TimetablingCourse Combinations for Conflict-free Scheduling

GPS: What is it?•GPS is the Graduation Planning System. It will

provide students with a clear and direct path to degree completion

•GPS Website – http://www.kent.edu/gps

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GPS – Major Components

GPS

Student Tracking/Alerts

Explore Majors Website (roadmaps)

AutoAdvisor Assignment

Timetabling

Timetabling Website

Reporting

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GPS: Roadmaps•All undergraduate majors have a roadmap which

outlines the most expedient path to graduation.•The path outlines program milestones (courses, GPA,

test scores, etc) that must be completed on schedule in order to remain “on track” for timely and successful degree completion.

• If a student veers “off track”, consultation with the student’s advisor is expected.

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GPS Roadmap: Botany

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GPS and Timetabling•Timetabling will ensure that the combination of

courses represented on the roadmaps are scheduled conflict-free.

•To facilitate this process, the Principles of Timetabling have been created by the Timetabling Steering Committee.

• It is available on GoogleDocs at https://sites.google.com/a/kent.edu/timetabling-department-constraints/

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Timetabling: What is it?•Timetabling is the creation of a conflict-free schedule

given –

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Faculty Availabilit

y

Room Inventory

Specific Schedulin

g Paramete

rs

Student Needs

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Faculty Availabilit

y

Room Inventory

Specific Schedulin

g Paramete

rs

Student Needs

Faculty Availability•Faculty Availability is divided into 3 categories.

▫Professor Types – ex: number of early AM starts, number of late PM ends, teaching time per day, consecutive teaching time, etc

▫Department Meetings ▫Individual Unavailabilities – ex: religious observation,

governance, etc•See Principles of Timetabling for guidelines.

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Faculty Availabilit

y

Room Inventory

Specific Schedulin

g Paramete

rs

Student Needs

Room Inventory•Room Inventory is stored in FAMIS, the authoritative

database for room information.•FAMIS is maintained by the University Architect’s

Office. •Room Information will be fed from FAMIS into

Banner and the scheduling system.

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Room Inventory cont’d•Room Inventory includes

▫Room type (lecture hall, seminar, computer lab, scientific lab, etc)

▫Room status (active, inactive)▫Room capacity ▫Room characteristics (tablet-arm chairs, technology

package, whiteboards, chalkboards, etc)•Exclusive/Priority room usage will be governed by

the Principles of Timetabling.

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Faculty Availabilit

y

Room Inventory

Specific Schedulin

g Paramete

rs

Student Needs

Specific Scheduling Parameters• Scheduling Parameters are CRN (section) specific

parameters on the system.• Examples include:

▫Groups – CRNs/Deliveries meeting same time, same room, same instructor(s)

▫Block Offs – setup/teardown time for labs▫Ties

Deliveries (same CRN) meet on different days or with a day in between

CRNs scheduled on different days Lecture before Lab, etc

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Faculty Availabilit

y

Room Inventory

Specific Schedulin

g Paramete

rs

Student Needs

Student Needs•Student Needs will be represented by Course

Combinations.•Course combinations are the semester prescriptions

of required courses that need to be offered conflict-free.

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from Botany Fall 2009

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

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

CHEM30481 (CORE-LIST) (50 students)

Timetabling: What isn’t it?• Timetabling is not an attempt to reproduce the current

schedule. • Timetabling does not create sections. The number of

sections and number of seats are determined by the department.

• Timetabling does not randomly select days and times for a section. It is based on the meeting pattern that is selected by the department.

• Timetabling does not assign faculty to sections or manage faculty workload. This is done by the department.

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Aren’t we Timetabling now?•We have been doing a process called the Room

Assignment where days and times are set by the departments.

•We will be switching to a process where the system finds the best days, times, and rooms for the section based on all of the parameters determined by the departments.

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Room Assignment v TimetablingNOW: Room Assignment COMING SOON: Timetabling

Section: MATH101 Section 001 Section: MATH101 Section 001

Enrollment: 50 Enrollment: 50

Meeting Information Meeting Information

Dates: Jan 1, 2012 – May 1, 2012 Dates: Jan 1, 2012 – May 1, 2012

Days/Times: MWF 11:00 – 11:50 Days/Times: Pattern 3 x 50 (days/times will be assigned)

Room Information Room Information

Room Type: Classroom w/Tech Pkg Room Type: Classroom w/Tech Pkg

Pavilion: Bowman Pavilion: Bowman

Room Requirements: Internet at Instr Station, projector

Room Requirements: Internet at Instr Station, projector

Room: (room will be assigned) Room: (room will be assigned)

