Managing timetabling and space changes at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh ARC TIMETABLING PRACTITIONERS’ GROUP Friday 20 February 2015 Royal Holloway, University of London

Background New campus, new ways of working Estates Options Appraisal (1998) : Which Was : Matching the Estate with the University Strategic Plan Which concluded: Estate not fit for not fit for purpose – condition/growth/efficiency University not financially viable within current estate. Which recommended: New Estate - Relocate – dispose and build new - smaller by (35%) New Business - Transform – best practice and financially sustainable

New ways of working – timetabling and booking: Shared general teaching space Shared meeting space Sharing isn’t restricted - no “ownership” of non- specialist space at all General purpose spaces (labs, studios, reconfigurable rooms) Teaching & Learning –Inter-professional –Inter-disciplinary Background New campus, new ways of working

How is the timetable made? Data March-April Module data sheets are rolled over and made available online Staff have 2 months to alert Space Management of changes All changes are made available online within 24 hours and requests are sent out for staff to double-check Draft May Data is used to generate timetable using automated scheduler, based on rules in Timetable Policy. Draft timetable is made available for staff to review for 2 weeks. Changes are made based on staff feedback. Publication June Final timetable is published to students online. Maintenance June onwards Minor adjustments are made to cater for unexpected circumstances. Changes due to incomplete/inaccurate data or errors/omissions that went unnoticed.

Complexity Academic Structure, Numbers The 2014/15 academic timetable involved scheduling hours of teaching into 39 general teaching rooms, 33 labs, clinics & studios, spread over 627 modules that form part of 467 student course groups, and 4969 recurring events taught by 195 members of staff, of which 58 (30%) have restrictions on availability….

How is CELCAT used? Automatic, constraint-based scheduling. All changes made in Live. Centralised ad-hoc room booking. Custom LCD screen displays. Web Publisher. iCal feeds. Attendance Monitoring.

Constraints from Timetable Policy

Live 4 Users for timetabling –2 To create and modify (Space & Timetabling Office) –2 To move students between groups/events (School Office and Registry) 8 Users for Room Booking –6 Room Admins for specialist labs –All general teaching space administered by 1 person.

Live

iCal & AM Custom link to write student data from ISIS (SITS) to CELCAT. –Runs every hour. –Automatic sub-group group assignment to balance student numbers. Custom link to write CELCAT events back to ISIS Attendance Monitoring –Runs every night. –Compares student swipe data to expected attendance.

iCal

iCal in Outlook

Example Timetable