Spring 2013Scheduling Best Practices

Spring 2013 Timeline

Event Deadline

DCU Data Entry Mon, April 16, 2012 – Fri, May 25, 2012

SPFS Data Entry Mon, April 16, 2012 – Fri, May 25, 2012

Deadline for Placeholder Course Request Thu, May 17, 2012

Preliminary Timetable Produced Tue, May, 29, 2012 – Fri, June 22, 2012

SPFS Feedback Submission Tue, June 26, 2012 – Fri, July 20, 2012

Deadline to Resolve Placeholder Courses Fri, Aug 10, 2012

Schedule Data Transferred to Banner Fri, August 24, 2012

Schedule Adjustment in Banner/Workflow Mon, August 27, 2012 – Fri, Sept 14, 2012

Schedule Published in FlashFAST Mon, September 17, 2012

Protected Registration Begins Wednesday, October 3, 2012

WHERE WE STARTSpring 2013

DCU Rolled Data

ROLLED from Spring 2012 Scheduling Database

Sections (Component)

• Section Number• Section Type• Max Enrollment• Banner Information• Section Long Text

Deliveries

• Time Request/Time Notes

• Room Request/Room Notes

• Assigned Instructor(s)• Groups

DCU Data Not Rolled

NOT ROLLED from Spring 2012 Scheduling Database

Sections (Component)

• Disabled Sections• Cancelled Sections• Open Learning

Sections• Workshop Sections• Special Topics Long

Titles

Deliveries

• Assigned Days/Times• Forced Times• Non-Forcible Assigned

Rooms• Unauthorized Pavilions

DCU Updated Settings

Spring 2013 Component Settings

• Voice response and self service (SSB Available) will be checked

• Tuition and fee waivers will be removed• Gradable will be checked• Grade Mode will be blank• Component Done will be unchecked

SPFS Rolled Data

• Rolled from Fall 2012 SPFS Database

Department Meetings

• Department Meetings

• Faculty Assigned

Faculty Availability

• Professor Type Assignments

• Individual Blockoffs

Course Combinations

• Departmental Combinations

• Roadmap Combinations

WHAT’S NEWSpring 2013

Placeholder Courses

• Use as a placeholder for courses that are Coming Soon

– Courses not yet in Banner– Courses Pending Approval– Curriculum Changes– New Courses Only– Do not use placeholders for

course conversions

Placeholder Courses – cont’d

• Request Placeholder Courses for each subject in which they will be needed– Send an email to the Academic Scheduling

Center Mailbox (acadschedctr@kent.edu)– List the number of courses you will need for

each subject– Include the anticipated number for your new

course(s)– Deadline to request Spring 2013 Placeholder

Courses is Thursday, May 17, 2012

Placeholder Courses – cont’d

• Within a week of your request, your Placeholder Courses will be available for use in the DCU

• EX: ENG 00001, ENG 00002• Build your sections in the DCU using the Placeholder

Course• Create components and deliveries as you would for any

other course

Placeholder Courses – cont’d

• Resolve your Placeholder Courses before the schedule transfers to Banner– Email the ASC Mailbox (acadschedctr@kent.edu)

AFTER the new course is active in Banner– Include a crosswalk from the

Placeholder Course number to the new course number (Ex: ENG 00002 = ENG 12202)

– Spring 2012 deadline for resolving Placeholder courses is Friday, Aug 10, 2012

Placeholder Courses – cont’d

• Transfer to Banner– Resolved Placeholder

courses will transfer to Banner with the new course number

– The course number MUST be active in Banner

– Unresolved Placeholder Courses will not transfer and assigned days, times and rooms may be lost

RESERVED SEATINGBanner and DCU

Reserved Seating

• Reserved Seating is used to set aside a specific number of seats for a specific demographic group

• Use any combination of criteria: Level, Campus, College, Degree, Program, Field of Study type, Field of Study Code, Department, Curricula, Class, Attribute, and Admission term

