Astra Schedule Guide to using the new room tracking software. As a Courtesy to those around you  Please wait to log onto the computers until after the presentation.  Time is scheduled at the end for you to log in and practice.  Reading and responding to s could distract others.  Please keep questions until the end unless it is for clarifications.  Presentation has been organized to address most if not all Frequently Asked Questions.  Premature questions or questions outside of what I want to cover, may result in information being skipped.

What is Astra Schedule?  Product of Ad Astra Information Systems, LLC. Based in the Kansas City area and they focus on what is best for colleges and universities. They have been servicing over 800 schools so far using their product. Fontbonne University has been using version 6 of Astra Schedule in a limited use of all its functionality since Benefits of Astra Schedule  One central location to see all activities on campus and One central location to request events, rooms, services, and resources.  Ideally Astra will allow the University to use rooms around campus with maximum efficiency. If a room or building needs to be closed for a period of time, Astra will find the best possible room for every displaced class.

Review of Terminology  Campus activities  Academic  Event  Event Meetings  Customers  Customers are Grouped by parent organization like  “FBU/Admissions” for on campus groups  “Organization/Division/Team” as a possible off campus group.  Customer Contact  Primary Customer Contact  Owner – Person who makes reservation  Guest – non-Logged in user.

Navigation Calendar ListDayWeekMonth Scheduling Grid RoomsDay ResourcesWeek Filters LocationEventsAcademicsOthers BuildingEvent TypeSubjectHolidays RoomEvent Meeting TypeCourseAnnouncements CapacityIs FeaturedInstructorKeyword CampusSetup/TeardownIs ExamDate Calendars

How do I get to Astra Schedule?  The site is located at How do I log in?  You use the same credentials you use for every thing else at the University. No matter where or how you get to Astra you will have to sign into Astra Schedule. Fontbonne does not have a Single Sign On environment.  Log in Username and Password boxes are in the upper right corner of the page.

Requesting an Event The Event Wizard Screen will be:  There are multiple ways to request an event, the more complex way offers you more features.  You are free to use any method but this training will focus on the Event Wizard.

Using the Event Wizard The Event Wizard Screen will be:  The following steps should show you how to request everything you may need all at one time.  From the very front page after you have logged in upper left should be a link that says “Create an Event”  “Request an Event” if present will take you to a form to request an event. The form will not let pick a room. So do not use “Request an Event” link.

The Event Wizard Screen will look like:  Items with an * MUST BE FILLED  Reservation number is system generated based on today’s date.  Depending on which method you use additional required fields may not be labeled as required.

Event Information  Event Name should be unique and descriptive.  Griffin 101 vs. Meeting  Event Type should match the event type.  Pick an Event Type that comes closest if you feel your event’s Event Type in not in the list.  Send an suggesting the new Event Type.

More Important Event Information  Customer is the organization requesting use of Fontbonne Space.  Customer Contact is the person coordinating event.  Additional Contacts is for anyone you want to make sure is included in any requestor notifications.  If Customer or Customer Contact does not exist you can create a record for them with the Create buttons.

Private Vs. Featured  Checking “Private” on an Event  Will display no information to almost everyone.  Will show rooms and resources are being used but not by who or for what purpose.  Not checking Private will leave event details viewable by individuals logged into Astra.  Checking an event as Featured will enable the event to stay in an Events list  Featured Events can be highlighted and promoted to Guest Users.

 Notes are for tracking purposes and will be date and time stamped. Very helpful if approvals are needed.  Descriptions are really helpful also for details on an event.  After all Data is entered hit Next.

Entering Event Meeting Information  An Event can have many meetings and meeting types.  Meeting Name is required.  By default is the Event Name but it should complement the Event.  Griffin 101 (from Event) vs. Financial Aid Presentation  Meeting Type is also required and to be selected from the drop down.

Entering Event Meeting Information  Max Attendance or Estimated Attendance, while not required is helpful in finding the right sized room.  Astra will list rooms that match best with your estimated attendance first.

Event Details - Meeting Information  Private Vs Feature  By default your choice for the event will apply to the meetings but this screen will let you reverse it on an individual meeting basis.  Unchecking Private on the Event will not uncheck Private on the Event Meetings, you have to manually uncheck private on all event meetings once an event is created as private.  It is possible to have Featured Meetings associated with Private events and Private meetings with Featured Events.

Event Meeting Details Single Meeting or “Shotgun” Patterns  Single Meeting(s) are good for one time meetings or when there is no recurring pattern.  Just click the dates you want to add the meeting(s) on.  Enter a time and hit the Create button.  Repeat if necessary.

