astra: academic scheduling manual - university of...

Astra: Academic Scheduling Manual Version 8.7

Revised May 2019

Table of Contents General Information ............................................................................................................................................................... 1

Vocabulary Terms: .............................................................................................................................................................. 1

Section Viewing & Editing ....................................................................................................................................................... 2

Filtering search results ........................................................................................................................................................ 4

Section Details ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Find and Assign a Room .......................................................................................................................................................... 6

Meeting Details ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Cross List Information ........................................................................................................................................................... 10

Meeting Dates ....................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Cancel a Meeting .............................................................................................................................................................. 17

Restore a Meeting ............................................................................................................................................................. 18

Add a Meeting ................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Adding a Meeting to a Section Procedure ........................................................................................................................ 18

Academic Preferences .......................................................................................................................................................... 23

Section Preferences .......................................................................................................................................................... 23

Vocabulary Terms: ............................................................................................................................................................ 23

Meeting Types ................................................................................................................................................................... 25

Tips & Tricks .......................................................................................................................................................................... 26

Academic Filters ................................................................................................................................................................ 26

How to set up a Default Filter for Faculty Section List .................................................................................................. 26

Room Filters ...................................................................................................................................................................... 30

Astra Schedule – Academic Scheduling Manual Revised May 21, 2019

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General Information

Vocabulary Terms: Optimizer: The tool in Ad Astra Software that assigns rooms to sections based on pre-determined scheduling preferences that each faculty submits for their subject codes, instructors, and individual sections. Meeting Pattern: The days and times that a section meets in a term. A meeting pattern includes the U of M’s “slot system” AND irregular course meeting dates and times.

Sections

Overview

• The Registrar’s Office assigns rooms to Academic section meetings using the

optimizer. Units assign rooms using the Available Room tool.

• Astra exports room assignments to Banner immediately after a change is made.

• Astra imports Meeting time/date changes from Banner within 5 minutes of the record being saved in banner to be able to assign a room.


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Section Viewing & Editing • Course sections are located by selecting Academics then Sections from the navigation bar.

• Filter the list using the options available on the left side of the page. The sections list can be exported to Excel.

• Click on a column to sort by that column. Click CTRL and the next column to sort in a particular order. Astra shows the sort order in the column header (1, 2, 3).


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• From this list, sections may be added, edited, rooms assigned or dropped.

Once column arrangement is in the appropriate order, the system will remember selected settings, and the Academic list will open each time with the customized setup/order (so long as you do not clear your browser cache).

The course/section column MUST be selected in order to edit sections and assign rooms

Drag and drop columns in the order you wish to view

Hover on a column and then click on the down arrow to add or delete columns


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Filtering search results

• The “Custom” filter box is explained in the Tips and Tricks section at the end of this document.

• The keyword searches for a particular course by CRN or course number or title etc.

• Start and End date filters return search results for a specific date range.

• Click on one or more Days Met to return results for selected days only.

• Click on one of the filter terms to expand the field to see filters currently applied. If the word “Clear” is visible in a filter category, a filter is on.

• Click on the + sign in the filter category to select from a dropdown list in that category. Type in the first few letters for quick find.

• Click done at the bottom of the list to select the filter. If “done” is not clicked, the filter WILL NOT be selected!

• The symbol excludes selected filters in each category from search results.

• The “Clear” will clear all filters in the category. The “X” will remove the filter from the category.

• Find unassigned or incomplete sections by selecting Meeting Status codes in the Meeting Status field. The “incomplete” status means that not all meetings for the section have been assigned a room.


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Section Details Click on the section in the course/section column in the section list to edit the section and/or assign a room. The course/section column in the section list MUST be selected in order to edit a section and assign rooms.

General information about the section record is displayed in the top of the Section Info. This includes data that defines the section, but is not related to the meeting pattern. This information is maintained in the Aurora Student Information System (Banner) and is not edited by Astra users. Sandbox Options are not used by schedulers at this time.


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Meeting patterns and meeting-specific details are shown in the Meetings tab area of the section form.

Find and Assign a Room The Available Room tool calculates which rooms are acceptable for a meeting, and determines best fit based on score. Acceptable rooms include any that meet the requirements placed in the filter. On entering the Available Rooms tool, the filter is pre-populated with the section max capacity and preference information. Schedulers may override these values as necessary for section room assignment.

Acceptable rooms appear in the list along with a calculated score for best fit and their availability information.

View meeting information

Delete a meeting

Assign or change room assignment

Drop room assignment


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Click the Assign Room icon on the meetings tab.

Select the columns above and set them in the order shown.