• Reserved seating can be set up in the DCU or in Banner

Reserved Seating - DCU

• Click on the Reserved Seating tab of the component information

• Click Add to create a Reserved Seating Rule

Reserved Seating – DCU cont’d

• Use the dropdown arrows to define one or multiple criteria for your reserved seats

• Check the Overflow box to allow these students to register for available non-reserved seats once the reserved seats in this rule are filled

Reserved Seating – DCU cont’d

• Update the number of reserved seats for this group of students

• Update the waitlist with the number of the defined students who should be waitlisted

• Repeat steps if another group will be defined (not another criteria)

Reserved Seating – DCU cont’d

• Total Reserved seats and reserved waitlist will be displayed

• The difference between the total reserved seats and the max enrollment will be the number of unreserved seats which will be open to all students

Reserved Seating – Banner

• Access the Section Enrollment Details tab (SSASECT/Section Enrollment Information/Reserved Seats)

• The first set of rules cannot be modified except for the Reserved Maximum value. This set represents unreserved seats.

Reserved Seating – Banner cont’d

• Use the down arrow on the KEYBOARD or the Next Record icon to access the second set of rules.

• Use the List of Values (LOV) button(s) to enter reserved seats criteria

• If multiple criteria exist on a single set of rules, the student must meet ALL reserve seat criteria for that set in order to enroll in one of the reserved seats

• For multiple groups, define in the next set of rules

Reserved Seating – Banner cont’d

• Enter the number of seats to be reserved in the Reserved Maximum field for that set of rules

• Check the Overflow checkbox in each rule. This allows students who meet the reserved seats criteria to register for available unreserved seats once the reserved seats in that rule are filled.

Reserved Seating – Banner cont’d

• In the first, unreserved set of rules, reduce the reserved maximum number by the total number of reserved seats established – Reserved total = Max Enrollment

Reserved Seating – Banner cont’d

• SAVE - Confirmation of the completed and saved transaction will appear at the bottom of the form.– Once a set of rules has been saved only the

Reserved Maximum can be adjusted. To correct a set of rules prior to enrollment in the section, the rule must be record removed and reentered.

– Once a set of rules has enrollment, the rule set cannot be updated or corrected, you must cancel the section and build a new one.

Reserved Seating – Banner cont’d

SCHEDULING WORKFLOWSBest Practices and Updates

Meeting Time Location

• What’s New?– Comments character count– Timepatterns updated

Meeting Time Location cont’d

• If you want a specific day/time or room, enter that information as a meeting edit

Meeting Time Location cont’d

• For a pattern request (any time), add the preferred time in the edit; in the comments, note that any time for an indicated pattern may be assigned

Meeting Time Location cont’d

• For room requests, edit to select the preferred pavilion and room type

• Do not include the room number unless you need that particular room or if you are sure the room is available at the requested time.

• Check availability for forced room types and exclusive rooms in SSAMATX

Meeting Time Location cont’d

• Combine requests in one workflow only if they MUST be completed together to accomplish the adjustment, not if they are related in other ways

Use Multiple WorkflowsAdjunct instructor has new

unavailability on Tuesday and Thursday

PSYC11011 was on TR and needs to move to MW

PSYC22022 was on T and needs to move to M or W

Use One WorkflowA newly assigned instructor is not

available at the assigned time

PSYC11011 needs to move to a new time

PSYC22022 has to swap times and rooms to make the PSYC11011 move possible

Resubmit Returned Workflows

• Resubmit workflows that have been returned for edit (do not reply to the email notification)– Access the workflow from your Worklist on your

FlashLine My Action Items tab

Resubmit Returned Workflows

• Click on the returned workflow in your Worklist• View the comments regarding the return by

clicking on them in the Workflow Comments box in the lower left corner of the workflow

Resubmit Returned Workflows

• You can stop the request, make updates to the request or add information to the Reason for change comment box

• Once you have made an update, you will be able resubmit the request

Title Change Reminders

• Title changes do not get updated with co-scheduled sections – a workflow should be submitted for each CRN

• Kent Campus Honors attributes and title adjustments should be submitted to the Honors department – these cannot be updated through the workflow

