Student Scheduling System Guide

Comprehensive Information Management for Schools (CIMS®) G/T

Student Scheduling SystemUser’s Guide

NCS Part Number 649 400 241

Third Edition (July 2000)

This edition applies to Version 8.00 of the CIMS® SCH® (Student Scheduling System) software, and to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in new editions or updates.

The data used to illustrate the reports and screen images may include names of individuals, companies, brands, and products. All of the names are fictitious; any similarities to actual names are entirely coincidental. Further, any illustrations of report formats or screen images are examples only, and reflect how a typical customer would install and use the product.

CIMS®, SCH®, NCS®, InteGrade® Pro, and the NCS logo are registered trademarks of National Computer Systems, Inc.ACS™, SMS™, SAS™, SGS™, NCS ABACUSxp™, CUSTOMER LINK™, ParentCONNECTxp™, NCS Mentor FOR WRITING™, and CSO™ are trademarks of National Computer Systems, Inc.

J Walk™, SEAGULL™, and GUI/400™ are trademarks of Seagull Business Software B.V. and SEAGULL Software Inc.

*IBM®, Client Access®, and AS/400® are registered trademarks of the International Business Machines Corporation.

Microsoft® and Windows® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from National Computer Systems, Inc.

Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. iii

Contents

Usage Glossary Print Back Forward First Next LastSearchContentsBookmark Previous

About This Guide ............................................................................. 1About This User’s Guide ..................................................................... 1How This User’s Guide Is Organized .................................................. 1

Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................. 5Overview of the SCH Software ........................................................... 6Student Scheduling System Planning ................................................ 8Student Scheduling Decision Making ............................................... 10Implementation Planning .................................................................. 14Getting the Most Out of Training ...................................................... 16NCS Professional Services .............................................................. 17

Chapter 2 Implementing Scheduling Options ........................19Understanding Scheduling Concepts ............................................... 21Using the Planning Worksheets ....................................................... 23Setting Scheduling Options .............................................................. 23Defining Teachers ............................................................................ 44Defining Rooms ................................................................................ 46Defining Course Prefixes .................................................................. 47Defining Graduation Requirements .................................................. 49

Chapter 3 Defining Courses ......................................................53Defining Courses with the SCH Software ......................................... 54Defining Courses .............................................................................. 60Copying Course Definitions .............................................................. 73Printing a Course Listing .................................................................. 74Printing a Course Catalog ................................................................ 74

Chapter 4 Entering Course Requests .................................... 75Working with Course Requests ........................................................ 76Printing Course Request Worksheets .............................................. 80Adding Course Requests .................................................................. 83Maintaining Class Lists ..................................................................... 90Printing a Course Request Tally Report ........................................... 93

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Contents iv Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Printing the Potential Conflict Matrix Reports ................................... 95Automatically Generating Course Requests ..................................... 97Reporting Adds and Drops ............................................................... 98Making Mass Changes to Course Requests .................................. 100

Chapter 5 Using the Period Resource Allocator ................ 103Using Resource Allocation for Scheduling ..................................... 104Creating a Proposed Master Schedule from Last Year .................. 107Creating a Proposed Master Schedule from This Year .................. 108Creating a Proposed Teacher Master Schedule ............................ 109Using Period Resource Allocation .................................................. 113Printing a Proposed Master by Teacher ......................................... 117Creating a Final Master Schedule .................................................. 118

Chapter 6 Working with the Master Schedule .................... 119Building a Master Schedule ............................................................ 120Printing a Master Schedule by Period ............................................ 126Printing a Teacher Utilization Report .............................................. 127Printing a Room Utilization Report ................................................. 127Printing a Master Schedule Matrix by Room .................................. 128

Chapter 7 Using the Automatic Scheduler .......................... 131Automatic Scheduling Process ....................................................... 132Using the Automatic Scheduler ...................................................... 135Monitoring the Automatic Scheduling Status .................................. 140Printing an Unscheduled Period Analysis by Class ........................ 143Printing Incomplete Student Schedules .......................................... 145Printing Student Schedules ............................................................ 147Printing a Student Schedule List .................................................... 150Printing Teacher Rolls .................................................................... 152

Chapter 8 Changing and Processing Schedules ................ 155Adding a Course Request to an Existing Schedule ........................ 156Changing a Scheduled Course ....................................................... 156Processing Individual Student Course Requests ........................... 160Displaying a Student’s Schedule .................................................... 165Printing a Student’s Schedule ........................................................ 165Printing Student Locator Information .............................................. 166

Chapter 9 Scheduling Tips and Techniques ........................ 167Automatic Scheduling Checklist ..................................................... 168Hints for Improving Scheduling Results .......................................... 178Match Group Linking ...................................................................... 180Miscellaneous Scheduling Hints ..................................................... 190

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Chapter 10 Using Additional Scheduling Programs .......... 195Assigning Home Rooms from Scheduling ...................................... 196Resetting the Enrollment Count ...................................................... 198Removing Unscheduled Requests ................................................. 198Re-establishing Link Definitions ..................................................... 199

Appendix A Processing Reports for Multiple Students .... 201Specifying Individual Students ........................................................ 202Using the Position Window ............................................................. 203Using the Selection Window ........................................................... 204Using the Display Window .............................................................. 205

Appendix B Annual and Non-annual Files .............................207Annual Files .................................................................................... 208Non-annual Files ............................................................................ 211

Appendix C Switch Settings .....................................................217Reviewing Switch Settings ............................................................. 217Student Application Switch Settings ............................................... 218

Index ...............................................................................................225

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Contents vi Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. About This User’s Guide 1


About This Guide

This book describes how to use the Comprehensive Information Management for Schools (CIMS®) G/T Student Scheduling System (SCH®), Version 8.00.

About This User’s GuideBoth management-level and staff-level users of SCH can benefit from this user’s guide. It contains instructions for implementing setup options, building a master schedule, and creating and maintaining student schedules.

How This User’s Guide Is OrganizedThe guide contains the following chapters and appendixes.

Chapter 1, “Introduction,” summarizes the features of SCH. It also lists the programs you can use in the scheduling process.

Chapter 2, “Implementing Scheduling Options,” introduces the setup programs you need to implement the SCH software.

Chapter 3, “Defining Courses,” describes how to define your schools’ courses and reviews a variety of scheduling functions to consider for the course definitions.

Chapter 4, “Entering Course Requests,” describes how to gather and enter students’ course requests.

Chapter 5, “Using the Period Resource Allocator,” describes how to use the resource allocator scheduling tool to assign periods to the teachers’ course sections.

Chapter 6, “Working with the Master Schedule,” describes how to enter and maintain your school’s master schedule.

Chapter 7, “Using the Automatic Scheduler,” describes how to automatically schedule course requests for a group of students or an entire school.

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2 How This User’s Guide Is Organized Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Chapter 8, “Changing and Processing Schedules,” describes how to schedule course requests for an individual student and change an existing schedule.

Chapter 9, “Scheduling Tips and Techniques,” provides a scheduling checklist of scheduling tasks. You can use the checklist as a guide to keep you on track as you go through the scheduling process. The chapter includes tips on performing scheduling tasks, such as linking and resource allocation, and suggestions to make the scheduling process successful.

Chapter 10, “Using Additional Scheduling Programs,” describes how to use other SCH programs. These programs include homeroom assignments, data integrity, and scanning interfaces.

The Appendixes provide general reference information about the student software. Appendix A contains instructions for completing the multiple student process for reports. Appendix B provides a list of the annual and non-annual files for all student products. Appendix C lists the switch settings contained in the CIMS G/T student software.

The Index to this user’s guide lists programs and special terms with their related page numbers.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. How This User’s Guide Is Organized 3


Conventions Used in This User’s Guide

This book follows specific conventions for presenting different types of information such as new terms and field names. The following list describes the convention for each type of information, and provides an example.

Convention Example

New terms The first time a term appears in this book, the term is bold-faced and italicized, then described. For example, when “field” appears for the first time, the term is bold-faced and italicized:

Each panel in the Student Management System contains information in limited areas known as fields. A field may present information for you to review, or it may present a place for you to type information.

Field names Field names are italicized. For example:

Type a 1- to 9-digit identifier in the Student Number field.

Charactersyou type

When you must type one or more characters on the keyboard, the characters appear in bold-face. For example:

Type A on the first line.

Default values When instructions identify a default, the value appears in bold-face. A default is a value that the system assumes if no other value is specified. For example:

The default is N.

Notes Comments, cautions, and additional notes have a dark bar running parallel to the note. For example:

Leave this field blank if you scan your data using CIMS Scanning Operations software.

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4 How This User’s Guide Is Organized Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. 5


Introduction

Managing and controlling student information is a critical task for school districts. The CIMS® G/T student software provides an integrated student record system to help meet the challenges of student administration. The flexibility of the CIMS G/T software can help you manage the student information requirements of your school and district.

The integrated CIMS G/T student software products are:

l SMS™ (Student Management System)

l SCH® (Student Scheduling System )

l SAS™ (Student Attendance System

l SGS™ (Student Grading System)

This user’s guide describes the steps necessary to establish scheduling options, define courses, enter student course requests, and create a master schedule using the SCH software. This chapter contains the following information:

l Overview of the SCH software

l Student Scheduling System planning

l Student scheduling decision making

l Implementation planning

l Getting the most out of training

l NCS Professional Services

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Introduction


6 Overview of the SCH Software Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Overview of the SCH SoftwareThrough the SCH software, you can perform the following tasks:

l Define the courses taught in your school

l Create course links to facilitate processing student course requests

l Enter and maintain student course requests

l Print a report to help you determine the number of sections you need for each course

l Create a proposed teacher master schedule

l Create a master schedule of classes

l Schedule students automatically

l Revise student schedules

Defining Courses

You can use the SCH software to define each of the courses you teach in your schools, including information such as the number of students required to offer the course, course duration, and credit assigned to the course.

As part of defining your courses, you can establish course links to enable you to schedule courses as a group.

Creating Course Links

A course link enables your students to request a single course and be scheduled for multiple courses. Using the linking capability, you can perform the following types of tasks:

l Schedule courses with their prerequisites within the same school year

l Prevent specific courses from being scheduled during the same term

l Schedule core courses as a group

l Match courses by section to ensure that the same teacher, term, day of the week, or room is scheduled for all linked sections

If desired, you also can use the Student Management System to define your courses.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Overview of the SCH Software 7

Introduction


Entering Student Course Requests

You can enter students’ course requests manually (using SCH.410 – Course Requests), or you can scan and upload them to the system.

NCS recommends that you use the CIMS Scanning Operations (CSO™) software to scan your course requests into the system. The CSO software can provide considerable time savings and greater flexibility when entering course requests. See the CIMS Scanning Operations User’s Guide for more information.

You also can use the automatic course request generation function to enter course requests for students. You can enter course requests automatically for specific groups of students. See Automatically Generating Course Requests on page 97 for information on automatically generating course requests.

Determining the Number of Sections

You can print a course tally report (using SCH.510 – Print Course Requests Tally) to determine the number of sections you need for each course. A course section divides the total number of students who requested a course into smaller groups for instructional purposes.

Creating a Proposed Teacher Master

Using the SCH resource allocator and SCH.330 – Proposed Teacher Master, you can define your course sections and assign teachers to each section. The period resource allocator uses the information in the proposed teacher master to select the most appropriate time period for each defined course section.

Creating a Master Schedule

After you complete the period resource allocation process, you can create your master schedule automatically, using SCH.622 – Create Master Schedule from Proposed. Even if you do not use the resource allocator, you can design and enter a master schedule manually, using SCH.320 – Master Schedule.

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Introduction


8 Student Scheduling System Planning Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Scheduling Students Automatically

After you define your courses, you enter student course requests and define your sections in the master schedule. Then, you can schedule all the course requests automatically, using SCH.610 – Automatic Student Scheduling. You can repeat this process as many times as necessary.

You can use the online individual scheduling function to schedule course requests for an individual student.

Revising Student Schedules

After you schedule the students, you can use online drop and add options to change an individual student’s schedule, as needed.

Student Scheduling System PlanningYou must install and implement the Application Control System (ACS™) before you install and operate the student software. See the Application Control System User’s Guide for more information on installing and implementing the ACS software.

Next, you must install and implement the SMS software, before you install and operate the other student software. The SMS software provides the database for all other student software.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Student Scheduling System Planning 9

Introduction


The following figure illustrates the major functions you perform in the SCH software.

rs-schd

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Introduction


10 Student Scheduling Decision Making Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Student Scheduling Decision MakingMaking the proper decisions before implementing the SCH software can save you time and money. Undertake the decision process carefully to ensure that you correctly perform the implementation.

Set up the SCH software to meet the requirements of your school and district, and ensure that the system is efficient for your staff to use. Consider the following issues carefully during your planning:

l Software requirements

l Forms and supplies

l Responsibility guidelines

Software Requirements

Before you start working with your SCH software, install the following software:

l IBM AS/400 Operating System, CISC: Version 3, Release 2 (or above) or RISC: Version 3, Release 7 (or above)

l CIMS G/T Application Control System, Version 3.00 (or above)

See the Application Control System User’s Guide for more information about installing and implementing the ACS software.

l CIMS G/T Student Management System, Version 8.00 (or above)

You must install and implement the SMS software before you can install and operate the other student software, including the SCH software.

l CIMS G/T Student Scheduling System, Version 8.00 (or above)

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Student Scheduling Decision Making 11

Introduction


The following diagram illustrates how the ACS and student software relate to your scheduling system.

Forms and Supplies

You use the same basic paper sizes in the SCH software that you use for the SMS software. You also may want to order the following CIMS G/T standard forms with pre-printed information tailored for your school.

l Continuous-feed paper (7 ½" x 3 ½") for student schedules

l Scanning forms, which can be used to gather course request information for scheduling

Order the paper and forms you need from your forms supplier, or contact your NCS sales representative for more information. You can order scanning forms from the NCS Forms Division.

