class scheduling at nyu_staying within footprint_dt62
TRANSCRIPT
Class scheduling at NYU:staying ‘within footprint’
Dan Thilman(O)ASIS Team,
FAS Office of Institutional Research,Honorable Mention, 15-16 NYU Team Achievement Award
Challenge (posed August 2014): NYU Registrar perennially struggles with allocating General Purpose space around Washington Square
Response (rolled out November 2014): Registrar & CAS leadership agree that Fall & Spring ‘open access’ class scheduling shift from SISAlbert to OASIS (FAS custom software)
Outcome (assessed February 2015): unprecedented efficiency in General Purpose room placement for all 4 OASIS terms to date (~300 homeless classes in Fall 2014 0 homeless in Fall 2015)
Recognition (bestowed April 2016): Honorable Mention, 15-16 NYU Team Achievement Award
Timeline
Challenge (1):
The Registrar has no extra daytime General Purpose Space
Challenge (2):
CAS, by far, depends the most on Registrar Space
Challenge (3)
Courses need to be housed BEFORE registration starts
How do we respond?Collaborative implementation
Custom software developed by FAS staff, with multiple user trainings each season
New policies communicated and enforced to Arts & Science departments by CAS personnel
Shifts in student information data handling procedures by ITS
Changes to routines, deadlines and user support by the Office of the Registrar
How do we respond?The Footprint
A General Purpose Classroom request is “within the footprint” in each time block if:
-the number of classes per time block is less than the number of rooms used in the previous like term
-the enrollment caps of these classes can fit within the room capacities of your rooms in the previous like term
Getting buy-inAn ongoing battle
Convince FAS faculty leadership, administrators, and staff:
• Why only FAS must use a separate system for one task during just two terms• Extensive documentation and outreach (group trainings & 1-on-1
workshops, announcement emails, & phone calls)
• The footprint handles the complexities of their unit fairly (now and in the future)• Easy to view underlying details for each time block; highly responsive
support team (always same-day, usually same-hour)
• Faculty can’t always get their first-choice class time(s)• Communication from CAS Deans, the unit’s faculty leadership, and
the unit’s admin & staff less resistance each season
The FootprintThis pop-out grid lets you compare your current plan to your department’s footprint
Typical initial CAS-wide footprint
• During planning, discrepancies between OASIS & SISAlbert are indicated with two rows for the same class
• View the schedules of other FAS units to explore potential swaps & to confirm classes are combined properly
• Download any schedule to Excel
What users in FAS units see(1) Class Schedule Report
Read-only page available year-round
What users in FAS units see(2) Plan Class Schedule page
Editing/planning page available only during Fall & Spring Open Access periods
Realities of class scheduling…as of August 2014
The shortage of space can not be changed.
The Registrar can not monitor schools’ curriculum to judge which class offerings are vital and can only place courses by a blind (random) algorithm.
Any randomly unhoused classes take too long to resolve.
Realities of class schedulingsince November 2014…
The shortage of space can not be changed.
The Registrar can not monitor schools’ curriculum to judge which class offerings are vital and can only place courses by a blind (random) algorithm.
CAS Deans monitor CAS curriculum within and across CAS units, approving schedules ‘within footprint’ for guaranteed room assignment. Other NYU schools are eligible for at least the same share of the general purpose space as in the previous like term.
Any randomly unhoused classes take too long to resolve.There are fewer unhoused classes overall. The room
assignment process occurs earlier, so the unhoused class resolution process can begin earlier. In Fall 2015, on the first day of classes, for the first time in the memory of anyone in the Office of the University Registrar, there were no classes marked as “homeless.”