DCU DATA ENTRYBest Practices and Reminders

Open Learning Sections

• Open Learning Components can be created in the DCU– Open Learning components are those that do

NOT fit into the University’s standard parts of term

– Open Learning sections cannot be converted to Part of Term components in Banner (and vice versa)

‼ If the part of term field is left blank in the DCU, the component will be Open Learning

Open Learning Sections cont’d

• Create an Open Learning component in the DCU as you would any other component except:

– Leave the Part of term BLANK

– Remember to add the correct dates to the delivery

– Dates must be within scheduling term

Off-Site Locations cont’d

• Create Off Campus sections in the DCU as you would any other component except:– Remember to select the appropriate Session

Code

Off-Site Locations cont’d

• If session code value is ‘O – Off Campus’ enter the 9-digit zip code of the US location in Section Text

• If session code value is ‘F-International/Study Abroad’ enter ‘FOREIGNCN’ in Section Text

TIP: Don’t forget to uncheck the voice response box for your Foreign sections!

• Enter comments for the students in Section Long Text

Assigning Off-Site Locations

• Assign the off-site location in the DCU– Add a room request if it does not already exist

Off-Site Locations cont’d

• Select OFC for Room Type (Off Campus)

• Select the desired off site location

• Save the component

Time Pattern Requests

• Use EVE patterns or day patterns where appropriate – Review Pattern Subsets at:http://www.kent.edu/about/administration/provost/registrar/academic/timetabling/upload/Timepatterns_2011.xlsx

Time Pattern Requests

• Select Pattern Request and then select the appropriate Time Pattern - specific times and days SHOULD NOT be entered

Approved Forcible Deliveries

• Weekend Deliveries – Any deliveries which occur on a Friday evening,

Saturday or Sunday may be forced• Extended Deliveries

– Any deliveries which last more than three hours may be forced

• Graduate Programs with 2 year scheduling cycles– Graduate programs with published 2-year scheduling

cycles may force the documented evening deliveries.  These 2-year plans must be submitted to the Academic Scheduling Center and are subject to approval by the Provost’s Office.

Approved Forcible cont’d

• External Influence Deliveries – Deliveries with an external influence may be forced

when the days and times are set for that delivery based on factors outside of the control of the university.  These include deliveries: • At foreign sites• In non-academic space such as Ice Arena or SWRC• Consortiums• Medical facility clinical experiences• Performance deliveries with public participation/audience• Coordinated across universities or primary/secondary school

systems

Forced Time Approval

• Requests for forced scheduling are reviewed each term and ONLY approved forcible deliveries will be processed in the Timetable

– Submitted times must include clearly articulated reasons for the request in the time requirement note

– Unapproved forced times will be converted to the closest standard timepattern request

Delivery Groups (Co-Scheduling)

• Proper Co-Scheduling is critical for an accurate Timetable – All deliveries that should meet in the same room, at the

same time, and with the same instructor must be Co-Scheduled

Improper grouping leads to unintended results

Delivery SUB 43333 001 01:• MWF 11:00-11:50 meets in BOW 213, Instructor J. Smith

Delivery SUB 53333 001 01:• MWR 7:45-8:35 meets in BOW 112, Instructor J. Smith

Delivery Groups cont’d

• See the DCU quick reference guide for step-by-step directions

http://www.kent.edu/about/administration/provost/registrar/academic/timetabling/upload/DCU-Quick-Reference-Guide-4-21-11.pdf

Time Requirement Notes

• Time notes are used to specify the structure and sequencing of time requests

• Time notes should be specific and should include reasons for the requirement

Time Requirement Notes cont’d

• Use notes for course requirement issues and student availability/health & safety issues– Examples:

• Accreditation requires that this Ballet techniques course be offered Tues/Thurs

• Strenuous voice requirements dictate that this course cannot be offered prior to 9:00 AM

Time Requirement Notes cont’d

• Time requirements to consider – shared time groups:

• Same time (Different professors and rooms)• Same time, same professor (Different rooms)• Same time, same room (Different professors)• Same time, same pavilion (Different professors and

rooms)