The following chart summarizes the student scheduling programs that generate reports, and the suggested paper size for each report.

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Introduction


12 Student Scheduling Decision Making Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Student Scheduling System Reports

Paper Size SCH Report

14" X 11" Paper SCH.510 – Print Course Requests TallySCH.515 – Print Potential Conflict MatrixSCH.520 – Print Potential Conflicts by CourseSCH.541 – Print Proposed Master by TeacherSCH.542 – Print Proposed Master by RoomSCH.543 – Print Proposed Master by CourseSCH.550 – Print Course ListingSCH.560 – Print Master Schedule by CourseSCH.561 – Print Master Schedule by PeriodSCH.562 – Print Teacher UtilizationSCH.564 – Print Room UtilizationSCH.565 – Print Unscheduled Period Analysis by SchoolSCH.566 – Print Unscheduled Period Analysis by ClassSCH.567 – Print Master Schedule Matrix by TeacherSCH.568 – Print Master Schedule Matrix by RoomSCH.582 – Print Student Schedule ListSCH.583 – Print Student Schedules with ErrorsSCH.588 – Print Student Request Verification

8 ½" X 11" Paper SCH.516 – Print Critical Conflicts ReportSCH.521 – Print Course Request by CourseSCH.538 – Print Teacher RollsSCH.555 – Print Course CatalogSCH.584 – Print Scheduling Errors by StudentSCH.585 – Print Scheduling Errors by CourseSCH.589 – Print Course Request WorksheetsSCH.590 – Print Current Year Request WorksheetSCH.650 – Mass Change Course RequestsSTU.540 – Print List of TeachersSTU.545 – Print List of Rooms

7 ½" X 3 ½" Paper SCH.581 – Print Student Schedules

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Student Scheduling Decision Making 13

Introduction


Student Software Responsibility Guidelines

You may be able to handle all of the planning responsibilities for your CIMS G/T student software, but you probably need the periodic assistance of other employees or coworkers. Several staff members can help plan for the SCH software. These staff members may include:

l District and school administrators

l Principals

l Counselors

l Data processing managers

You may want to assign one of your staff members to each of the following areas of planning.

Planning Area Description

Scheduling options Scheduling information is the responsibility of school administrators, counselors, or both.

Course definitions Defining courses is the responsibility of the school administrators, counselors, or both.

Grading options If you use the SGS software, grading information is the responsibility of school administrators. Define the grading information now, so you can use it when you define courses.

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Introduction


14 Implementation Planning Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Implementation PlanningDetermine the best time of the school year to implement your SCH software. You can overburden your system and staff if you try to implement all aspects of the student software at once.

Consider how long it may take to enter all of your existing data into your new system. If you purchase the system in the middle of a school year, decide if you want to enter all course definitions, the master schedule, and student schedules for the current year. You may prefer to use your existing method to track scheduling information this year, and begin using the SCH software for the next school year.

This section provides some recommendations on how to implement the SCH software.

Implementing at the Beginning of the Year

At the beginning of a school year, you already have your students scheduled for the current year. You should enter the schedules in your new system to track scheduling information, as well as for use with grading and attendance functions. The following functions contained in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options also are available in the SMS software, so you have the option of entering the schedules using the SMS software.

l Defining scheduling options

l Defining terms

l Defining periods

l Defining grading options

l Scheduling individual students

Implementing in the Middle of the Year

If you plan to implement the SCH software in the middle of a school year, you must decide if you want to enter current year scheduling information, or begin planning for next year. If you choose to enter current year grading and attendance information, you must enter your current year schedules. If you decide not to enter your current year schedules, you cannot use the SGS software to record grades by course or use the SAS software to capture attendance by course for the current school year.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Implementation Planning 15

Introduction


Implementing at the End of the Year

If you plan to implement the student software at the end of the school year, you need to enter next year’s scheduling records.

Times to Avoid

You should not install your student software at the following times:

l Any critical time in the school year, such as when you need to produce attendance and grading reports

l The first two of weeks before and after the start of school

l During the last several weeks of the school year, when you produce year-end reports

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Introduction


16 Getting the Most Out of Training Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Getting the Most Out of TrainingYou want to maximize the benefits of SCH training and ensure that the training meets your staff’s needs. Consider the following training suggestions. Consult your NCS sales representative for more information about available training services and costs.

Selecting the Participants

Try to include the following personnel in SCH training:

l Your district and school data processing manager and staff.

l Your school principals or administrators.

l The individuals responsible for entering and maintaining schedules.

l Your data processing system operator. If you do not have a system operator, assign this position before you install CIMS G/T software.

Selecting the Seminar Location

After you select your training participants, you need to decide where to hold the training. Possible training sites are your district office, one of the schools in your district, or an NCS Regional Resource Center.

If you decide to hold the training session at an NCS facility, you simply need to plan the dates and time.

If you choose to hold the training session at a building in your district, you need to select the location, dates, and time. You also need to provide a suitable training environment. The training room must:

l Be located in a low-traffic area

l Have a chalkboard and chalk or white board and markers, an overhead projector, or both

l Have a display station for every one or two seminar participants

l Have a printer in close proximity to the classroom

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. NCS Professional Services 17

Introduction


NCS Professional ServicesIn addition to telephone support, NCS provides the following services:

Service Description

Internet Support The NCS CUSTOMER LINK™ bulletin board services on the Internet provide an electronic source of information about CIMS software. You can access the CUSTOMER LINK bulletin board services using a PC, communications software, and a modem. The CUSTOMER LINK bulletin board services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at:http://k12.ncs.com

Education Support Contact NCS to supply for-fee educational support, which consists of implementation and operational training seminars.

Custom Programming NCS provides this for-fee service to districts that need custom software and reports. Custom changes to any part of a program can affect other parts of the CIMS G/T software. Such changes and their impact on the program or future releases shipped are the user’s responsibility.

Enhancement Subscription

You can receive enhancements, in the form of new versions of the licensed programs and documentation, on an annual subscription basis. If you do not have an enhancement subscription, you still can receive enhancements and updates on a fee basis.

Source Code Source code for CIMS G/T software for the IBM AS/400 mid-range computing system is also available for a fee.

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Introduction


18 NCS Professional Services Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

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Implementing Scheduling Options

This chapter provides planning and implementation information about the programs you need to implement the scheduling options for your Student Scheduling System.

Using this chapter, you will perform the following tasks.

l Set up your scheduling options, including periods and terms

l Define codes for the teachers in your school

l If desired, define codes for each of the classrooms in a school, if you want to validate room numbers when assigning rooms to sections

l If desired, define graduation plans with categories and number of credits required

l Define course prefixes, if you decide to use them when you name your courses

This chapter defines basic scheduling concepts and provides step-by-step instructions for the following programs:

l SCH.101 – Scheduling Options

l STU.240 – Teachers

l STU.215 – Rooms

l STU.220 – Course Prefixes

l STU.310 – Graduation Requirements

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20 Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Some scheduling functions appear in both the Student Management System and SCH. You can choose to define the following basic scheduling items through either your SMS software or your SCH software:

l Basic scheduling options

l Teachers for each school

l Classrooms available

l Graduation requirements

l Course prefixes

You must use the SCH software for the following scheduling functions, which are not available in the SMS software:

l Automatic period resource allocation

l Batch automatic scheduler

l Schedule planning and conflict reports

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Understanding Scheduling Concepts 21



Understanding Scheduling ConceptsWhen you work with the scheduling process, you need to understand the following scheduling-related concepts:

l Periods and terms

l Courses

l Linking courses

l Resource allocation

l Master schedule

Periods and Terms

A period represents a time interval in your school day. The SCH software maintains up to 15 time periods to represent a day. You define the number of periods appropriate for your school. Optionally, you may assign a beginning and ending time to each period.

You need to define at least one period if you plan to record absences using the Student Attendance System.

If you plan to use the resource allocator (see Using Resource Allocation for Scheduling on page 104), you can indicate the periods that are unavailable for resource allocation selection. This restriction prevents the resource allocation program from assigning those periods to course sections when it builds the proposed master schedule.

For example, you may want to set up your first period of the day to begin at 7:30 in the morning, to allow for morning classes where only a few number of sections should be offered. If you do not want the regular school day to begin until 8:00, you would set up 7:30 to 8:00 as unavailable to the resource allocator.

A term is the shortest period of time during which a course is scheduled. Scheduling terms are independent of grading periods and are typically defined as quarters or semesters. You can define combined terms. For example, you can define semesters 1 and 2, then define a synonym term called “year” that encompasses the two semesters.

Warning

You cannot change the sequence of periods once you start the resource allocator or automatic scheduling. Add all possible periods that you want to use both now and in the future before starting the scheduling process.

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22 Understanding Scheduling Concepts Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Courses

A course is an area of study taught in your schools. You need to define your courses before you can request them or use them in scheduling. When you define your courses, you include such information as duration of the course and the number of students who can enroll in each section.

You also define some grading information, such as whether this course is graded and the credit amount to issue with grades. You also need to decide the courses that you want to link for scheduling.

Linking Courses

A course link enables you to request multiple courses using a single course request. Course links also enable you to define a predetermined scheduling pattern when scheduling two or more courses as a group.

Using the linking capability, you can perform the following tasks.

l Schedule courses with their prerequisites within the same school year, such as scheduling a student in English I during the first term and English II during the second term.

l Prevent specific courses from being scheduled during the same term.

l Schedule core courses as a group, such as a seventh grade core curriculum.

l Match courses by section during scheduling to ensure that the same teacher, term, day of the week, or room is scheduled for all linked sections.

You assign the courses to be linked to a link course. You enter the link course as the student’s course request. The student requests the link course and is scheduled into the actual courses assigned to that link.

The link does not display as a course request after the scheduler processes the requests. From that point, the actual courses being scheduled display with a link letter and number.

Resource Allocator

After you implement the SCH software, you can create a proposed master schedule that identifies for each teacher the courses and sections taught and the term each section is offered.

You can link courses when you use the automatic scheduler or process a single student’s request.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Using the Planning Worksheets 23



You then run the resource allocator to automatically perform the period assignment process. The resource allocator reduces the possibility of scheduling conflicts by assigning the most appropriate period of the day to offer each course section. The period resource allocator makes the period selection by using an internal conflict matrix.

The resource allocation process creates a proposed master schedule of classes. From this proposed master, you can create a master schedule.

Master Schedule

Once you complete the resource allocation process, you can maintain a master schedule. If you did not use resource allocation, you can design and enter your master schedule manually.

The master schedule contains the courses and sections offered at each school site. The automatic scheduler assigns students to the appropriate sections based on their course requests and the availability of sections in the master schedule.

Using the Planning WorksheetsWhen you plan and implement the SCH software, you may want to use worksheets to help you plan your scheduling process. The worksheets assist you to accumulate the information in a central location and in the correct order for data entry.

Each of the programs introduced in this chapter and Chapter 3, “Defining Courses,” has a worksheet for planning use. You can copy a blank version of the worksheets from the NCS Customer Link on the Internet. Make as many copies of these as you need.

Setting Scheduling OptionsUse SCH.101 – Scheduling Options in the SCH software to define your school’s scheduling options. In addition, you use this program to define the terms and periods you use at your school.

This program also automatically displays program GRD.101 – Grading Options. If you use the Student Grading System, you should complete your grading options so that you can define your courses using the appropriate grading information.

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24 Setting Scheduling Options Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Defining Your Options for Scheduling

Choose SCH.101 – Scheduling Options from the Scheduling Definitions menu. The system displays the following panel.

Selecting the District, School, and Yearsch101p

1. In the District and School fields, type your district and school codes.

You used the SMS software to define district codes in STU.334 – District Information and school codes in STU.320 – School Information.

2. Review the default in the Year field.

The default is the fiscal year of the assignment you selected. You can make changes to the school options only for the fiscal year for which you signed on, although you can review information for other years. If you want to make changes to a different fiscal year, you must change assignments.

3. Click Add. The system displays a Scheduling Options detail panel that enables you to select the option types to add.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Setting Scheduling Options 25



Selecting the Option Typessch10111

1. Choose the option types that you want to change.

l Scheduling

l Periods

l Terms

l Grading

2. Click OK. The system displays a Scheduling Options detail panel that enables you to select course options.

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Selecting Course Options sch10112

1. Choose the applicable options in the Options field.

Option Description

Use Automatic Resource Allocation

The automatic resource allocator assigns a period to each section defined in the proposed teacher master.

If you choose this option, the system enables you to specify the periods not available for resource allocation selection.

Allow Courses With No Credit

Choose this option if you will define courses without credit. For example, if students elected to offices in the student government meet daily in a class setting, you may define a course for scheduling purposes but not issue a grade or credit.

Use Course Fees Choose this option if you charge course fees. The system displays the Fees field when you define your courses.

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2. Choose the type of grading system that you want to use in the Transcripts Use field.

Use Graduation Requirements

Graduation requirement categories are areas of study. Credits are totaled by graduation categories to indicate the number of credits completed towards graduation in each category.

Choose this option to track students’ graduation progress. The system displays graduation category fields on the course definition panel to enable you to specify graduation categories.

Check for Valid Course Prefixes

Choose this option to ensure that all courses you define begin with a predefined prefix. You can use course prefixes to ensure a consistent course coding system. If selected, the system checks the first three characters of each course ID you define to verify that it is a valid prefix; for example, ENG for an English course.

If you choose this option, you must define all courses with a 3-character course prefix in STU.220 – Course Prefixes.

Grading System Description

Grade Points Select this option if you use alphabetic grade symbols with a grade point value of 9.999 or less; for example, if a B grade has a point value of 3.00.

Numeric Equivalent Select this option if you use numeric grade symbols.

Do not change your choice after you enter grades on your system, or you may create invalid cumulative GPA scores.