Instructor Information Instructor Information

Instructor: John Doe Instructor: John Doe

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Timetabling: Simulation Timeline• Dept Parameters Wksp: Mar 15 – 26 • Dept Parameters Submitted: Mar 15 – May 7• Scheduling Parameters Wksp: Mar 22 – 26• DCU for Spring 2011 data entry: Apr 19 – Jul 2

▫Scheduling Parameters also will be submitted via the DCU during this time

• Timetable Produced: Jul 5 – Oct 15• Course Combination Workshops: Aug 11 – Aug 18• Course Combinations Submitted: Aug 11 – Sep 10• Feedback: Oct 18 – Nov 19

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Timetabling: Course Planning System•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•Maintain instructor types•Submit faculty unavailability•Submit scheduling parameters•Timetabling feedback• Looking for volunteers to review specifications. If

interested contact Gail Rebeta, grebeta@kent.edu

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Additional Resources on the Web•Website address:https://sites.google.com/a/kent.edu/timetabling-department-constraints/

•The Department Parameters Website contains:

▫Simulation timeline and information▫Master documents to view or download▫GPS and Timetabling overviews

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Timetabling: The Team• Sally Kandel, Associate Vice President• Stephane Booth, Associate Provost• Glenn Davis, University Registrar• Gail Rebeta, Manager Registrar Office Systems• Academic Scheduling Center

▫ Lynette Johnson, Business Analyst▫ Brenda Gordon, Timetabling Coordinator▫ Sandra Alli, Office Systems Coordinator▫ Barbara Johnson, Administrative Clerk▫ TBD, Administrative Clerk▫ TBD, Clerical Specialist

• Timetabling Steering Committee• You!

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Timetabling: Steering Committee

• Sandra Alli, Registrar’s Office

• Gregory Blase, JMC• Stephane Booth, Provost’s

Ofc• Tim Chandler, Provost’s

Ofc• Susan Cole, IS• Ron Corthell, English• Glenn Davis, Registrar’s

Office• Pam Evans, Architecture• Lynette Johnson,

Registrar’s Office

• Richard Kolbe, Business• David Odell-Scott,

Philosophy• Gail Rebeta, Registrar’s

Office• Richard Serpe, Sociology• Yvonne Smith, Nursing• Cynthia Stillings, Theatre• Andrew Tonge, Math• Stanley Wearden, CCI• Kathy Wilson, Economics

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Questions?

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Course Combinations for Conflict-free Scheduling•Course Combinations tell the system which courses

need to be scheduled conflict-free.•They are the primary way in which we will represent

our students in the scheduling system.

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Course Combination Data Mix

Student Needs

You!

Student Plan Data

Roadmap Data

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Assembling Course Combinations from Roadmap Data•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.

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Roadmap Data

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• Every line on a roadmap represents a requirement.

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2

3

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Requirement Categories: SINGLE•SINGLE Requirements

▫Students must take one course and may only choose from one course

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Ex: BSCI10120 is a SINGLE requirement. A Botany student must take this course. In this semester, CHEM10061 and CHEM10063 are also SINGLE requirements.

Requirement Categories: SHORT-LIST•SHORT-LIST Requirements

▫Students must take one course but may choose from a list of two or three courses

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Ex: (MATH12003 or MATH30011) is SHORT-LIST requirement. A Botany student must take one course but can choose between either of these two courses.

Requirement Categories: LARGE-LIST•LARGE-LIST Requirements

▫Students must take one course and may choose from a list of four or more courses

▫LARGE-LIST requirements will not be represented in our course combinations.

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Ex: BSCI or CHEM or PHY Elective is an example of a LARGE-LIST. The actual number of courses that a Botany student may choose from to satisfy the requirement is four or more courses. In this semester, Foreign Language and Botany Core Course are also LARGE-LIST requirements.

Program Milestones and Categories•All SINGLE and SHORT-LIST

requirements will make up a course combination.

•Whether a requirement has been flagged as a milestone (critical) has no bearing on its course combination requirement category.

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Semester Options

•When a requirement is a SHORT-LIST requirement, it produces multiple OPTIONS that a student can take to successfully complete a semester.

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Ex: A Botany student must take either CHEM20481 or CHEM30481. The student must take CHEM30475. So to successfully complete Semester 3 the student may opt to follow

Option 1 – CHEM20481+CHEM30475 OR

Option 2 – CHEM30481+CHEM30475.