• Same time, same room, same professor is co-scheduled, and a group should be created and no note is needed

• Time requirements to consider – sequenced ties:• Same day(s)• Different day(s)• Day between meets• Lab after lecture• Back to back (B2B)

• Back-to-Back courses– Please be sure to note if one course must be

offered before the other – if this is not noted, they will be offered back-to-back in either order

Time Requirement Notes cont’d

Time Requirement Notes cont’d

• Time notes SHOULD NOT include information regarding faculty availability or courses that must be offered conflict-free

• Information of this type entered in Time Notes may not be accommodated in the Timetable– Enter individual blockoffs in SPFS to indicate

faculty unavailability– Enter course combinations in SPFS to indicate

courses that must be offered conflict-free

Combined/Breakout Sections

• Combined lecture/breakout sessions can be scheduled in the DCU

• It may help to illustrate your structure to help clarify the sequencing– A separate component should be created for each breakout

group – Create each component’s lecture delivery and co-schedule all

of the lecture deliveries

MON TUES WED THUR FRI

001-01002-01003-01

 001-01002-01003-01

 

001-02 002-02 003-02

   

   Same 

Time/Room/Instructor  Same 

Time/Room/Instructor  Different Rooms, 

Different Instructors

Combined/Breakout cont’d

• In each component, create an additional delivery for the breakout meeting since the instructor and room will be different.

• Note that all of the delivery 02s (breakouts) should be at the same time as each other. Enter that as a Time Note.

• If you want them on a different day, and at the same time as delivery 01, you must also specify that in the Time Notes.

MON TUES WED THUR FRI

001-01002-01003-01

 001-01002-01003-01

 

001-02 002-02 003-02

   

   Same 

Time/Room/Instructor  Same 

Time/Room/Instructor  Different Rooms, 

Different Instructors

Combined/Breakout cont’d

• Document is available with instructions for a 3x50 10 section combined lecture with back-to-back breakouts on Friday

• http://www.kent.edu/registrar/academic/upload/scheduling-a-10-section-combined-lecture-with-breakout-sessions.pdf– Help is also available at weekly open labs

during the schedule build window

Room Requests

• Add a room request for schedulable space – Schedulable room types include: AUDX, CLA,

CLAX, LEC, LECX, SEM, SEMX • Exclusive rooms and forced room types require

that the room number is selected in the DCU– Forced room types include: DIS, GYM, LAB,

LBC, LBCX, STU, STUX, TEA, TEAX – If there is an alternate for these assignments,

please include it in the Room Requirement Notes

Room Request cont’d

• If a specific schedulable room is needed for a section, enter a room requirements note

• Room notes should be specific and should include the reason for the requirement

Room Request cont’d

• Add a room note if there are specific health and safety issues regarding location– Examples:

• Instructor has limited mobility and must have all courses in this pavilion

• Instructor must have room with natural lighting

– Remember to include room numbers when requesting non-standard characteristics (i.e. natural light, on the south side of the building, etc.)

INSTRUCTOR AVAILABILITYIndividual Blockoffs and Instructor Types

Faculty Availability

• Divided into three categories and submitted in the Section Planning & Feedback System (SPFS). – Department Meeting Blockoffs – Individual Blockoffs– Professor types – General scheduling

parameters for instructors• These categories must work together to create a

successful schedule

Meeting Blockoffs

• Meeting requests are accommodated if possible; however, conflict-free scheduling takes priority

• Friday Block III is reserved for meetings when possible. – Pattern times with a

Friday Block III meeting is assigned only if necessary to create a conflict free schedule according to submitted parameters

Individual Blockoffs

Tier 1Not broken by the system or the ASC

CBA stipulations

Disabilities

Religious Observance

Professional External Influence

Other Academic Responsibilities

Family Responsibilities

Health

Preferences – Other Justifiable Circumstances

Individual Blockoffs cont’d

• Individual demands must be balanced against the scheduling guidelines defined in the assigned departmental instructor type– Instructor Type Limits

will override Tier 2 and Tier 3 Blockoffs

– Review your instructor type limits on the Instructor Type Report on the home page of SPFS