Option Description

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3. Choose how you issue course credit in the Course Credit field.

4. Click OK. The system displays a Scheduling Options detail panel that enables you to define more scheduling options.

Credit Issue Description

Not used Means that your school does not use course credit; for example, the school is a middle school.

Fixed at Means that all courses have the same credit value; for example, all courses have a credit value of .5 credit. When prompted, you must type the amount of credit given to all courses next to the Fixed at field.

Varies by Course Means that all courses do not have the same credit amount; for example, a semester course receives .5 credits, while a course that lasts a quarter of a year receives .25. The system displays fields to indicate the credit amount when you define courses.

Varies by Student Means that you want to vary credit based on individual student performance. You still identify the amount of credit for each course, but you can change the value on an individual student basis when you maintain student grades.

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Selecting More Scheduling Optionssch10113

1. Choose the Alternate Course Requests option if you can enter alternate course requests. The automatic scheduler schedules alternate course requests only if a required, counselor-assigned, or elective course cannot be scheduled.

2. Choose the Duplicate Requests for the Same Course option if you want the system to accept duplicate course requests without any restrictions. For example, you may want to be able to schedule a student for a remedial reading course with the same course code twice during the school year.

3. Choose the Students to Specify a Preferred Term option to enable a preferred scheduling term to be specified for course requests. For example, Driver’s Education is a course that may require a preferred term because a minimum driving age requirement applies, and students should be scheduled for driver education during a specific term, based on their age.

4. Choose the Students to Audit Courses, Receiving No Credit option if your school allows students to audit courses. The system displays an additional field on the course request panel to enable you to indicate when a student is auditing a course.

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5. Choose the Linking option to enable course linking.

Link courses enable you to:

l Schedule courses in selected patterns. An example is a four-course exploratory segment where students must be scheduled into all four courses during different terms, in the same period, and with the same teacher.

l Control scheduling of prerequisite courses within the same school year. An example is scheduling first semester ENG101 before second semester ENG102.

l Simplify scheduling of groups of courses when many, but not all, students are required to take several of the same courses. An example is scheduling 7th grade core courses.

6. If you elected to enable linking in the Linking field, choose a method to match group numbers in the Match Group Numbers field.

Match group numbers enable you to determine the scheduling pattern for linked courses. You can select from the following options to schedule courses linked by matched group numbers.

Option Description

Same as Section Number…

Choose this option if you want to match sections by using the course section number assigned in program SCH.320 – Master Schedule. All linked courses are scheduled with like section numbers. For example, if you link SCI402 and SCI404 and section 1 is scheduled for SCI402, section 1 also is scheduled for SCI404.

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7. Click OK. The system displays a Scheduling Options detail panel that enables you to specify maximum course size and how to handle alternate course requests.

Match by Teacher and Period…

Choose this option if you want to match sections by teacher and period. For example, if teacher Green’s third period section is scheduled for one course in the link, the system assigns teacher Green’s third period section for the other course in the link. An alternate match is used only if you specified to use alternate matching when running the automatic scheduler.

The system selects alternate matches by period only. In an alternate match, for example, the system schedules students in the same period, but not necessarily with the same teacher.

As Input on the Master Schedule

Choose this option if you want to match sections by match group numbers. The system matches sections for scheduling by using a combination of the two previous methods, or some other type of matching such as sequential periods, utilizing codes (match group numbers) that you assigned.

Option Description

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Managing Maximum Course Size and Alternate Course Requestssch10114

1. In the Allow Courses to Fill Beyond Preferred Maximum For field, choose an option.

The preferred maximum is the ideal number of students that you schedule in a course. The absolute maximum is the highest number of students who can be scheduled into a section of a course. These numbers are maintained in the master schedule. You can overfill the preferred maximum for a section to the absolute maximum based on one of three choices:

Option Description

All Courses Fill all courses to the absolute maximum and ignore the preferred maximum.

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2. In the Alternate Course Requests Apply to field, choose an option.

The system displays this field only if you chose to allow alternate course requests on the Scheduling Options detail panel. Decide if you want the system to schedule alternate course requests in place of elective courses only, all except required course requests, or any course request.

Assigned or Required Fill a section beyond the preferred maximum for counselor-assigned or required type requests only. Counselor-assigned course requests have a higher scheduling priority than electives but a lower priority than required course requests.

Required Only Fill beyond the preferred maximum only for required course requests. For example, you may have a course with a preferred maximum of 25 students per section and an absolute maximum of 35. If a new student has a required course request, that student is scheduled into the section even though the course already has 25 students enrolled. If a new student requests the course as an elective, the system will not schedule the student in that course section.

Option Description

Electives Only Means that an alternate course request can replace only an elective course request that cannot be scheduled.

All but Required Courses Means that the system schedules alternates in place of unscheduled counselor-assigned or unscheduled elective course requests. The system does not schedule alternates for required courses.

Any Course Means that an alternate course request can replace any course request that cannot be scheduled.

Option Description

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3. In the Alternates are Selected field, choose an option.

This field appears only if you chose to allow alternate course requests on the Scheduling Options detail panel.

4. Click OK. The system displays a Scheduling Options detail panel that enables you to define select various other scheduling options.

Option Description

Only from those specified…

Uses the alternates entered on the course request panel directly below the original course request. If a course request cannot be scheduled, the system only uses the alternate course request immediately following the original request. An alternate in this case can replace only one course, the course that precedes it on the course request panel.

…having the same graduation requirement

Uses alternates that fulfill the same graduation requirement. You must use graduation requirement categories if you want to use this option to select alternate course requests.

…within the same prefix Uses alternates that have the same course prefix. You must use course prefixes as part of the course ID to use this option.

From any available alternate

Selects alternates to replace any course request that cannot be scheduled.

Steps 2 and 3 work together to define how the system schedules alternate course requests.

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Choosing Other General Scheduling Optionssch10115

1. Choose the All Sections Meet Daily option if all course sections meet every school day.

Do not select this option if your course sections meet on varying days. The system displays an additional field in the master schedule panel for you to designate the days that each section meets.

2. Review the default (MTWRF) in the Valid Day Codes field. To change the default, type the day codes for this school over the existing values in the field.

You can define up to eight day codes. For example, you may elect to use A and B as day codes if your school is on a two day scheduling cycle or 123456 if you are scheduling a six day cycle.

3. Choose the Allow a Section to Meet for Multiple Periods option if the length of some of the courses in your school is more than one period. For example, auto mechanics may be a block course that lasts two periods.

4. Choose the Verify Room Numbers option if you want the system to verify the room numbers when you define sections. You define room numbers using STU.215 – Rooms.

If you do not select this option, the system allows you to enter any value as a room assignment.

You also use this option to verify the homeroom number on the registration panel in the student’s basic record.

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5. Choose the Allow Teachers to Teach More Than One Course in the Same Period option if more than one course can be taught by a teacher in the same period.

6. Choose the Use Student Availability Grids option if you want to be able to specify periods when a student is not available for scheduling.

This field enables you to indicate if a student is unavailable for course scheduling during selected periods, days of the week, and terms. If you use this option, you can select the times when a student should not be scheduled into courses: for example, a student who should not be scheduled during the last two periods of the day because he or she is on early release to go to work. This option is functional only when you use the automatic scheduler.

7. Click OK. The system displays the Scheduling Options detail panel that enables you to balance course sections.

Balancing Sections

When trying to balance sections of the same course, you can use three factors that define the balancing effort. You can balance by the number of students, gender, or ethnic balance.

Use a percentage value to select a balance factor and place emphasis on the factor. Your most important balancing consideration should receive the highest percentage. You can use any number between 0 and 100 for each of the three balancing factors; however, the total of the three factors must equal 100 percent.

sch10116

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1. Review the default in the Number of Students field.

Type the percentage of weight that you want to use to balance sections by the number of students in each section. A large number indicates that balancing by the number of students in each section is a significant factor. Remember that the total of all three balancing factors must equal 100.

2. Review the default in the Sex Balance field.

Type the percentage of weight that you want to use to balance sections by the gender of the students in each section. A smaller number indicates that a sex balance is a lesser concern but still important in the balancing process.

3. In the Ethnic Balance field, type the percentage you want to assign to this factor.

4. If applicable, in the For ethnic groups field, type the ethnic codes that you want to use in the balancing effort.

The system uses these codes to determine the ethnic groups to consider for balancing. Before you can balance by ethnic group, you must define ethnic group codes in STU.108 – Table Values for Student Attributes for student attribute 03.

5. Review the default, if any, in the Preferred Terms Will Have field.

Use this field to specify a percentage for the system to use when scheduling preferred term course requests. You do not need to type anything in this field if you previously elected not to allow students to specify a preferred term.

A value of 0 ignores the preferred term when scheduling requests, while a value of 100 means the course is not scheduled if it cannot be scheduled during the preferred term. If you use 100 percent, the request is scheduled for the specified term or not at all.

6. Click OK. The system displays a Scheduling Options panel that enables you to define terms.

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Defining Terms

A term is the shortest period of time during which a course is scheduled. Terms are independent of grading periods and are typically either a quarter or a semester. The system assigns a sequential number to each term. The first term you define is 1, the second term is 2, and so on.

sch20111

1. In the first Name field, type a term name.

The term name identifies the terms to be used in scheduling; for example, QT1 for the first quarter.

2. In the Starts and Ends fields, type the starting and ending dates for the term.

The format of the date is MMDDYY. Type the date without slashes; the system inserts the slashes.

The starting date of each term must be later than the ending date of the previous term. For example, if term 1 ends on 12/15/98, term 2 must begin 12/16/98 or later.

3. To define additional terms, repeat Steps 1 and 2.

You must define at least one term. You can define up to six terms.

You should define terms only one time and not change them later. If you need additional terms, always add them after the last defined term.

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4. To define an optional synonym for consecutive terms, type the term number in the first Beginning Term field.

The system uses synonyms to print a single name on student schedules when courses are scheduled for multiple, consecutive terms.

You can define up to three synonyms for scheduling terms. For example, if SM1 is the first semester and SM2 is the second semester, you can define a synonym called Year. Year prints on schedules when a course is scheduled beginning in semester 1 and ending in semester 2.

Term numbers are located under the Term column and represent the term name. Valid term numbers are 1-6.

5. In the Length field, type the number of terms that the synonym includes.

Count the number of terms included and type that value in this field. For example, if you want QT1 and QT2 to be represented by SM1, the entry for the synonym would be beginning in term 1 with a length of 2.

6. In the Name field, type the name of the synonym.

The name you assign in this field is the name that prints on the students’ schedule for all courses that meet for multiple terms.

7. To define additional synonyms, repeat Steps 4 through 6.

8. Click OK. The system displays a Scheduling Options panel that enables you to define periods.

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Defining Periods

A period represents a time interval in your school day. The SCH software maintains up to 15 time periods to represent one day. You assign an identifier to each period that you want to use. You need to define at least one period if you plan to record attendance.

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1. In the Period field, type the first period code.

Specify the school period codes that you want to use. For example, HR may represent home room.

2. In the N field, type N to make this period unavailable to the resource allocator.

If you do not use the resource allocator, the system does not display this field.

3. If desired, in the Begin Time field, type the period starting time. In the AM/PM field, type either AM or PM.

You do not need to include a colon in the time. For example, if Period 1 starts at 8:00, type 800.

Leave this field blank to make the period available to the resource allocator.

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4. If desired, in the End Time field, type the period ending time. In the AM/PM field, type either AM or PM.

5. If desired, type a brief comment about the period in the Comment field.

6. Repeat Steps 1 through 5 for additional periods.

7. Click OK. The system displays a Scheduling Options panel that enables you to define grading options.

Grading Options

You define grading options if you are implementing the Student Grading System. You must define grading options before you enter grading information for course definitions.

Grading options enable you to define the multiple skill levels for the courses offered at your school. You can issue different grade point values for courses based on their level. For example, on a 4.0 scale, you can assign a grade point value of 3.5 for a B in an advanced course, while giving the same grade a value of 3.0 in a general course.

The Begin Time, End Time, AM PM, and Comment fields are informational only.

You should define periods only one time and not change them later. If you need additional periods, always add them after the last defined period.

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In addition, you can deny course credit to students based on the number of times they miss a course.

grd10111

1. Review the three defaults in the Grading Levels fields. Change the defaults if necessary.

Grade levels enable you to define multiple point values for a single grade symbol. The first three levels are predefined, but you can change them to represent your grading levels. You must define at least one grading level for your school. You can define up to nine different grading levels for a school.

2. Choose the Withhold Credit for Excessive Course Absences option if you want the system to withhold credit for a course when a student has excessive absences in the course. Course absences are not associated with official attendance, which is tracked using the Student Attendance System.

If you select this option, the system enables you to withhold credit based on the student’s number of absences in the course. You must complete the Course Attendance Title, Abbreviated Title, and Number of Absences fields to use this option.

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3. In the Course Attendance Title field, change the default, if necessary. The defaults for this field are EXCUSED and UNEXCUSED.

Course Attendance Titles represent the type of absence you are tracking. Other possible types are Absent and Tardy.

If you choose to print grading absences, the system displays these titles on grade panels, report cards, and scan sheets.

Leave this field blank if you did not select the Withhold Credit for Excessive Course Absences option and proceed to Step 7.

4. In the Abbreviated Title field, change the default for the associated course attendance title, if necessary. The defaults for this field are EX and UN.

5. In the Number of Absences field, type a number. This number represents how many times a student can receive the absence type you specified in the associated Course Attendance Title field and still receive credit.

6. In the Total field, type the total number of times a student can be absent before you deny course credit.

7. Click OK. The system displays the Scheduling Options command panel.

The numbers in the Number of Absences fields are independent of each other. For example, the number of total absences is not necessarily the total of the unexcused and excused absences. You may deny course credit to a student who was absent five unexcused times or seven excused times, or a total of ten times regardless of whether the absences were excused.