Check this box to view available rooms. Uncheck to show all rooms

Edit filter options; choose to view all room configurations

Hover over to view room details

Expand columns for more information

Use toolbar to move between records and pages

Expand Meeting Pattern column to view individual meeting instances.


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Select the room for the entire meeting pattern by clicking in the Meeting Pattern column (far left column with the entire date range) or, for individual dates by clicking on the desired room under each Meeting column (each specific meeting date).

Hover over the yellow conflict of red unavailable box to view the scheduling conflict.

Expand Meeting Pattern column to view individual meeting instances.


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Click the yellow conflict to open the Resolve Conflicts form. This form allows the user to select all available dates for the room selected or choose the dates individually.


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Meeting Details Click on the highlighted meeting type to create a new meeting tab containing meeting pattern details.

Cross List Information 1. To view section cross list information – the sections that are cross listed with the section you are

viewing, select the appropriate section under the Course/Section tab.

2. Click the Meeting Type, then click the down arrow (▼) beside Cross List Info (if section is collapsed).


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The max enrolment for the x-list code and total enrolment in cross-listed sections listed below the Cross-List Info.

Removing one course from a cross-list in Banner or removing a cross list altogether will not automatically remove the cross-list codes from Astra. Cross-list codes must be manually removed in Astra from the course(s) in the x-list group.

In the example below, SCM 2210 is the section displayed and is cross listed with ABIZ 2210.


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1. Remove the cross-list code in Banner in SSASECT. a. Delete the code indicated in the Cross List field, then SAVE (bottom right corner).

2. Change the cross-list maximum on SSAXLST to reflect the new enrolment without SCM 2210. a. Click Related and select SSAXLST from the menu.


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b. Enter the Term and Cross List Group Identifier (e.g. for ABIZ 2210), then click Go.

c. Delete the number indicated in the Maximum Enrollment field, then Save.


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3. In Astra, click the Uncross-List Button in the Cross List Info block, then Save (top left corner).

The section will no longer be cross listed in Astra.

If there are multiple cross list sections that will no longer be cross listed, repeat the process for each section in the cross list group.

Meeting Dates All meetings in a section are listed in the Meeting Dates block.


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1. To access a section’s meeting dates, select the appropriate section.

2. Under the Meetings heading, select the Meeting Type.

Scroll down to view Meeting Dates.


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Cancel a Meeting 1. To cancel a particular meeting, click the x beside the date.

2. Confirm meeting cancellation.

The room will drop (the class will not appear in the calendar. The meeting line is displayed with a strikethrough on the data.


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Note: cancelling individual meetings in Astra only frees up the room. Students need to be notified if a class is/will be cancelled.

Restore a Meeting 1. To restore the meeting, click the Restore icon on the meeting line and Save.

2. Confirm meeting restore.

Add a Meeting

Adding a Meeting to a Section Procedure 1. In the section record, click the +Add Meeting icon.

• Astra allows users to add meetings to sections that WILL NOT appear on the section in Banner. Common Mid Term Exams, guest speakers and break-out spaces are examples.

• Where possible, additional meetings should be added to the section in Banner. Students are able to view the new meeting on-line where and when the additional meeting will occur. By contrast, meetings that are added only in Astra will not appear in a student’s schedule.


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2. Click the dropdown arrow (▼) to select a Meeting Type.

3. Click Edit Meeting Pattern.


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4. Complete the Edit Section Meeting Pattern page:

a. Select a Start Time from the dropdown menu (▼). b. Enter the Duration of the meeting in term of minutes. The end time fills automatically based

on duration. c. Select the day(s) on which the meeting will occur. d. Enter Start and Ends dates of the meeting. e. Click OK.

5. Confirm new meeting.


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6. Click the Available Room tool (the house icon) to assign a room to the meeting.

7. Filter as required to select an appropriate room.


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8. Once the room is assigned to the meeting, click Save to remain in the section or Save and Close to return to the section list.

Each additional meeting appears as a new tab in the section information. To view all meetings for a section, click the Meetings tab. The additional meetings will appear as additional meeting lines for that section.

Hover over to view room details


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Academic Preferences

Faculties submit their Academic Preferences set at the subject, course, and instructor levels.

Section Preferences Meeting preferences display any inherited business rules and their source (rule number). This inheritance is based on the preference set associated with the section term. These preferences display in the Preferences block. System constraints prevent schedulers from editing section preferences.

Vocabulary Terms: Preference: The consideration of a given room type, feature, region, building, or room as determined by course or instructor need.

