
Delete the meeting pattern.
Add or change the room assignment.
Drop the room assignment.
Meeting Details Clicking on the view or edit icon for a section meeting pattern will create a new meeting tab containing meeting pattern details. While most institutions will use the SIS as the system of record and have any changes imported into Astra Schedule, it is possible to edit meeting pattern, cross足list, and enrollment information from this area if necessary.
Page 13 Meeting preferences will display any inherited business rules and their source. This inheritance is based on the preference set associated with the section term.
Notes:
Use the arrow icons to expand and contract areas on the page for easier use.
Preferences edited at the section level will only affect the current section for the current term.
Individual occurrences of the section meeting are listed for editing in order to handle exceptions in the normal pattern. For any specific meeting date the section may be canceled or have a change in time, date, or venue. This is handled in the Meeting Dates area of the Section Meeting tab. Any change in room assignment at the section or meeting level will be handled by the available rooms tool.
The Available Rooms Tool The available rooms tool calculates which rooms are acceptable to the meeting in question and determines best fit based on score. Acceptable rooms will include any that meet the requirements placed in the form filter. On entering the available rooms tool, the filter is pre足populated with the section max capacity and preference information. Schedulers may over足 ride these values as necessary for section placement. Acceptable rooms will appear in the list along with a calculated score for best fit and their availability information.
Page 14
Notes:
Edit filter options, choose to view all room configurations, and add shared rooms to the list for assignment.
Expand the columns for more information.
Use this toolbar to move between records and pages in the list.
Expand the Room column for additional information on the rooms available. Expand the Score column to expose the preference and seat足fill scores. The total score is an average of these two values. Expand the Meeting Pattern column to view the individual meeting instances.
Page 15 Rooms may be selected for the entire meeting pattern by clicking in the Meeting Pattern column or for individual instances by clicking on the desired room row under in each Meeting Instance column. Clicking on the Meeting Pattern column of a room with conflicts will bring up the Resolve Conflicts form. This form allows the user to select the room where available, or double足book the room with proper access rights.
Exercise #1 Locate an unscheduled section. Use the available rooms tool to find a room assignment. Edit the filter as necessary.
Exercise #2 The instructor of the section scheduled in the exercise above has an足 nounced a guest speaker for one of the class meetings. Move this single meeting to an auditorium or large lecture hall for the single occurrence.
Notes:
Page 16
Notes:
Crosslisted sections are sections that meet at the same time and in the same meeting space. This may be offerings of the same course that are combined, or sections that have multiple course titles due to program requirements. For most Astra Schedule users crosslisting will be managed in the student information system and imported into the scheduling system. Where this is not possible or crosslisting is utilized simply for room assignment tasks, this may be managed in Astra Schedule at the meeting pattern level.
Managing CrossLists
To add a section to a previously created crosslisted group: 1. Click the Academics tab. 2. Click on the Sections link. 3. Locate the desired section and click on the edit icon. 4. Click the edit icon on the meeting pattern to be crosslisted. 5. Expand the CrossList Info area on the meeting details tab. 6. Click the Join Existing button. 7. Choose the proper group and click OK. 8. Edit enrollment values and locking options as desired.
To create a new crosslisted group: 1. Click the Academics tab. 2. Click on the Sections link. 3. Locate the desired section and click on the edit icon. 4. Click the edit icon on the meeting pattern to be crosslisted. 5. Expand the CrossList Info area on the meeting details tab. 6. Click the Create New button. 7. Enter a unique CrossList ID. 8. Enter the Max Enrollment for the group. 9. Choose Lock options. 10. Select the group sections. 11. Click OK. Be sure to save the section meeting to preserve changes.
On crosslisted groups, the max enrollment value and group membership may be edited and locked so that future imports will not impact changes made.
Page 17 Exercise #1 Locate an unscheduled section. Use the available rooms tool to find a room assign ment. Edit section preferences as necessary.
· · · · · · · ·
Exercise Click on the Academics tab. Solutions Select the Sections link. Use the filter and sorting options to locate an unassigned section. Click on the edit icon. Under the Meetings area, click the Assign Room button. Select an available room and click the OK button. If no rooms are available, edit the section preference filters as necessary. Once a room has been located and assigned to the section click the Save button to keep the room assignment.
Exercise #2 The instructor of the section scheduled in the exercise above has announced a guest speaker for one of the class meetings. Move this single meeting to an auditorium or large lecture hall for the single occurrence.
· · · · · · ·
From the Section Information page, click on the edit button in the Meetings tab. Select a specific date from the Meeting Dates area and click on the Assign Room icon. Click the Change button to select a new room for the meeting. Change the filter options to find the correct room and select it from the list. Click OK to return to the meeting information. Click Save on the Section form. Click Back to return to the Sections List.
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