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44 Defining Teachers Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Defining TeachersUse STU.240 – Teachers to establish teacher information. You use this information to set up a master schedule of courses for student scheduling and for maintaining grading and attendance records.

Defining the Teacher Code

Choose STU.240 – Teachers from the School Options menu. When the system displays the command panel, type the district, school, and teacher code.

NCS recommends that you use the first six characters of the teacher’s last name for the teacher code. The system uses the teacher code, not the teacher name, to sort system reports in teacher order. You can use numbers for the teacher code if you prefer to sort records in numeric order.

When you click Add, the system displays the following panel.

Specifying Teacher Informationstu24011

1. In the Short Name field, type a brief name for the teacher.

Type the name of the teacher as you want it to appear on student schedules, report cards, and teacher rolls.

2. If desired, in the Social Security Number field, type the teacher’s Social Security Number. Type the number without dashes; the system inserts them for you.

This field is for your reference only.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Defining Teachers 45



3. Review the default in the Teacher Number field.

The number displayed in the Teacher Number field is an internally generated CIMS number. You cannot change this number. The NCS ABACUSxp™ download program uses this number.

4. Click OK. The system displays the Teachers command panel.

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46 Defining Rooms Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Defining RoomsUse STU.215 – Rooms to define the rooms that are available for classes, how many students each room holds, and the primary use for the room.

You verify room numbers when you create the master schedule for course assignment and when you enter the student’s homeroom assignment through STU.301 – Basic Student Information on the student registration and enrollment record.

If you selected the Verify Rooms option in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options, you must define the rooms for your school. If you did not select the Verify Rooms option, you can use room numbers but the system does not edit or verify them.

Adding a Room

Choose STU.215 – Rooms from the School Options menu. When the system displays the command panel, type the district, school, and room number.


stu21511

1. In the Short Title field, type a brief name for the room.

2. In the Capacity field, type a number for the room capacity.

When the period resource allocator needs the number of seats for a section, the capacity for the room serves as the default.

3. In the Description field, type a description of the room.

Use this field to describe the physical space of the room, the primary use of the room, or any special equipment available in the room.

4. Click OK. The system displays the Rooms command panel.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Defining Course Prefixes 47



Defining Course PrefixesUse STU.220 – Course Prefixes to define the course prefixes for your schools. If you selected the Check for Valid Course Prefixes option in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options, you must define course prefixes.

A course prefix can group courses by subject matter. For example, all math courses can begin with the prefix MAT. Use course prefixes to maintain consistency and accuracy in the definition of course codes.

If you use course prefixes, each time you define a course, the system checks the course code to ensure that you defined the first three digits of the course identifier as a valid prefix.

If you also use SCH, the automatic scheduler can schedule alternates by selecting from alternate course requests with the same prefix as the requested course.

Adding a Course Prefix

Choose STU.220 – Course Prefixes from the School Options menu. When the system displays the command panel, type the district, school, and course prefix.

Consider using all three characters for your course prefixes, to make it easier to move between fields when you enter courses.


Defining Course Prefix Titlesstu22011

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48 Defining Course Prefixes Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

1. In the Short Title field, type a brief name for the course prefix.

You can use this field to briefly describe the department responsible for teaching the course.

2. In the Description field, type a description of the course prefix.

You can use this field for the full name of the department responsible for teaching the course.

3. Click OK. The system displays the Course Prefixes command panel.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Defining Graduation Requirements 49



Defining Graduation RequirementsUse STU.310 – Graduation Requirements to define graduation plans and the graduation categories with the number of credits needed to successfully complete the plan.

The use of graduation requirements is optional and works in conjunction with the Student Grading System. For example, if you are setting up the graduation plan for students graduating in 1996 and a plan for students graduating in 1997, and they must meet requirements in six areas of study, you will make 12 entries in the graduation requirements program. Each entry identifies the graduation category and number of credits required for each category within each plan.

You assign graduation categories to courses in the course definitions.

Graduation Plan Attribute

You must create an attribute in STU.107 – General Student Attributes to designate which attribute the system uses to track graduation plans. When you enter student demographic information through STU.301 – Basic Student Information, the system also displays the student attributes. You can record each student’s graduation plan in the defined attribute field.

While some schools use the Year of Graduation attribute as the graduation plan, others define their graduation plans as an independent attribute.

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50 Defining Graduation Requirements Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

The following illustration shows the interaction of graduation requirements within the student software.

sgsgrad2

Defining a Graduation Plan

Choose STU.310 – Graduation Requirements from the School Options menu. The system displays the following panel.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Defining Graduation Requirements 51



Adding Graduation Requirementsstu310p


2. In the Category field, type a category code.

The category code identifies the area of study belonging in the graduation plan. When you define your school’s courses in SCH.310 – Courses, you enter this category code to identify the course as part of this area of study. Courses that award credit but are not assigned to a category are automatically classified as “Other.”

3. In the Graduation Plan field, type a graduation plan code.

You can set up graduation plans according to year of graduation or varying curriculum programs. For example, college preparatory could be CP.

4. Click Add. The system displays the Graduation Requirements detail panel.

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52 Defining Graduation Requirements Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Specifying Detailed Graduation Requirementsstu31011

1. In the Short Title field, type a brief name for the graduation category code.

The system displays the short title when you view a student’s graduation requirement record.

2. In the Description field, type a description of the graduation category code.

3. In the Credits Required field, type the number of credits required for this graduation category and plan.

The credits required can be up to 2 digits with 3 decimal places; for example, 12.025.

4. Click OK. The system displays the Graduation Requirements command panel.

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Defining Courses

This chapter describes the steps necessary to define courses using the SCH software. You must define the courses that you will offer before you can enter student course requests or the master schedule.

Using the programs presented in this chapter, you can perform the following tasks:

l Define courses

l Copy course definitions

l Print a course curriculum and course catalog

After some introductory information about defining courses, this chapter provides step-by-step instructions on how to use the following programs:

l SCH.310 – Courses

l SCH.613 – Copy Course Definitions

l SCH.550 – Print Course Listing

l SCH.555 – Print Course Catalog

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Defining Courses


54 Defining Courses with the SCH Software Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Defining Courses with the SCH SoftwareTo start the scheduling process, you first need to define your course offerings in SCH.310 – Courses. You assign a course code to each of your courses. Depending on the options you selected in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options, you may need to match the first three characters of your course codes to a course prefix. You defined course prefixes in STU.220 – Course Prefixes.

As you work with defining courses, the SCH software also provides scheduling functions to facilitate the scheduling process:

l When you define courses, you can create course links, which enable students to make a single course request and be scheduled into multiple courses. For example, you can link a chemistry lab and chemistry lecture. The system automatically schedules a student who requests a chemistry link course into both the lab and lecture. (See Adding a Course Scheduling Link on page 72 for more information.)

l You can automatically add course requests for groups of students based on their class, gender, or tags. This function enables you to enter course requests for a group of students, in place of entering individual course requests.

Linking Courses

Consider linking courses if:

l Two or more courses must be scheduled in a particular order; for example, Government first semester must be scheduled before Economics second semester.

l Students must be scheduled with the same teacher or during the same period for two or more courses; for example, Chemistry Lab and Chemistry Lecture must be scheduled for first period with Mrs. Atkinson, but on alternating days.

l The courses should be scheduled as a block or with a team of teachers.

l Two or more courses should not be scheduled within the same term.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Defining Courses with the SCH Software 55

Defining Courses


When you link courses, you identify a link type that determines how the courses are linked. Valid link types are:

Link Type Description

Blank Students should be scheduled in the courses in the terms requested without any restrictions on how they are scheduled. Students will be scheduled into sections without regard to patterning by teacher, period, or term.

For example, for 7th or 8th grade core courses, all students of the grade level must take the core classes, but they can be scheduled in any order.

L Courses must be scheduled in the terms as specified. The courses listed as Term 1 can only be scheduled in the first term.

For example, first semester Spanish must be scheduled first semester, and second semester Spanish the second semester only.

C Courses must be scheduled during the term specified, but if this is not possible, schedule the courses in opposite terms. This link is used only when two or more courses must be scheduled in different terms. Courses linked in this way are called couplets.

For example, Economics and Government are scheduled in the same school year but cannot be taken the same semester.

M Courses are linked by a match type. A match is a method of grouping courses that belong together, based on information contained in the master schedule. The system can schedule courses together by matching sections, matching the teacher, matching the same teacher and period, or by a match group number that you identify when you create the master schedule. By utilizing match group numbers, you determine the link pattern.

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Defining Courses



The following examples show how to link courses and identify link types.

Example 1: Blank Link Type

Students must take PED100 (Physical Education) and PED101 (Health). You prefer that students be scheduled in PED100 during Term 1 and PED101 during Term 3, but it is acceptable if the scheduling process produces a different result. Link your courses as follows:

Leave the Type of Link field blank to indicate that the scheduler should try to schedule the student in PED100 during Term 1 and in PED101 during Term 3. If this arrangement is not possible, the student could be enrolled in PED100 and PED101 during the same term, PED100 before PED101, or PED100 after PED101. Students are enrolled in courses during any term when courses are available. If both courses cannot be scheduled, the system schedules whichever course it can and does not require both to be scheduled.

Example 2: Link Type L

Students can request ART100 (Art I) and ART200 (Art II), but must enroll in ART100 before ART200. Link the courses as follows:

Type L in the Type of Link field to indicate the scheduler must schedule the student in these courses only as the link specifies. In this example, the student is enrolled in ART100 during Term 1 and ART200 during Term 3. If either course is not available, the system will not schedule either course.

Term1 Term 3

PED100 PED101

Term1 Term 3

ART100 ART200

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Defining Courses


Example 3: Couplet Link Type

Students must take HIS200 (American History) and HIS210 (American Government) during the same year. They should not take both classes during the same term. Link your courses as follows:

Type C in the Type of Link field to indicate a couplet. The courses can be scheduled during either Term 1 or Term 3, but not during the same term. Do not enter the two courses more than once. If one course is unavailable, the system will not schedule either course.

Example 4: Matched Link Type

Students need to take CHM200 (Chemistry Lecture) and CHM201 (Chemistry Lab) during the same term and period, or with the same teacher. Link your courses as follows:

Type M in the Type of Link field to indicate that the courses should be matched. You defined the matching method in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options, and you will assign the match codes when you define the master schedule.

Creating Automatic Course Requests

As you create courses, you can assign course requests for students. You can define automatic course requests for groups of students based on their class, gender, or tags. An automatic request can be counselor-assigned or required.

Several examples follow that can help you become familiar with automatic course requests.

Term1 Term 3

HIS200 HIS210

Term1 Term 3

CHM200

CHM201

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Example 1: Required Request for a Class

All tenth grade students should receive a required request for course SCI304.

Course SCI304 Biology

Example 2: Counselor-assigned by Class and Gender

All female tenth and eleventh grade students should receive a counselor-assigned request for course PEH231.

Course PEH231 Physical Education

Example 3: Required by Class and Tag

All twelfth grade National Honor Society (tag NHS) students should receive a required request for course MTH501.

Course MTH501 Adv Trigonometry

Type Cls Sex Not Tag Or Not Tag Or Not Tag Or Not Tag

R 10


C 10 F

C 11 F


R 12 NHS

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Example 4: Required Requests by Class, Tag, and Not Tag

All Special Education students (tag SPE), who are not assigned the Remedial Reading (RRD) tag, should receive a required request for course RDG101. This example would be repeated for each appropriate class.

Course RDG101 Basic Reading

Example 5: Required Request by Class and Or Tag

All students with either the Cheerleader (CHR) or Band (BND) tag should receive course ASA200 as a required request. This example would be repeated for each appropriate class.

Course ASA200 After Sch Act

Before You Begin

Be sure you do the following:

l Review the scheduling and grading options you defined in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options.

l Be certain of the fiscal year you are using. Sign on to the correct fiscal year of the SCH software to ensure that you create course definitions for the correct year. If you are adding schedules for next year, you should choose the assignment for next year. If you are adding the course definitions at the beginning of the school year, you should choose the assignment for the current fiscal year.

l Become familiar with the following codes:

l Course prefixes defined in STU.220 – Course Prefixes

l Teacher codes defined in STU.240 – Teachers

l Classrooms defined in STU.215 – Rooms


R 09 SPE N RRD


R 10 CHR O BND

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60 Defining Courses Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

l Graduation requirements defined in STU.310 – Graduation Requirements

Defining CoursesUse SCH.310 – Courses to define the courses offered at your school. You must define courses before you can enter student course requests, define a master schedule, or run the automatic scheduler.

Before you set up your courses, consider these issues:

l Decide if you are going to link courses, and if so, how you want to link them.

l Decide whether you will use the automatic course requests function.

l Evaluate your grading requirements. If you have not installed the Student Grading System, but plan to install it at a later time, you should complete the grading portion of course definitions to prevent updating the defined courses at a later time.

The selections you make on the first course definition detail panel determine whether the system displays additional panels. For example, if you do not choose to enter course catalog descriptions, the system does not display the course catalog description panel.

Adding a Course

Choose SCH.310 – Courses from the Student Registration menu. When the system displays the command panel, type the district, school, and course code.

If you chose to verify valid course prefixes in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options, the first three characters of the course identifier must match the course prefixes that you defined in STU.220 – Course Prefixes.


If you plan to use course attendance and want to keep track of absence information in study halls, you must define each study hall as a course. If you do not set up study halls as courses, the system does not track course information for them.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Defining Courses 61

Defining Courses


Defining Course Informationsch31011

1. In the Title field, type the course name.

The course title is a name that describes the course; for example, English I, Business, Math, or Welding.

2. Review the default (5) in the Minimum Students Required to Offer this Course field. Change the default if necessary.

If you require a minimum number of students before you offer a course, type the number in this field. The system uses this number when you print the course tally report during the scheduling process. You can use this information to determine whether or not a new section is needed, based on the number of requests for the course.

