Timetabler - Running Scheduler

Once all coding and clean ups has been done, it is then time to schedule the courses.

Run through simulations after block builder has run (or before, because why not!) check on Resources to Ignore, Ignoring academic block and Ignoring Professors and run it for only rooms. Once you’ve fixed all rooms errors that you can fix then add instructors, try to fix as many instructor issues as you can. Then add in academic blocks, this will help save some conflicts while you’re scheduling.

Run this my view “Prof on Group 1“ under Delivery Group to look at all the instructors attached to held withs and add them accordingly.

Deactivate all the held withs, then re-activate them all to catch any that aren’t aligned with the same delivery information. Tools → Scheduling Groups Deactivation→ Component Groups

Tools → Scheduling Groups Activation → Component Groups

To fix them open the component group, select the components tab, select all courses and open them.

Select their Deliveries tabs. Sometimes one has a delivery and other other is missing the delivery, copy the one with a delivery to the course without. Sometimes they have different delivery information, this you would need to contact the reps and ask which course has the correct information. Once they do match, head back to the Scheduling Groups Activation tool, and save that component group:

Take back all of the different room types that are actually REG rooms (SPLC, CIVEHR, ect)

Select a set of them and batch edit the rooms so the room type is set back to REG - you will get a big mountain of errors. It’s okay.

Create a spreadsheet that has all of the held with courses listed and their combined cap totals in order, this way you aren’t surprised after you’ve already scheduled a 300+ seat room and then you find you have one more to push in there! Run this query in Quest UW_RS_SCTN_CMBN_TOTALS_SB. Then sort the list in order of combined cap (Class Sum Cap Enrl). incorporate this list of courses into the list of rooms and caps (Registrar Classroom Listing.xlsx) Save a copy of this so you aren’t screwing up the the actual one - as that would be bad and annoying!

check the PAM’s - fix as needed. What that means is in scheduler (or scheduler Simulation) sort by the status, then by Prevent Rooms Automated Modification then by Prevent Time Automated Modification.

take a back up in Timetabler. under System Administration, then Backup… Right click in the main window, select Add New. Enter in the ID, and select Backup.

Sometime this error will come up:

it just means either the DCU is still open, or someone else is logged into the database you’re trying to take a backup in. Ask them to log out, or kill them in the Manager.

So you’re not actually killing anyone, you’re simply kicking them out of timetabler. Sometimes someone will remain logged in over night and off the next day, and now they are blocking you without meaning to. Log into the infosilemAcademicSuite_Manager.

You should now be able to take a backup - or start scheduler.

running scheduler starting with the highest capped courses first schedule them according to room size. Like start with the biggest room and schedule only it, then after those conflicts are dealt with, move on to the next biggest, and so and so on.

To do this, go into ‘Scheduler’ – the clock icon listed at the top navigation bar.

Once ‘Scheduler’ has opened all the way, sort it by “Scheduling” number highest first and take all the deliveries that would be scheduled into that room.

Keep going through room after room and keep selecting all the courses with higher caps (don’t exclude them once you’ve scheduled them) Select Assign. Then Commit.

This will be where the rejects are listed, select the Deliveries tab

Open the delivery and select Move screen

You can also view via ‘Stacked Timetable’ specifically if you want to view an instructor’s timetable, a programs timetable or a room timetable.

You can also view other information by going into the course itself and seeing if any notes, ties or constraints have been coded on the course.

Once you’ve found a time that the course can be scheduled, select the Room Search

Open the room grid if there’s only no rooms and see what can be switched around in the rooms so that the course can fit. A list of rooms will generate, including rooms from starting pavilion and alternate pavilions. Pick the room with the highest % on quality that has 100% time availability.

Once you have been able to schedule all of your rejects, repeat this process starting with re-initializing button. select the next group of deliveries and keep scheduling.

Email reps if you cannot schedule a course without overriding academic blocks, we in the past used to find a place with the fewest conflicts, turns out that’s a bad idea, and created more problems in the long run for the reps.

Keep scheduling in all the rooms until you’re done. If a rep hasn’t got back to you and you have finished, schedule them wherever, and then they have to figure it out.

Once you have no rejects or there’s nothing more that you can do and are waiting on the scheduling reps to respond. Hit ‘Done’ to finish schedule building.

After scheduler is “done” we run a bunch of validations trying to get instructors back to back in the same room (or pavilion if room isn’t possible) or close to the pavilion if we can. This isn’t always possible due to room size issues, if they are schedule in at 8:30 in M3 with a big class, then they have a 30 capped class next, clearly it’s not going into M3, but we can try for MC? Or move the courses so that there’s a gap for them.

We also go through the DCU notes again seeing if there’s any that we couldn’t accommodate before, that now we can.

Once we are all done it’s usually time to hand it back to the reps and re-open the DCU.