Instructor Types

• Instructor types provide the general scheduling guidelines which the system will follow for an assigned professor

• Each setting has a preferred setting and a limit• Some examples of these settings include:

– Number of non-teaching days per week– Maximum number of class-time hours per day– Maximum elapsed time per day– Back-to-Back courses allowed

Instructor Type Limit Example

• This instructor has a non-teaching day limit of 4• The Ballet class must be offered on Tues/Thurs

Instructor Type Limit Example

• Another 2x1:40 section must be scheduled• The result is a broken Tier 2 blockoff

Instructor Type Adjustments

• Review and update your instructor types– Use the DEPT Professor Type Submission excel template

to submit new or updated instructor types– Or, you can submit updates to instructor type settings by

printing out your pages of the Instructor Type Report, note the updated settings, then scan and email to the ASC mailbox (acadschedctr@kent.edu)

• New and updated Instructor types will require approval from the department chairperson or director

• These reports and templates are available on the Home page of SPFShttps://solutions.kent.edu/SectionPlanning/

STUDENT NEEDSCourse Combinations & Academic Blocks

Student Needs

• Student Programs are represented in Timetabling by Course Combinations

• Course combinations are the semester prescriptions of required courses that need to be offered conflict-free

Student Needs

You!

Student Plan Data

Roadmap Data

Assembling Course Combinations

• Each course combination will represent the course requirements of a particular semester for a given program and catalog year.

• Every semester on a roadmap can potentially yield one or more course combinations based on the type of course requirements found in that semester.

From Botany Fall 2009 

Semester 3 Option 1 =  CHEM30475 (SINGLE),                     CHEM20481 (SHORT-LIST) 

(50 students)Semester 3 Option 2 =  CHEM30475 (SINGLE), 

CHEM30481 (SHORT-LIST) (50 students)

Plan Data v Roadmap Data v You!

• Plans will be used as course combinations for students who have a Degree Works advisor- approved plan

• Roadmap data will be submitted for students who have a roadmap template but no advisor-approved plan

• You will be able to submit custom combinations for student populations who are not represented by a plan or a roadmap (i.e. graduate students)

SPFS Course Combos

• Add and edit your course combinations in SPFS• Use the My Combinations Report to review all

department course combinations• Detailed Course Combination Training and help is

available: 1. Open Labs offered weekly in the Data Entry window

2. Timetabling Overview and SPFS sessions – Register on ABC Signup http://reg.abcsignup.com/view/view_month.aspx?as=55&wp=137&aid=KENT

Academic Blocks

• Timetabling schedules sections (not courses)

• Academic Blocks are the link between Course Combos and conflict free scheduling

• Academic Blocks are created by the system to schedule the correct number of sections conflict free based on the Student Count

SPFSSection Planning & Feedback System

SPFS

https://solutions.kent.edu/sectionplanning/• View/maintain course information including:

– Your department’s course combinations– Your courses in another department’s course

combinations– Historical section offering information

• Submit meeting information• Attach Instructor Types• Submit faculty blockoffs• Preliminary Timetable feedback

SPFS Access

• Request Access to SPFS by role– Viewer – View information in the system – No editing ability– Meeting Requestor – Submit meeting requests– Feedback User – Review and submit feedback on the

Preliminary Timetable– Instructor Maintenance – Assign instructor types, create

individual instructor Blockoffs (Requires training)– Program Coordinator – Review/add/edit course combinations

(Requires training)

• SPFS Access Request Form: http://www.kent.edu/about/administration/provost/registrar/academic/timetabling/upload/SPFSAccess-rev-6-23-11.pdf

SPFS Training

• Upcoming SPFS Training:– Tuesday, 4/10/2012 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM – Library 333– Friday, 4/13/2012 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM – Library 333

• Register from the HR training opportunities website: http://reg.abcsignup.com/view/view_month.aspx?as=55&wp=137&aid=KENT

• Specific SPFS questions?

Thank you!Academic Scheduling Center