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Defining Courses



3. Review the default (25) in the Usual Number of Students Per Section field. Change the default if necessary.

This number is the preferred maximum number of students that you want to schedule in each section of a course. The system sets a default of 25 students. The system uses this number when you print the course tally report during the scheduling process to determine the number of sections needed for the course.

This number (or the room capacity defined in STU.215 – Rooms) becomes the default for the Seats field in SCH.330 – Proposed Teacher Master. The system uses the Seats field to determine how many students to enroll in each section.

4. Review the default (1) in the Length of Course is __ Terms field. Change the default if necessary.

If this course is normally scheduled for longer than one term, type the number of terms necessary for the course. You defined scheduling terms in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options.

5. Review the default (1) in the Beginning in Terms field. Change the default if necessary.

This field may look different on your panel. The system may display up to six fields, depending on the number of terms that you defined in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options.

Specify the terms in which this course begins. For example, if your school has four terms in a school year, and this course is offered only in term 1 and term 3, type 1 in the first space and 3 in the third space.

6. If applicable, type a fee amount in the Fees field.

If you did not choose to use course fees in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options, the Fees field does not display when you enter course information.

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7. Choose the applicable options in the Options field:

Option Description

Scheduling Link Only? Select this option if the course is a scheduling link for other courses.

Note: The system displays this field only if you selected course linking in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options.

A scheduling link cannot be a graded course, but the courses defined by the link can be graded. A link course appears as a temporary course request and is used only when you use automatic scheduling. Links are not actual courses.

You can define scheduling links to tie two or more courses together during the scheduling process. For example, a course called CHEMLK can be a scheduling link for CHM101 and CHM102, which are lecture and lab courses that students must take together. A student requesting CHEMLK is scheduled for both courses in the same term, or with the same teacher, or during alternating days of the week, or any combination of the three.

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Defining Courses



Another example is a course that is continued second semester from first semester, such as a year-long history course defined as HIS201 and HIS202. You can define a link course of HIS200 that links HIS201 the first term and HIS202 the second term. Students only have to request course HIS200 to be scheduled correctly into HIS201 and HIS202.

Note: You must define the courses to be linked before you define the course link code.

Selecting this option causes the system to display the Course Scheduling Link panel at the end of the course definition. The system will not display the Courses detail panel that pertains to grading information, because a link is a non-graded course.

Automatically Generate Requests…?

Select this option to enable the system to generate automatic course requests for specific classes of students or students with specific tags.

For example, if a course is required for all freshmen students, you can use the automatic request definition program to define this requirement. The freshmen students automatically receive a request for the course when you execute program SCH.606 – Automatically Generate Course Requests.

If you select the option, the system displays the Automatic Request Definition panel when you click OK.

Option Description

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Defining Courses


8. Click OK. The system displays the Courses detail panel that pertains to grading information, if this course is graded. Otherwise, the system displays each detail panel that pertains to your selected options.

Defining Grading Information for the Course

This panel contains fields that are operational only if you implemented the Student Grading System. If you plan to implement the SGS software later, you should complete the panel for each course as if you already installed the SGS software.

Include in Conflict Matrix? Select the Include in Conflict Matrix? option to enable the system to print the course on the conflict matrix report.

The conflict matrix identifies the courses that have potential scheduling conflicts. Most schools select this option for singleton and doubleton courses. By generating a list of potential scheduling conflicts for these courses, you can plan to assign them to different times to reduce scheduling conflicts.

If you do not select this option, this course is not included automatically in the conflict matrix. However, you can choose to include it at the time you print a conflict matrix using the selection options in SCH.515 – Print Potential Conflict Matrix.

Include in Catalog? Choose the Include in Catalog? option if you want to include this course in a course catalog. If you choose this option, the system displays a panel for you to add a course description for the course.

Option Description

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If you are not implementing the SGS software, leave the defaults as they appear in the fields on this panel.

sch31012

1. Review the default (.500) in the Transcript Credit on Completion field. Change the default if necessary.

This field is optional unless you chose to use course credits in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options and you are implementing the Student Grading System.

Transcript credit is the actual credit value that the system posts for each final grade in the course. You identify final grade titles in GRD.201 – Grade Titles. This credit amount can be posted to student transcripts. For example, if a full year course is worth 1 credit and you transcript twice a year, use .5 in this field.

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Defining Courses


2. In the Credit for Current Period GPA field, type the credit value for the individual grade title.

If you use this field, its value should be a portion of the transcript credit value. Credit for Current Period GPA is the amount of credit that the system uses to calculate grade point average (GPA) for an individual grade title.

For example, if your school has four quarters, and a full year course is worth one credit, you would type .25 in this field.

If a grade title is marked as final in GRD.201 – Grade Titles, the system uses the credit value from the Transcript Credit on Completion field to calculate the cumulative GPA.

3. In the Weighting Factor (Reports Only) field, type a numerical weighting factor.

Use this field only if you do not use the Credit for Current Period GPA field and you want the system to calculate a GPA for a grading period. You typically do not use this field if you use course credits.

The weighting factor enables you to calculate GPA without defining course credit. You may want to use this option in junior high schools and middle schools when you need GPAs but not course credit.

The value in this field is usually equivalent to course credit. If you choose to use this field, type the weighting factor that you want to use in place of credit.

4. Select an option in the Grades are field to specify whether you want to use grades for this course.

Choose Symbol if you give grades for this course. Symbols can be either alphabetic (A, B) or numeric (98, 73).

Choose Not Used if this course is not graded.

If you indicated that all your courses have the same course credit value in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options, or if you do not plan to use the Student Grading System, skip this field.

If you leave this field blank, the system uses the credit value from the Transcript Credit on Completion field to calculate the current period GPA.

You must implement the Student Grading System if you want to use the weighting factor.

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5. Select the appropriate options in the Include in field.

6. Review the default in the Level field. If necessary, choose a different level to identify the grading level for this course.

This field may look different on your panel. The system can display up to nine grading levels on your panel, depending on the grade levels defined in GRD.101 – Grading Options.

7. In the Satisfies Graduation Requirement in field, type valid category codes if you chose to use graduation requirement categories in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options and you use the Student Grading System.

You must define the graduation requirement categories using program STU.310 – Graduation Requirements. Type the graduation requirement category codes that apply to the credit issued.

As a student completes courses, the SGS software updates the graduation requirements record with the amount of credit received in each category. The credits are totaled by graduation category, or area of study.

When you enter student course requests, the system defaults to the first category that you type in this field for the graduation requirement that the course request satisfies. You may change this category on the student course request by choosing from one of the seven other categories listed in this field.

The remaining seven fields are for other valid graduation requirement categories that this course can satisfy. You will use the additional categories only when you update a course request.

Option Description

Honor Roll Choose this option if you want to include this course in honor roll calculations and reports generated by the Student Grading System.

GPA Choose this option if you want to include the grades you assigned to this course in GPA calculations computed by the Student Grading System.

The first category is the default, and the other categories are possible categories that could apply for the course.

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Defining Courses


8. Click OK.

If you selected the Include in Catalog? option on the first Courses panel, the system displays the Course Catalog Description panel. See Adding a Course Catalog Description on page 69.

If you selected the Automatically Generate Requests for Selected Students? option on the first Courses panel, the system displays the Automatic Request Definition panel. See Adding an Automatic Request Definition on page 70.

If you selected the Scheduling Link Only? option on the first Courses panel, the system displays the Course Scheduling Link panel. See Adding a Course Scheduling Link on page 72.

The system displays each panel you selected; otherwise, the system displays the Courses command panel.

Adding a Course Catalog Description

If you chose to add this course to your course catalog, the system displays the following panel where you can type the course description.

sch31111

1. In the text box, type a description of the course.

You can use up to 9 lines of 40 characters each for the description. You can print course catalog descriptions using SCH.555 – Print Course Catalog.

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Defining Courses



2. Click OK. The system displays the next panel you selected; otherwise, the system displays the Courses command panel.

Adding an Automatic Request Definition

If you are making automatic course requests for next year, be sure you run SCH.608 – Set Next Year Information to update the student’s Next Year class fields in STU.301 – Basic Student Information. The system uses the Next Year fields when it generates automatic course requests using SCH.606 – Automatically Generate Course Requests.

sch31311

1. In the Type field, type R (for required) or C (for counselor-assigned).

An automatic request can be counselor-assigned or required. If a teacher or counselor wants a student scheduled in the course, the system considers it a counselor-assigned course request. If all students are required to take the course, it is a required course request.

2. In the Class field, type a class code.

Use this field to specify the class level of the students receiving the automatic course request. For example, you could add a request for English 9 for all ninth grade students.

Required course requests have a higher priority in the scheduling process than counselor-assigned requests. Electives have the lowest priority.

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Defining Courses


3. In the Gender field, type F (for female) or M (for male).

Complete this field if you are adding automatic requests based on the gender of the students. For example, you could add a request for a physical education class for all female tenth graders.

4. If applicable, identify any restrictions that apply to this course in the Conditional Restrictions fields. Use these fields to include or exclude students based on their student tags. You select from the tags that you established in the SMS software. See the examples beginning with Example 1: Required Request for a Class on page 58 for more information.

Type a valid tag in the first Tag field.

You can type O in the Or field, or leave it blank. O means that the automatic request includes students with the preceding or following tag, but not with both tags. Leaving the Or field blank means that the automatic request includes students with both the preceding and following tag.

You can type N in the Not field, or leave it blank. N means that requests are automatically generated for all students except those who have the specified tag. Leaving the Not field blank means that you want to include students with the specified tag in the automatic requests.

For example, you might want to request a course for students who have the Special Education tag (SPE) but not the Remedial Reading (RRD) tag. Type SPE in the first Tag field and leave the Or field blank. Then, type N in the Not field before the second tag and type RRD in the Tag field.

5. If applicable, add up to five more restrictions for automatic course requests for this course.

6. Click OK. The system displays the next panel you selected; otherwise, the system displays the Courses command panel.

Use the Or and Not fields before each tag that you type to restrict automatic course requests.

You can use either Or or Not for each tag. You cannot type both O and N for an individual tag.

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Defining Courses



Adding a Course Scheduling Link

If you defined this course as a link code and not an actual course, the system displays the following panel. See the examples beginning with Example 1: Blank Link Type on page 56 for additional information.

sch31211

1. In the Term fields, type valid course codes.

The information in these fields represents the courses that make up the scheduling link. Type the course code in the Term field that represents the term in which the course begins. You must type at least one course in a Term field for a link to be created.

Your panel may look different. The system displays only the terms defined in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options. The number of terms you defined determines the number of columns displayed on this panel.

If you type a course that is already defined as a link, the system displays an error message when you click OK. If you click Cancel on this panel without adding courses, the system cancels the link.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Copying Course Definitions 73

Defining Courses


2. In the Type of Link field, select a link type:

3. Click OK. The system displays the Courses command panel.

Copying Course DefinitionsUse SCH.613 – Copy Course Definitions to copy course definitions from one school within a district to other schools in the same district. You can copy the course definitions to ten schools at one time. You can copy to more than ten different schools by submitting this program several times.

Choose SCH.613 – Copy Course Definitions from the Student Registration menu. The system displays the following panel.

Selecting the Schoolssch61311

Link Type Description

None No link (Preferred term only)

Linked to Specified Term Linked only to the specified term

Couplet Linked to Any Available Term

Linked couplet in any term that is available

Matched Group Link Linked to the specified term in matched sections

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74 Printing a Course Listing Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.


The school code represents the school from which the system will copy the course definition.

2. In the Copy to the Following Schools field, type up to ten school codes.

The codes in these fields represent the schools to which the system will copy the course codes. You can run this program as many times as necessary to copy the information to other schools.

3. Click OK. The system displays a submittal prompt.

Printing a Course ListingUse SCH.550 – Print Course Listing to print a listing of your defined courses by district and school. See the Student Applications Sample Reports guide for a sample of this report.

Choose SCH.550 – Print Course Listing from the Registration Reports menu. The system displays a report prompt panel.

Selecting the School



Printing a Course CatalogUse SCH.555 – Print Course Catalog to print a course catalog for the district and school you specify. See the Student Applications Sample Reports guide for an example of this report.

Choose SCH.555 – Print Course Catalog from the Registration Reports menu. The system displays a report prompt panel.




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Entering Course Requests

This chapter provides information about how to gather and enter your students’ course requests. Using the programs introduced in this chapter, you can perform the following tasks:

l Print a course request worksheet to gather course request information

l Add or change students’ course requests

l Maintain class rosters

l Print a course request tally report to identify the number of sections needed for your courses

l Print potential conflict matrix reports to identify possible scheduling conflicts

l Generate course requests automatically for those courses defined as automatic requests

l Print a report of students who added and dropped courses

l Change course requests for a specified group of students

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76 Working with Course Requests Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

After introducing some of the concepts involved in gathering and generating student course requests, this chapter provides step-by-step information about the following programs:

l SCH.590 – Print Course Request Worksheet

l SCH.410 – Course Requests

l SCH.415 – Class List Maintenance

l SCH.510 – Print Course Requests Tally

l SCH.515 – Print Potential Conflict Matrix

l SCH.606 – Automatically Generate Course Requests

l SCH.593 – Add/Drop Course Report

l SCH.650 – Mass Change Course Requests

Working with Course RequestsThis section introduces the concepts you need to understand as you begin working with course requests.

l Course request types

l Scanning course requests

l Gathering course requests

l Editing course requests

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Course Request Types

Use this table to review the types of course requests that you can make. The system determines the scheduling priority for each course request first by the number of sections each course has available, then by the type of course request you are making. The course request types are listed in order of priority for assignment.