Event Details - Meeting Information Recurring Events  When your event will have meetings that occur in a set pattern chose the Recurring tab.  Just enter the recurring pattern and hit the Create button.  More than one recurring pattern is permitted.

Event Details - Meeting Information Spanning Events  Spanning events are for events that go past midnight.  Dr. Pressimone’s Midnight Madness party is a perfect example.  Start June 30, :00 PM  End July 1, :00 AM

Holidays can block events.  Most holidays Fontbonne will be closed for over the next many years are preloaded into Astra Schedule.  The example above shows how Astra will notify you of what event meetings could not be scheduled for Holidays.  All other Event Meetings will be scheduled.

Event Information – Requesting a Room  Room can have four states when you view the list.  Red for unavailable  Yellow is for conflicts where the room is available some of the time but not every meeting time of your event.  White/Off-white or grey is for Available rooms.  Green for the selected – Your room.  Based on the expected attendance the rooms will be displayed from highest to lowest scores.

Selecting a Room  This screen shows rooms available after applying filter to only show computer labs.  Ryan 307 shows available for every meeting in this example.  Clicking on a room will select it and turn the bookable times for that room Green.  Once rooms are all selected click on the OK button on the bottom right.

Rooms almost reserved at this point  Click on the Save button on the upper left or you will lose all of your work.  At this point your request is incomplete.  It will not be scheduled until someone who has approval rights reviews your request.  Your request will hold a room and resources until rejected, so requests are a first come first serve.  But unless you receive a confirmation notification, DO NOT expect you actually can have your event.

Approval Process  There are three levels of approvals and occur in order.  Event – The event must be approved prior to any other approvals.  Room – Not every room appearing in Astra is open to use. You may request it but if the room has special control your room request could be rejected even if your Event is approved.  Resource – You can also request equipment or staffing for your event through Astra if it will require set up and or staffing by physical plant, environmental services, or IT. But these will also need to be approved.

Viewing your Events and Their Details  Once logged into Astra Schedule the home page will provide a list of all Events for Today and this Week.  To view event details just click on the event name you want to see details on.

Events (Tab) -> Events (Page)  Or click on the Events Tab and then the Events Link.  You can filter down to a limited list of events based on your preferences.

Viewing Event Details from Events Page List  Click on the Event Name link to view that Event’s details.  Click on the Note Card in front of Event Name, and click on “View Event Meeting Details”.

Event Details

Attendee Sign Up  If an Event needs a certain number of attendees in order not to cancel it, Astra schedule will allow you to enable other users to sign up for an event in advance.  If you have checked the “Allow Attendee Sign-Up” (Extra Feature Previously mentioned), then when a user view the event details a link will appear allowing them to sign up.

Three Bonus Features 1.The first icon shows when the Attendee Signup is enabled for an event. 2.The second icon allows users to add an event to their Outlook calendar. 3.The third icon allows you to for the event details via to someone

Signing up for an event  User can fill out a simple form to sign up.  The first three fields are prepopulated by which event you are signing up.  Attendees just need to fill in their name, address, and phone.

Event Attendees  Event Meeting Attendees will show up in the event details.  You will be able to send notifications to Attendees if location moves, times change, or if an Event is cancelled.

Manually adding Attendees  To put someone else down as an attendee for an event. 1. Click on the Add Event Meeting Attendee button. 2. Click in the colored empty line that appears and type the information into the appropriate column

Notifying Attendees  Check the Box in front of Attendees name.  Click on the Notify Event Meeting Attendees button.  Put your address into the CC field if you want to receive a copy. The system does not store that you sent the , this would be your only way to have proof.  Type your Subject and Message.  Press the Send Button.

Sending Event Summary or Notifications  You can select the person from a list of contacts.  You can search for a full or partial name.

Time to Practice and Questions & Answers  Log onto the computer in front of you.  Open a web browser and go to   Log in to Astra Schedule.  Exercise Option 1: Add any of your Events in the any other system that are not in Astra.  Exercise Option 2: Add any of your Events not yet requested from any system.  Anyone willing can come up to the podium and demonstrate their event entries for everyone to watch.  Copies of vendor provided documentation, documentation created to accompany this presentation, and videos of vendor lead web based training can be found at the following URL:  Please report any suspected issues to with the subject of “Astra Issues.”  Please submit suggestions for improvements and enhancements to with the subject of “Astra Suggestions.”