Preference Mode: The preference mode determines how the preference is applied during optimization or room assignment. The three preference modes include:

• Normal - preference weight is considered when scoring room fit • Required - preference must be satisfied in room assignment • Excluded - preference item must be avoided in room assignment

Concept

Introduction

Room optimization is based on grouping like meeting patterns together and solving the largest (most meetings) scheduling problem first. Rooms are then scored for each section meeting based on seat fill and desired/required preferences. Assignments are determined based on the number of rooms available to the section and by the calculated room score. Reports at the end of a room optimization run provide detailed information on meeting patterns, bottleneck situations, and conflicts.


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Only required preferences are automatically loaded to the filter when searching for a room.

Preferences at the section level only affect the current section for the current term.

This area is for displaying preferences applied to a section.

Use the arrow icons to expand and collapse areas on the page for better display.


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Meeting Types

The following table indicates meeting type relationships, and how sections should be scheduled in Banner depending on the TYPE of room the course must be scheduled:

MTG Type (Banner) Description (used in Astra) Room Type(s) ACTV Class The section is manually assigned (not optimized) CLAS Lecture Classroom, Lecture Hall & Theatre, Seminar CLIN Clinic Clinic COMP Computer Lab Computer Lab EXAM Final Exam Classroom, Lecture Hall & Theatre, Seminar Room FILM Film Screening Rooms used to screen films LAB Laboratory Various lab types LANG Language Lab Laboratory – Language LECL Lecture in a laborartory Lecture section takes place in a lab MIDT Mid-Term Exam Classroom, Lecture Hall & Theatre, Seminar Room MUSC Music Specialty spaces for Faculty of Music ORTN Orientation Classroom, Lecture Hall & Theatre, Seminar Room SEM Seminar Seminar Room SCNF Seminar in a conference room Class takes place in meeting space; not a classroom STUD Studio Various studio rooms by subject/course code

Meeting types determine the room type in the room assignment process. In the preference rules, meeting types have a one-to-one relationship with room types. For example, classes delivered in a seminar format MUST have a “Seminar” meeting type in banner. A preference rule in Astra requires that Seminar meeting types are assigned to Seminar Rooms.


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MTG Type (Banner) Description (used in Astra) Room Type(s) THTR Theatre Rehearsal Various stage theatre style studios TUT Tutorial Classroom, Lecture Hall & Theatre, Seminar Room VID Video Lecture Smart Room (feature)

Tips & Tricks

Academic Filters Filters are useful for looking at a specific set of courses e.g., first year or grad level, or looking at certain floors when assigning rooms.

How to set up a Default Filter for Faculty Section List 1. In the filter on the left hand side of the screen:

a. Set the Invalid mtg. pattern to No; this will omit any sections that do not have meeting times assigned.

b. Select your faculty’s subjects, then click Done.

There are a few things Astra can do to make searching and assigning more efficient.


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c. Click the Save icon.

d. Enter a name for the filter (e.g. Science Courses). Optional: check the default box to set as default filter. Each time Astra opens, your section list will open to your Faculty’s courses.


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Repeat the process above to set other filters for your Faculty. Examples include: Grad level courses, 1st yr courses, all courses in your building(s) (select building no subjects), Department course groupings etc.

To retrieve a filter you have created, select the filter from the dropdown list of the filter column.


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To exclude a preset filter from your search, uncheck one or more of the search criteria in the filter. To remove all sections click Clear. The name of the filter disappears from the window at the bottom left of the screen.

To delete a filter, click the Manage Filters icon. Click the X do delete the filter(s), then click OK.


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To view a specific course in your faculty, enter the subject and course number in the Keyword field. Results matching your filter search are returned

Room Filters Room filters can be set up in the Ad hoc room scheduler the same way as in the Academic sections filter:


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o Click the assign room icon Select the filter criteria on the filter pane on the left hand side of the screen for this specific room search filter.

o Click the Save icon at the bottom of the filter column (bottom left). o Enter a name for the filter (Drake classrooms) o Check the Default check box. Click OK. o Each time Astra opens the available room tool, your specific search criteria will select its search

filters. o Set up different room search filters for labs, studios etc.

Other Tips • Deleting a meeting instance from a section in Astra (e.g., one class cancelled) will now show with a red

line through the meeting instance.


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To reinstate the meeting time, click on the green refresh symbol. Deleting one meeting does not update any meeting time information in banner.

• Course filter is dynamically linked with the subject filter for easier searching When a subject is selected, then you click in the course filter, only those courses within the subject selected are displayed.

• If one room is changed for a section in the meeting list, the row is highlighted.

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