Scanning Course Requests

To expedite the process of entering course requests, you can scan and then upload course requests to the student’s file. If you choose to use the CIMS Scanning Operations software to accomplish this task, you must ensure that you have completed the scanning and posting process before

Course Request Type Description

Prescheduled A course request is considered pre-scheduled whenever a student is preassigned to a course and section. In this instance, the scheduler assigns this student to the course and section you request. You may prefer to use this type of request when you enter course requests for a pre-established schedule.

Required A course request is considered required if the student must enroll in this course.

Counselor-assigned

A course request is considered counselor-assigned if a counselor or teacher recommends that the student enroll in this course.

Elective A course request is considered elective if it is neither counselor-assigned nor required.

Alternate A course request is considered an alternate if you want the scheduler to enroll a student in this course only if it cannot schedule the student in another course. Review scheduling options in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options to determine if your school allows for alternate course requests and to which course request types they apply.

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78 Working with Course Requests Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

you begin to manipulate the course request file. The upload procedure writes over any existing course requests in the file. For information on operating scanning software, see the CIMS Scanning Operations User’s Guide.

Gathering Course Requests

The system provides a form that you can use to gather course requests from your students. You can use SCH.590 – Print Course Request Worksheet to collect course requests for the upcoming school year. With this program you can print a blank form for students to use to write the course codes of the courses they are requesting. The report will print as many lines as you select and will also print any course requests on file for the current or upcoming year. When using this program, be sure you are signed on to the system using the correct fiscal year for the course requests you want to enter.

Editing Course Requests

Once you have entered your course requests (either manually or by scanning), the system provides two reports designed to help you check the course requests you have entered.

l SCH.588 – Print Student Request Verification

l SCH.521 – Print Course Request by Course Listing

A counselor can use the Student Request Verification, for example, to verify course requests along with total credits the student is attempting, level of courses requested, room numbers, and fees.

The Course Request by Course Listing prints a list of students who have requested a specified course.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Working with Course Requests 79



This figure illustrates the process you use to develop student schedules using the SCH software. The dotted lines represent the flow if you were using the SMS software for scheduling. The solid lines represent the flow as described in this guide for the SCH software.

creq-sch

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80 Printing Course Request Worksheets Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Before You Begin

Before working with course requests, make sure you do the following:

l Be sure to sign on to the system using the correct fiscal year. The fiscal year determines whether you are working with current year or next year course requests.

l Be familiar with scheduling options which are defined in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options. (See Chapter 2, “Implementing Scheduling Options.”)

l Become familiar with the courses offered at your school. Courses are defined in SCH.310 – Courses. (See Chapter 3, “Defining Courses.”)

Printing Course Request WorksheetsUse SCH.590 – Print Course Request Worksheet to print a course request worksheet for the current or upcoming year. You can print a blank course request worksheet to gather course request information from students. You also can use this program to print course requests that one or more students have on file.

You can limit the printing to a district, school, class, or student. The report will only print at 7.5 x 3.5 inches. You cannot change the size of the report using printer overrides.

Choose SCH.590 – Print Course Request Worksheet from the Registration Reports menu. The system displays the following panel.

When using this program, make sure you are signed on to the system using the fiscal year for the course requests you want to print.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Printing Course Request Worksheets 81



Selecting the Worksheets to Printsch590

1. Review the default year (This Year).

If you did not sign on to the correct year, click Cancel to end the program and sign on to the correct fiscal year.


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82 Printing Course Request Worksheets Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

3. Review the print options in the Print field. Change the defaults if necessary.

4. Select either the Class or Student Number sort option in the Sort field.

5. To limit the report to a specific class, type a class code in the Class field. If you leave this field blank, the system prints course request worksheets for all classes.

If you type a class in this field, leave the Student Number and Multiple Students fields blank.

Print Option Description

Request lines This field specifies the number of course request lines that you want the system to print on the worksheet. If the report includes more course requests than the number of lines you specify, the system prints all the requests, regardless of the number of lines you specify here. If the report includes fewer course requests than the number of lines you specify, the system prints the course requests on file and includes blank lines to total the number of lines you specify here.

Requests on File This field specifies whether you want to include all of the course requests that the student currently has on file.

Print Blank Forms This field specifies whether you want the system to print a blank form that you can use to gather course requests from students. If you select this option, the system prints a worksheet that contains the student’s name, address, class, ID number, current district and school, along with the number of blank lines you specified in the Request lines field.

Print Unlisted Phone Number

This field specifies whether you want the system to print telephone numbers, including those students with the unlisted phone number flag set to Yes in STU.301 – Basic Student Information.

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6. To limit the report to an individual student, type the student number in the Student Number field.

To limit the report to specified students, select the Multiple Students option. If you select this option, the system displays additional panels for you to select the students.

If you leave both fields blank, the system prints course request worksheets for all students.

If you use the Student Number or Multiple Students fields, leave the Class field blank in Step 5.


Adding Course RequestsUse SCH.410 – Course Requests to add, update, or process an individual student’s course requests. This section provides instructions for adding a student’s course requests.

You can access this program using one of the following:

l Student Registration menu

l STU.301 – Basic Student Information

l STU.301E – Access to All Student Records

l STU.301M – Access to Multiple Student Records

Using the Process Command

This program provides a special Process command that you can use to process an individual student’s course requests and enroll the student into course sections. You also can use the Process command to generate a printout of the student’s schedule.

Adding Group Course Requests

If you are adding requests for a specific group of students, you may want to use SCH.606 – Automatically Generate Course Requests. See Automatically Generating Course Requests on page 97 for more information on this program.

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84 Adding Course Requests Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Adding an Individual Course Request

Choose SCH.410 – Course Requests from the Student Registration menu. The system displays the following panel.

Selecting the Studentsch410p

1. In the Requests for Courses at District and School fields, type the district and school codes.

These codes represent the district and school where the student is making course requests. If you can make entries for only one school, the system displays that school code in this field.

For example, you can add a course request for a student who attends school 100 this year but will attend school 200 next year. If you were going to add course requests for this year, you would type 100 in the School field.

If you are adding course requests for next year, sign on to the system using the next fiscal year and type 200 in the School field.

2. In the File ID field, type a valid student file ID.

The system assigns student file IDs when you add the student record using STU.301 – Basic Student Information.

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3. If applicable, select the Include Dropped Courses option if you want the system to display all courses, including those with a status code of D (dropped).

4. Select the Maintain Add/Drop Dates option if you want to include the dates that the student added and dropped the course. If you select this option, the system displays an additional panel where you can maintain these dates.

5. Click Add. The system displays the Course Requests detail panel.

Entering the Course Requestssch41011

You do not need to complete this step if you are entering requests for a new year.

The system defaults to the current date in the Default Add and *DROP fields at the top of this panel. You can change these dates if necessary.

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1. In the first Course field, type the code for the first course the student is requesting.

Because you are using the Add command, the system displays any course request defined as automatically assigned, based on your course definitions.

See Automatically Generating Course Requests on page 97 for additional information on SCH.606 – Automatically Generate Course Requests.

2. In the Sec field, type a section number.

If you type a section number, you do not have to type P in the Type field.

If you are using a course request type of R, C, E, or A, leave this field blank. The scheduler assigns the section number after the requests are scheduled.

3. In the Type field, type a course request type. If pre-assigned course requests exist, review the course request types.

The following are valid course request types:

If you leave this field blank, the system assumes a course type E when you click OK.

Request Type Description

R Required

C Counselor Assigned

E Elective

A Alternate Choice

P Pre-Scheduled

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4. In the Grad Req field, type a category code for graduation requirements.

The system displays this field only if you specified that you are using graduation requirements in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options.

You defined graduation requirement categories in STU.310 – Graduation Requirements and assigned them to courses in SCH.310 – Courses.

If you leave this field blank, the system defaults to the first graduation category you entered in SCH.310 – Courses. If the student has satisfied the graduation requirement in that category, you can change the category to another one assigned to this course.

5. Leave the Link field blank.

When the system processes a student’s course requests, it automatically fills the link fields for linked courses, then replaces the course link code with actual course codes.

For the scheduler to identify which courses to link, it identifies them by the link type and a sequential number. For example, you may type CHEMLK as one of your course requests. CHEMLK is a link course defined to schedule CHMLEC and CHMLAB as a group. When the system processes this request, it creates course requests for CHMLAB and CHMLEC. If the link type for CHEMLK is L, the scheduler fills the Link fields for both CHMLAB and CHMLEC with L 1. If it encounters a second type L course link for this student, the scheduler identifies the courses as L 2.

6. In the Prf field, type a preferred term number.

Use this field only if you are entering a preferred term for this course request. If your school does not use preferred terms, the system does not display this field.

If you are entering a preferred term course request, type the beginning term you want the system to schedule for the student. A preferred term is the term you choose to enroll the student in a course. For example, if you enroll a student in Driver’s Education, you want to ensure that the student enrolls in the course during a term that is scheduled after the student reaches legal driving age.

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7. In the Aud field, type Y or N.

The system displays this field only if you specified, in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options, that you are using the audit feature.

If you choose Y, the student will be auditing this course. The student can earn a grade but credits attempted and credits earned for this course will be zero.

If you choose N, the student can receive credit for this course if a passing grade is achieved. If you leave this field blank, the system defaults to N.

8. To maintain add and drop dates, click Add/Drop Dates. The system toggles between period information and add and drop dates.

9. To add more course requests, repeat Steps 1 through 8.

You can enter up to 15 course requests on this panel. If you need additional lines, click OK after you complete the last line. The system displays a blank Course Requests panel. Continue this procedure for as many course requests as necessary.

10. Click OK.

If you indicated that you want to include add and drop dates, the system displays the Course Requests detail panel.

If the system detects possible period conflicts, it displays a Period Conflict Warning panel. Click Yes or No to tell the system if the conflict is acceptable.

Otherwise, the system displays the Course Requests command panel.

When you add course requests, the system date is used for the default add date. If you are adding course requests on a day that is not an official attendance date, you should change the add date to an official attendance date.

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Specifying Dates

The system displays this panel if you selected the Maintain Add/Drop Dates option on the Course Requests command panel. If the student previously added and dropped one or more of the requested courses, use this panel to maintain the dates he or she added and dropped the courses.

sch41012

1. In the Add Date and Drop Date fields, type valid dates.

These fields represent the dates the student previously added and dropped the course. The system defaults these dates from the Course Requests command panel.

You can maintain add and drop dates for as many courses as you want in the spaces provided.

2. To maintain period information, click Periods.

The system toggles between period information and add and drop dates.

3. Click OK. The system displays the Course Requests command panel.

When you add course requests, the system date is used for the default add date. If you are adding course requests on a day that is not an official attendance date, you should change the add date to an official attendance date.

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90 Maintaining Class Lists Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Maintaining Class ListsUse SCH.415 – Class List Maintenance to maintain a class roster. You can review the file ID number and name of all students enrolled in a course. You also can add or move a student into an existing course, or delete a student from a course.

When you use this program to delete or move students from a course, the students may not appear on system drop reports, such as SCH.593 – Add/Drop Course Report. For example, if you delete or move a student who has no grades recorded for the existing course, the system does not create a drop record. If the deleted or moved student has a grade for the course, the system creates a drop record and stores it in file PSCH410.

Before You Begin

This program processes your commands at once, without verifying potential conflicts. When you use this program to add or move students, be sure that they are available for the specified course. You may want to check their schedules using SCH.410 – Course Requests before you begin.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Maintaining Class Lists 91



Changing a Class List

Choose SCH.415 – Class List Maintenance from the Student Registration menu. The system displays the following panel.

sch41501

1. In the District and School fields, type the district and school codes.

2. In the Course field, type the course code for the course to which you are adding a new student.

You defined course codes in SCH.310 – Courses.

3. In the Section field, type the section number.

You defined sections for your courses in SCH.320 – Master Schedule.

4. In the Term field, type the term number.

You defined terms in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options.

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92 Maintaining Class Lists Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

5. Click Change. The Change command enables you to add a new student to an existing course. The system displays the following panel, which enables you to choose the command to use with the selected course’s information.

Changing the Course Informationsch41511

To review the name and file ID number of students already enrolled in the course, use the Lookup command in this program.

To delete students from the course or move students to a different course, use the Change command. When you delete or move students using this program, the system does not create an audit trail. If your school demands an audit trail for class maintenance, do not use this program to delete or move students from classes; instead, use SCH.410 – Course Requests.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Printing a Course Request Tally Report 93



1. In the CMD field, type A on a blank line. The Add command enables you to add a new student to this course.

2. In the File ID field, type the file ID number of the student to add. The system automatically displays the student’s name.

3. To add more students to this course, repeat steps 1 and 2. When you finish adding students, click OK. The system displays the command panel.

Printing a Course Request Tally ReportUse SCH.510 – Print Course Requests Tally to give you a list of all the courses and the total number of course requests for that course. After you enter course requests, the next step in the scheduling process is to build a teacher master schedule.

You can use this report to determine the number of sections you need to define for each course in the master schedule in order to accommodate all of the students’ course requests.

Switch Setting

This program has the following switch setting. See Appendix C, “Switch Settings,” for information on switch settings.

l Eliminate Separate Count of Alternate Requests on Tally?

If you enable this switch setting, the tally prints the total number of regular requests for a course. Alternates are not included.

If you do not select this switch, the tally prints the number of alternate requests for a course separately from the number of regular requests for the course.

To delete a student from the course, type D on the line that contains the student file ID and name. To switch a student to a different course, type M on the line that contains the student file ID and name, then type over the course and section number with the new course information.

If you use the Delete or Move command in this field, note that the system writes over the existing record at once and does not create a drop record for students who have no grades.

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94 Printing a Course Request Tally Report Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Printing the Course Tally Report

Choose SCH.510 – Print Course Requests Tally from the Registration Reports menu. The system displays the following panel.

sch51011


2. Select the Explode Link Definitions field if you want the system to explode the link and report the number of students who requested the courses within the link. The system actually explodes the link in the course request, not just for printing purposes. When you look at the link in SCH.410 – Course Requests, the information reflects an exploded link.