Student Count

•Student Count is the number of students who are expected to need to take a combination of courses in a given scheduling term.

•This data is based on each student’s academic history and general student record in Banner.

•Semesters producing multiple options will have their student counts divided equally among the options.

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Roadmap Q and AQ1: Will Kent Core and General

Electives be included in the combinations?

A1: No – they are LARGE-LIST requirements.

Q2: What requirement categories are attached to CHEM10060, CHEM10062, MATH11002?

A2: They are all SINGLE requirementsQ3: How many options/paths to

completions does this semester have?

A3: One option/path since all requirements are SINGLE – CHEM10060+CHEM10062+MATH11022

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Roadmap Q and AQ1: What type of

requirement is (MATH11012 or MATH12002)?

A1: It is a SHORT-LIST requirement.

Q2: How many paths/options to completion does this semester have?

A2: Two options exist: (MATH11012+ECON22060+MIS 24053) OR (MATH12002+ECON22060+MIS 24053)

Assembling Course Combos from Student Plans• DegreeWorks contains a Student Educational

Planner. • The roadmap will be applied to a student. The

student version is a PLAN.• A student will work with their advisor to manage

their plan.

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Joe’s Botany PLAN for Spring 2012 (Semester 3)

CHEM20481

CHEM30475

ENG 21011

ARCH10001

ANTH18210

BSCI30275

Assembling Course Combos from Student Plans cont’d•The PLAN data will be submitted as

course combinations for all students who have plans that have been approved by an advisor.

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Joe’s Botany PLAN for Spring 2012 (Semester 3)

CHEM20481

CHEM30475

ENG 21011 *

ARCH10001

ANTH18210

BSCI30275

Joe’s Course Combo for Spring 2012

• CHEM20481 SINGLE• CHEM30475 SINGLE• ARCH10001 SINGLE• ANTH18210 SINGLE• BSCI30275 SINGLE

(1 student)

*ENG 21011 will not be included in Joe’s combination. It is similar to LARGE-LIST requirement since many sections are offered in a term.

Plan Data v Roadmap Data v You!•Plans will be submitted as course

combinations for those students who have advisor approved plans

•Roadmap data will be submitted for students who have a corresponding roadmap/template but no advisor approved plans.

•You will be able to submit custom plans for student populations who are not represented by a plan or a roadmap such as graduate students.

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You! - My Course Combos

•Through the Course Planning System you will be able to edit course combinations from roadmaps. Examples of why you might edit your existing combinations include - ▫A course is a FALL-only course and will not be

offered in SPRING. You can replace the FALL-only course with a suitable substitute, if necessary.

▫Ensure that certain popular LARGE-LIST courses are also offered conflict-free with the required SINGLE/SHORT-LIST courses.

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You! - My Course Combos cont’d •Through the Course Planning System you

will be able to add new combinations. Examples of why you might add new combinations include – ▫ Spread out elective courses to ensure that there

are a suitable number of them that are not offered in conflict.

▫ Create combinations for graduate programs to ensure that those courses are not offered in conflict.

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• Create a course combination to represent a segment of your student population that is not represented by the combinations pulled from the roadmaps

• Needed combinations can be identified by student needs by level in your programs

You! - My Course Combos cont’d

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Catalog Year Level Level Level Level Level Level Level Level

201080 Semester 1 Semester 2 Semester 3 Semester 4 Semester 5 Semester 6 Semester 7 Semester 8

200980 Semester 1 Semester 2 Semester 3 Semester 4 Semester 5 Semester 6 Semester 7 Semester 8

200880 Semester 1 Semester 2 Semester 3 Semester 4 Semester 5 Semester 6 Semester 7 Semester 8

200780 Semester 1 Semester 2 Semester 3 Semester 4 Semester 5 Semester 6 Semester 7 Semester 8

Additional Information• Course combinations will not contain the following

information:▫ LARGE-LIST requirements▫ Courses where historically many sections are offered

such as US 10097, ENG 11011 and ENG 21011.• Course combinations will not be submitted under the

following circumstances:▫ The related semester had no SINGLE or SHORT-LIST

requirements. All requirements are LARGE-LIST requirements where the student may select from 4 or more courses.

▫ The related semester had one SINGLE or one SHORT-LIST requirement. You need at least 2 requirements.

▫ The related semester had no students. NOTE: At this time there are only 2009 and 2010 roadmaps available. Therefore there will be very few, if any, roadmaps that go beyond semester 4.

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Resulting Course Combo Process

Roadmap Data

Student Plan Data

You! Student Needs

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Questions?

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