Weren't all students experiencing classroom confusion asked to show up in person at the office of associate provost Cynthia Moore?  All faculty experiencing problems are directing inquiries there, aren't they?

Does anyone think it strange that departments have responsibility for rooms (charged for O/H projector bulbs, replacements for compters and projection equipment) have no control over who or how they are used?  Much of that equipment was paid for by those same departments.  While we used to have a sense of ownership and take great care with the rooms and their equipment, I can see that being a thing of the past. 

quote:

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Originally posted by: room service
"Over the weekend a new message went up on SOAR in big red letters: Classroom assignments may have changed. Please review you class schedule Yes, "you class schedule." As joycelyn reports, students are indeed filing into departmental offices to find out where their classes are. Those diligent students who foolishly checked their schedules on Thursday and Friday of last week have often been surprised to learn that their classes were moved over the weekend. There's "change" and then there's just "dumb." "

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One reason for all the changes is that some departments requested that classes be moved to the rooms they have been normally taught in. That means that something like $150,000 was spent to randomly assign classes all over campus, and then people manually put them back to their normal locations. If the money had just been thrown down a sewer, all the confusion could have been avoided. During the past twenty five years at USM, room assignment has never been a big problem.
 
Also, assigning rooms to classes when the original schedule is developed allows students with special needs to plan their daily itinerary and makes it clear if sufficient space in available for a given class and time many months in advance.
 
 

Saw/heard someone tell a student who was asking about an afternoon class location this morning to go over to the dome and ask to see Ad Astra.  The student headed off that way.

It actually wasn't as bad as it could have been. Fall will be the true test. I think students were very inconvenienced and all classes started 15 to 20 minues late while they figured out what room they had. Again, why are we doing this? What was wrong with the old system?

scm,

What was the rationale for using Ad Astra?

Clemson deals with PeopleSoft just as USM does (though in another year, we're supposed to be able to get our 9 month salaries spread over 12 months).  But we don't use software to schedule rooms for classes.

Robert Campbell

I thought "Ad Astra" was a treatment for erectile dysfunction.

Robert Campbell wrote:

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scm, What was the rationale for using Ad Astra? Clemson deals with PeopleSoft just as USM does (though in another year, we're supposed to be able to get our 9 month salaries spread over 12 months).  But we don't use software to schedule rooms for classes. Robert Campbell

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Robert, I don't know about what scm is saying about ad astra.  PUC reps are telling people that cynthia moore purchased the program and made the announcement at a PUC meeting this year.  She was questioned about cost and acted like she didn't have that data.

I heard the same thing, that Moore bought Ad Astra and bragged about it.

While I agree with your first statement, there are numerous universities throughout the country who use scheduling software.  Now, whether Ad Astra was the correct choice can surely be debated.  This software can also be used for any type of room scheduling, not just classroom scheduling.

See link:  http://www.aais.com/

 

Get along Lil' doggie wrote:

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ram wrote:  "Why did this idea prosper?" ram, this idea prospered for at least two reasons. First, it further centralizes authority and decision making. Secondly, this administration seems to have no clue how universities run.  

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listings wrote:

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Not so Sure wrote: While I agree with your first statement, there are numerous universities throughout the country who use scheduling software.  Now, whether Ad Astra was the correct choice can surely be debated.  This software can also be used for any type of room scheduling, not just classroom scheduling. See link:  http://www.aais.com/   Get along Lil' doggie wrote: ram wrote:  "Why did this idea prosper?" ram, this idea prospered for at least two reasons. First, it further centralizes authority and decision making. Secondly, this administration seems to have no clue how universities run.   Can you provide a list of some of the universities that use scheduling software?

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Here are some from the Ad Astra site:  http://www.aais.com/testimonials.asp

 

For the most part, the schools in the testimonials above looked like what I expected to see.  I suspect the others may only use the program at the college level, not centralized.