If you do not select this option, the system does not explode the link and will not report the number of students who requested courses within the link.


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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Printing the Potential Conflict Matrix Reports 95



Printing the Potential Conflict Matrix ReportsUse SCH.515 – Print Potential Conflict Matrix to produce three different reports you can use to help you manually create a master schedule. The system prints:

l SCH.515 – Potential Conflict Matrix

l SCH.510 – Course Request Tally

l SCH.616 – Critical Conflicts

These reports provide information about which courses will have scheduling conflicts if they are offered at the same time.

If you choose to use the Period Resource Allocator to help build your master schedule, you only need to use SCH.510 – Course Request Tally report. The Period Resource Allocator builds its own conflict matrix internally.

Printing the Conflict Matrix Reports

Choose SCH.515 – Print Potential Conflict Matrix from the Registration Reports menu. The system displays the following panel.

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96 Printing the Potential Conflict Matrix Reports Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.


2. Select an option in the Conflict Matrix Selection field.

3. If desired, type the number of potential sections you want considered for the report in the Consider Only Courses with Less than __ Potential Sections field.

4. In the Consider Only Courses Taught During Term field, type a term number if you want the report to include only the courses taught during a specific term.

5. In the Consider Only Courses Requested by Class field, type a class code if you wanthe report to include only the courses that pertain to a certain class.

6. In the Consider Only Courses Requested as Type field, type a course request type to limit the report to a specific course request type. Valid course request types are:

Option Description

As Manually Input The matrix includes only those courses marked with the Include in Conflict Matrix option in SCH.310 – Courses.

Auto Select Only The matrix ignores SCH.310 – Courses, and includes courses that meet the criteria in the Auto Selection section.

Auto Select and Reset Manual

The matrix includes courses that meet the criteria in the Auto Selection section. The system also marks these same courses in the Include in Conflict Matrix option in SCH.310 – Courses. All others are not reset as marked.

Request Type Description

R Required

C Counselor-Assigned

B Both Required and Assigned

E Elective

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Automatically Generating Course Requests 97



7. Type a number in the Eliminate All Courses with Less than __ Conflicts field if you want to limit the report to those courses with more conflicts than the number you specify.


Automatically Generating Course RequestsUse SCH.606 – Automatically Generate Course Requests to automatically assign course requests to groups of students.

When you defined your courses, you may have filled out the automatic request definition panel for some courses. The system gives you the option of establishing parameters for the system to automatically assign course requests to a group of students. The SCH.606 – Automatically Generate Course Requests processing program carries out the instructions you typed in the course definition.

Choose SCH.606 – Automatically Generate Course Requests from the Student Registration menu.

Selecting the Report Content


The school code represents the school for which you want to generate automatic course requests. You must have defined the course request instructions in the course definition.


To verify the success of the program, click Index to view course requests by course on the SCH.410 – Course Requests command panel.

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98 Reporting Adds and Drops Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Reporting Adds and DropsUse SCH.593 – Add/Drop Course Report to produce a report of students who added or dropped courses during a specified range of dates.

You can limit the report to a specific teacher, term, course, or section, or a combination of these items.

You can include in the report all adds and drops, only new adds and drops in a specified date range, only adds, or only drops.

Choose SCH.593 – Add/Drop Course Report from the Registration Reports menu. The system displays the following panel.

Selecting the Report Optionssch593p

1. In the District field, type the district code.

2. In the School field, type the school code.

3. To restrict the report to a specific teacher, type the teacher’s code in the Teacher ID field.

4. To restrict the report to a specific term, type the term number in the Term field.

5. To restrict the report to a specific course, type the course code in the Course ID field.

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6. To restrict the report to a specific section of the course that you entered in Step 5, type the section number in the Section field.

7. Review the default (current date) in the Date Range fields.

If desired, type a different beginning date in the From field and a different ending date in the Through field.

8. Select the Mark Add/Drops as Printed option if you want the system to mark each add and drop included in this report as “printed.” You can exclude all previously printed adds and drops when you run this report again, if desired, as described in Step 9.

If you do not want to mark the selected adds and drops as printed, do not select this field.

9. Select the three Include… options, as follows:

l To include only the adds and drops that the system has not printed (not marked as printed), select the Include New Add/Drops Only option. To include all adds and drops, regardless of print status, do not select this option.

l To include only adds in this report, select the Include Adds option. To exclude adds, do not select this option.

l To include only drops in this report, select the Include Drops option. To exclude drops, do not select this option.


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100 Making Mass Changes to Course Requests Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Making Mass Changes to Course RequestsUse SCH.650 – Mass Change Course Requests to change course requests for a group of students. This program eliminates the need to make scheduling changes individually.

The program locates students with a particular course or set of courses and either replaces those courses with new ones or adds additional course requests for those students scheduled into the initial courses.

For example, if students have course requests for Art II (a year long course), and the format of the course now includes a semester of ceramics and a semester of painting, you can search for all students who requested Art II, remove that course request, and add requests for the ceramic and painting semester courses.

You can change unscheduled or scheduled course requests. In addition, you can transfer the original course request’s preferred term, graduation category, link type, and grading information to the new course request.

This panel for this program is divided into two main sections. You use the top section of the panel to identify the combination of course requests you want the system to locate. You use the bottom section to identify the course requests you want the system to create.

Changing Course Requests for a Group of Students

Choose SCH.650 – Mass Change Course Requests from the Student Registration menu. The system displays the following panel.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Making Mass Changes to Course Requests 101



Selecting the Course Requests to Changesch65011


2. Select the Print Audit option if you want the system to print a listing of the students affected by the course request changes. Printing this listing gives you an accurate picture of all students who are affected by course request changes.

3. Review the default (selected) in the Remove field. Change the default if necessary.

If you choose this option, the system selects all students with the specified course request and removes that course request.

If you do not choose the option, the system simply selects all students with the specified course request.

4. In the Course field, type a course code.

This field specifies the course request that determines which students the system selects. If a student must have a combination of courses, you can type three additional courses in the fields provided. The student must have all course requests listed to be included in the selection process.

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102 Making Mass Changes to Course Requests Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

5. In the Sec field, type the course section number.

To select all students in a course, leave this field blank. To select students based on a scheduled course, type the section number assigned to the group of students you want to locate.

6. In the Term field, type a term number.

Use this field only if you are removing a course request and want to transfer the preferred term information from the original course to the course you are creating. To transfer the term, type the same term number in the term column on both sides of the panel.

7. In the Grad field, type a graduation category number.

Use this field only if you are removing a course request and want to transfer the graduation category information from the original course to the course you are creating. To transfer the category, type the same item number under the grad column on both sides of the panel.

8. In the Link field, type a number.

Use this field only if you are removing a course request and want to transfer the link code information from the original course to the course you are creating. To transfer the link codes, type the same item number under the link column on both sides of the panel.

9. In the Grades field, type a valid number.

Use this field only if you are removing a course request and want to transfer the grading information from the original course to the course you are creating. To transfer the grades, type the same item number under the grades column on both sides of the panel.

10. In the Create This Combination Course field, type a course code.

The course code you type in this field either will replace the course you typed or will be added to the request file for students who have that course.

If you want to add multiple courses to a student’s course request file, you can type three additional courses in the fields provided.

11. Click OK. The system stores the information, clears the panel, and enables you to define the next mass change you want the system to perform.

After you have defined all mass change parameters, the system displays a blank Mass Change process panel.


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Using the Period Resource Allocator

The period resource allocator is a scheduling tool you can use to help determine the most advantageous period to offer a course and section and to reduce scheduling conflicts. Using the programs described in this chapter, you can perform the following tasks:

l Create a proposed master schedule from last year’s schedule

l Create a proposed master schedule from this year’s schedule

l Enter teacher scheduling information

l Assign periods to the courses and sections in the proposed master

l Print a copy of the proposed master schedule

After a brief description of the resource allocation process, this chapter provides step-by-step instructions for the following programs:

l SCH.631 – Create Proposed Master from Last Year

l SCH.621 – Create Proposed Master from This Year

l SCH.330 – Proposed Teacher Master

l SCH.615 – Period Resource Allocation

l SCH.541 – Print Proposed Master by Teacher

l SCH.622 – Create Master Schedule from Proposed

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104 Using Resource Allocation for Scheduling Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Using Resource Allocation for SchedulingIf you used CIMS G/T scheduling software for the current year and your master schedule for next year will resemble the current year’s, you can run SCH.631 – Create Proposed Master from Last Year. This program copies the existing master schedule into SCH.330 – Proposed Teacher Master. The copy of the master schedule you create by running this program becomes the proposed teacher master. (The system does not delete the existing master schedule.)

After you copy the master schedule into the proposed master file, you can modify the information to accommodate next year’s scheduling needs. This feature eliminates the need for you to enter a completely new proposed teacher master from year to year.

Adding Teacher Information

You use the proposed teacher master to enter teacher scheduling information. You enter the courses and sections to be taught by each teacher in your school.


After you enter teacher information, you can use SCH.615 – Period Resource Allocation to determine the best possible period to offer a course section that will produce the least number of scheduling conflicts during the scheduling process.

The system enables you to define specific scheduling parameters for each teacher. If you do not add optional information, the period resource allocator selects values for you. These values are based on defaults determined by your school’s scheduling options and system defaults. Unless you enter other information, the period resource allocator uses defaults for the following items:

l Number of periods taught

l Range of periods available

l Days taught

l Number of seats available

You can run the period resource allocator any number of times and make adjustments to the proposed master in between scheduling runs. The resource allocator can re-process information in the proposed master as many times as necessary to produce the results you want.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Using Resource Allocation for Scheduling 105



Using This Year’s Master Schedule

As you create the first draft of a master schedule using resource allocation and run the automatic scheduler against that master, you may need to make adjustments to the master schedule to achieve better scheduling success. If you make manual changes to the master schedule and then want to re-process those changes through the resource allocator, you will need to run SCH.621 – Create Proposed Master from This Year. This program updates the proposed master from this year rather than last year’s master schedule.

Using the Preset Command

The Preset command on the proposed teacher master command panel is a command specific to this program. After the period resource allocator has made period assignments from the ranges provided on the proposed master, the select column contains the assigned periods.

If a majority of the periods selected for a particular teacher are assigned as you want, type P in the command field with the teacher, school, and district fields completed. Click OK. The system processes the preset function interactively. The result of this process is that the period range for each section now matches the period select column values. To view the outcome, use the Lookup or Change command.

The next time you run the period resource allocator, this teacher’s schedule will be unaltered. The range will limit the allocator to the range you preset.

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106 Using Resource Allocation for Scheduling Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

This figure illustrates the scheduling process using the resource allocator.

res-allo

Before You Begin

Make sure you do the following:

l Sign on to the system using the correct fiscal year. The fiscal year determines whether you will enter and process current year or next year’s teacher scheduling information.

l Review the scheduling options defined in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options.

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l Print STU.540 – Print List of Teachers as the teacher codes are used when entering proposed teacher master information.

l Print SCH.510 – Print Course Requests Tally to determine the number of sections needed for each course.

Creating a Proposed Master Schedule from Last YearUse SCH.631 – Create Proposed Master from Last Year if you have a master schedule on the system for the previous fiscal year that you would like to use as a starting place for the upcoming year. The system copies the following fields from last year’s master schedule.

l Course number

l Section number

l Terms

l Number of periods

l Days of the week

l Room number

l Maximum number of seats

l Whether class rolls should be taken

The period range will default the school’s beginning and ending period. The select field will default the period that the section meets. The group field is left blank.

Creating the Proposed Master Scheduler

Choose SCH.631 – Create Proposed Master from Last Year from the Resource Allocation menu. When the system displays the prompt panel, type the district and school codes.

When you click OK, the system displays a submittal prompt.

If you are going to use SCH.621 – Create Proposed Master from This Year, you do not need to run this program.

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108 Creating a Proposed Master Schedule from This Year Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Creating a Proposed Master Schedule from This YearUse SCH.621 – Create Proposed Master from This Year to update the proposed master from the master schedule. For example, if you did not use the system to help you create your master schedule, and the changes you make to the master schedule do not accomplish the desired scheduling result, you may want to re-process the master schedule using the resource allocator. You need to copy the changed master schedule into the proposed master prior to any processing. You may then choose to run the period resource allocator and allow it to develop a master schedule.

The system copies the following fields from this year’s master schedule.

l Course number

l Section number

l Terms

l Number of periods

l Days of the week

l Room number

l Maximum number of seats

l Whether class rolls should be taken

The period range defaults to the school’s beginning and ending period. The select field defaults to the period that the section meets. The group field is blank.

Creating a Proposed Master from This Year

Choose SCH.621 – Create Proposed Master from This Year from the Resource Allocation menu. When the system displays the prompt panel, type the district and school codes.


If you run SCH.631 – Create Proposed Master from Last Year, you do not need to run this program.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Creating a Proposed Teacher Master Schedule 109



Creating a Proposed Teacher Master ScheduleUse SCH.330 – Proposed Teacher Master to enter the teacher scheduling information that the resource allocator uses when assigning periods to each course section.

Choose SCH.330 – Proposed Teacher Master from the Resource Allocation menu. When the system displays the command panel, type the district and school codes. When you click Add, the system displays the following panel.

Entering Teacher Scheduling Informationsch33011

1. In the Name field, type the teacher’s name.

2. In the first Course field, type a course code.

The Add command means that no data exists for a teacher. If you used SCH.631 – Create Proposed Master from Last Year or SCH.621 – Create Proposed Master from This Year to make a copy of last year’s (or this year’s) schedule as a starting point, you need to use the Change command in place of the Add command when using the instructions for this section.

If you are working in Change mode, the system bypasses the name field. If you want to modify the name, move the cursor to the Name field and make the correction.

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110 Creating a Proposed Teacher Master Schedule Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

3. In the first Sec field, type a section number.

Assign a section number to this course for this teacher. You can use a section number only once for each course.

4. In the Term field, type the beginning and ending term numbers.

The values you can type in these fields depend on how you defined your school’s terms in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options. For example, if you have two terms defined for your school and the course meets for term one only, type 1 in each of the fields. If the course meets for the year, type 1 in the first field and 2 in the second field.

5. In the first Number Periods field, type a number that represents the number of periods that the course and section meet.

If you leave this field blank, the system assumes a value of 1. This value indicates that the length of the specified course and section is one period.

6. In the Range fields, type valid period numbers.

The range consists of a beginning and ending period. The period resource allocator uses these values when selecting a period for the specified course and section. The possible periods that the system can select for the course and section fall within the range values that you specify.

To limit the course and section to a specific period, type the same period number in the beginning and ending period.

To limit the selection of periods assigned for a course and section, enter a valid beginning and ending period. For example, Vocational Education may need to be scheduled at the end of the day. In a six-period day, type the range as 4506.

You defined valid periods in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options. You must enter the periods exactly as they are defined in this program. For example, if first period is defined as 01, you must type 01, not 1.

The system defaults to the first period and last period defined for your school in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options. This process does not include periods marked as unavailable to the resource allocator.

If you defined matching (type M) links, and the matching option selected was to match by section numbers, be sure you assign the same section number to the link courses as appropriate. (You defined matched linking options in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options.) For example, to successfully schedule a link, chemistry lecture section 3 must have a chemistry lab section 3.

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7. Leave the Select fields blank.

The system updates the Select fields when you run SCH.615 – Period Resource Allocation. The period resource allocator selects the beginning and ending periods for the specified course and section. The system assigns the same beginning and ending period to courses that are one period in length.

8. If you need to assign two sections to one teacher during the same period and term, type a number in the Group field.

To ensure that the period resource allocator assigns two sections during the same term and period, type the same group number for both sections. The group number can be a number from 1 through 9. You must select the number to be used. For example, if Art II and Advanced Art are taught in the same term and period by the same teacher, type an identical group number for both courses.

9. In the Days field, type valid codes.

Type the codes for the days when the specified course and section are taught.

If you leave this field blank, the system assumes that the specified course and section meets during all days defined in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options.

10. In the Room field, type a room number.

Use this field to specify the room where this course and section meets.

If your system uses the option to accept only valid room numbers in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options, you must enter a room number defined in STU.215 – Rooms.

11. In the Seats field, type a valid number.

The value you enter in this field determines the number of students who can be scheduled in the specified course and section.

If you leave this field blank, the system determines the value based on one of the following:

l The value in the Usual Number of Students Per Section field in SCH.310 – Courses.

l The capacity of the room as defined in STU.215 – Rooms, if your system verifies room numbers.

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112 Creating a Proposed Teacher Master Schedule Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

12. In the Class Rolls field, type Y or N.

If you choose Y or leave the field blank, the system includes this course when you print class rolls.

If you choose N, this course does not appear on printed class rolls.

13. To add more courses and sections for this teacher, repeat Steps 2 through 12.

You can add as many courses and sections as necessary in the spaces provided.

14. Click OK.

If you have completed all eight lines, the system displays a blank information panel for this teacher. Each time you complete all eight lines, the system displays an additional panel.

If you complete a partial panel and click OK, the system displays the Proposed Teacher Master command panel.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Using Period Resource Allocation 113



Using Period Resource AllocationUse SCH.615 – Period Resource Allocation to assign periods to the courses and sections you defined in SCH.330 – Proposed Teacher Master. This program helps you determine the most advantageous period to offer a course and section to reduce scheduling conflicts.

How the Period Resource Allocator Works

The period resource allocator first explodes the link definitions found in SCH.410 – Course Requests into their components. For example, BIOLINK might be exploded into its components of Biology and Biology Lab. This step enables the allocator to determine accurate counts for every course request.

The allocator then reviews the recommended seat count defined in SCH.310 – Courses, and compares the seats available and seats requested, by class and sex. The allocator creates a course tally record and adds the number of courses and section in SCH.330 – Proposed Teacher Master.

The allocator then builds a critical conflict matrix. It tries all possible combinations while it searches for the best schedule (least number of conflicts). Several single sections cause more conflicts. The allocator looks at all courses, teachers, requests, terms, period range, period selection, group number, and seats.

Data Requirements for Using the Period Resource Allocator

l Course requests must exist in SCH.410 – Course Requests for every course listed in SCH.330 – Proposed Teacher Master. These requests include lunch and prep periods.

l Courses must exist in SCH.330 for every course request in SCH.410, including lunch and prep periods. You should group courses that need to be taught during the same period or across terms.

l If a course section is preset for a specific period, the range and select fields must be the same in SCH.330.

l Teachers cannot be assigned more sections than they can teach during the day.

l Terms for a course must match in SCH.310 and SCH.330.

l Links must have an equal number of sections for the courses within that link.

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114 Using Period Resource Allocation Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Before You Begin

Before you use the Period Resource Allocator, you should print the following reports to make sure that the various components of your scheduling data are up to date, correct, and complete.

l Proposed Master by Teacher – SCH.541

l List of Teachers – STU.540

l Course Requests Tally – SCH.510

l Course Listing – SCH.550

l Proposed Master by Course – SCH.543

l Potential Conflict Matrix – SCH.515 (Too many conflicts cause problems, particularly if you are prescheduling courses.)

These reports can help you track down potential data problems that will cause the Period Resource Allocator to be ineffective. Use the suggestions in the following chart to lessen potential conflicts.

Potential Problem/Action In These Reports

Potential Problem: Teachers defined in STU.240 who are not utilized in SCH.330

SCH.541 and SCH.540

Action: Delete any teachers in STU.240 who are not being utilized.

Potential Problem: Courses in SCH.310 but not in SCH.330

SCH.510, SCH.550, and SCH.543

Action: Remove courses in SCH.310 or add courses to SCH.330.

Potential Problem: Courses in SCH.330 but not in SCH.310


Action: Remove courses from SCH.330 or add courses to SCH.310.

Potential Problem: Courses in SCH.330 with no course requests for students in SCH.410


Action: Remove the course from SCH.330 or add the course requests to SCH.410.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Using Period Resource Allocation 115



Potential Problem: Course requests in SCH.410 with no courses in SCH.330

SCH.510 and SCH.550

Action: Remove the course request from SCH.410 or add the course requests to SCH.330.

Potential Problem: Course definition in SCH.310 differs from SCH.330

SCH.550 and SCH.543

Action: Check length of terms and the terms that the course is taught. Correct the length of the terms or the terms taught in SCH.310 or SCH.330.

Potential Problem: Teachers in SCH.330 have too many sections assigned to them. For example, a teacher may have eight sections assigned during a school day of seven periods.

SCH.541

Action: Remove the excess sections.

Potential Problem: Not enough sections defined in SCH.330 (as suggested by the Course Request Tally)

SCH.510 and SCH.543

Action: Change the seat count in SCH.310 for the appropriate course or create more sections for the course in SCH.330.

Potential Problem: Too many sections defined in SCH.330 (as suggested by the Course Request Tally)

SCH.510 and SCH.543

Action: Remove the extra sections from SCH.330.

Potential Problem: Links are linked (course set up as a link cannot also be set up as part of another link)

Run a query for all courses whose scheduling link equals YES

Action: Check each course link definition and change any course links that are linked to other links.


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116 Using Period Resource Allocation Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Running the Period Resource Allocator

Choose SCH.615 – Period Resource Allocation from the Resource Allocation menu. When the system displays the command panel, type the district and school codes. When you click OK, the system displays a submittal prompt.

Potential Problem: Terms for linked courses are defined incorrectly

SCH.540 and SCH.543

Action: Change the incorrect terms in SCH.310 or SCH.330.


Due to the memory required by the system when processing the proposed teacher master, we recommend that you run the resource allocator on a dedicated system.

To speed processing, the entry and editing of the proposed master must be accurate. The processing time of the resource allocator increases dramatically when data errors exist. If the allocator runs for more than an hour, data errors are causing problems and you should stop the program.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Printing a Proposed Master by Teacher 117



Printing a Proposed Master by TeacherUse SCH.541 – Print Proposed Master by Teacher to generate a report to review the data you entered into the proposed teacher master. In addition to this report, you can print the same information sorted in different ways:

l SCH.542 – Print Proposed Master by Room

l SCH.543 – Print Proposed Master by Course

You can use these reports to review the following information:

l Duplicate section numbers for the same course.

l Identical section numbers for match link courses.

l Courses being taught by the same teacher in the same term and period for grouping.

l Descriptions, terms, periods, ranges, days, room numbers, seats, and roll columns for accuracy.

See the Student Applications Sample Reports guide for samples of these reports.

Printing a Proposed Master Schedule by Teacher

Choose SCH.541 – Print Proposed Master by Teacher from the Resource Allocation Reports menu. When the system displays the prompt panel, type the district and school codes.


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118 Creating a Final Master Schedule Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Creating a Final Master ScheduleUse SCH.622 – Create Master Schedule from Proposed to transfer the proposed master schedule from the work file area to the actual master schedule file.

The automatic scheduling process uses the actual master schedule. You must run this program before you use the automatic scheduler. See Chapter 7, “Using the Automatic Scheduler,” for information about the automatic scheduling function.

Once you complete the transfer of proposed master to actual master schedule, you can proceed to the steps associated with running the automatic scheduler in Chapter 7.

Creating the Master Schedule

Choose SCH.622 – Create Master Schedule from Proposed from the Resource Allocation menu. When the system displays the prompt panel, type the district and school codes.


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Working with the Master Schedule

This chapter explains how to create and maintain your master schedule. Included are step-by-step instructions for the following programs:

l SCH.320 – Master Schedule

l SCH.561 – Print Master Schedule by Period

l SCH.562 – Print Teacher Utilization

l SCH.564 – Print Room Utilization

l SCH.568 – Print Master Schedule Matrix by Room

Before You Begin

Make sure you do the following:

l Become familiar with the scheduling options defined in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options.

l Become familiar with the courses defined in SCH.310 – Courses.

l If you did not run the period resource allocator and are creating the master schedule manually, run SCH.515 – Print Potential Conflict Matrix to aid in your scheduling process. By running SCH.515, you also receive SCH.510 – Print Course Requests Tally and SCH.516 – Critical Conflicts.

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120 Building a Master Schedule Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Building a Master ScheduleUse SCH.320 – Master Schedule to build the master schedule of courses available in your school. You can use this program to either add your master schedule manually or revise a master schedule created using the period resource allocator and copied from the proposed teacher master.

In this program, you identify the course sections being taught, the periods and terms courses are offered, the rooms where they are held, and the teachers assigned to each section. A course section is formed by dividing a course into smaller groups, based on the number of students requesting the course and the number you allow in the course. For example, if you allow 25 students in a math class, and 200 students request the course, you create eight course sections.

You can also restrict a course section to a specific class or sex.

Using Linking

If you are matching linked courses, you identify the course sections to be matched through the master schedule. Linked courses are matched in three different ways, based on a selection made in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options. The three ways are:

l Match linking by section number

You assign an identical section number to each course section offered in the link. When the scheduler assigns a student to linked courses, it assigns the student only to link courses with the same section number.

l Match linking by teacher and period

Be sure that you match the teacher codes and period numbers to those courses in the defined link. For example, if your school offers two courses to meet a year requirement, you can match by teacher and period to have the first semester course taught in the same period by the same teacher as the second semester course.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Building a Master Schedule 121



l Match linking as defined in the Master Schedule

The system displays two additional fields on the Master Schedule detail panel to enable you to indicate by a match group number which courses belong together. Sections which should be scheduled together receive identical match group numbers.

Switch Setting


l Allow Delete of Sections with Student Count Greater than 0?

If you select this switch, the system enables you to delete sections from the Master Schedule even if students are assigned to the section.

If you disable the switch, the system does not allow you to delete a section from the Master Schedule when students are assigned to the section.

You use course links only when you are requesting courses. Do not include course link codes in the master schedule if you are not matching courses.

The instructions that follow assume you are entering your master schedule using the Add command. If you have created the master schedule using the resource allocator and are using this program to make modifications, use the Change command.

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Creating Your Master Schedule

Choose SCH.320 – Master Schedule from the Student Registration menu. The system displays the following panel.

sch32001


2. In the Course field, type a course code.

3. In the Section field, type a valid section number.

If you are linking courses and the method for matching linked courses is by section number, make sure the section numbers are identical for all sections you are linking. For example, if you are linking CHMLAB to CHMLEC by section number, you can set up a section 100 for CHMLAB and a section 100 for CHMLEC. When a student requests the course link CHEMLK, if the scheduler assigns the student to CHMLAB section 100, it also enrolls that student in CHMLEC section 100.

4. Click OK. The system displays the Master Schedule detail panel.

If you are planning to download information from the Student Applications to the NCS ABACUSxp™ cross-platform software, use no more than 2 characters for section numbers. The download process supports section numbers that are a maximum of 2 characters.

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Entering Schedule Information for the Coursesch32011

1. Review the default (25) in the Max Students Preferred field. Change the default if necessary.

The number in this field is the preferred number of students to be scheduled into this course section. When the course scheduler assigns students to course sections, it uses this field to determine when the section is full.

2. Review the default (35) in the Absolute Maximum field. Change the default if necessary.

The number in this field represents the maximum number of students that the system will assign to this course section.

When the course scheduler assigns students to a course, it fills each course section to the preferred maximum. Depending upon how your scheduling options are defined, if students make a required or counselor-assigned course request after the scheduler reaches the preferred limit, the system continues to enroll students until it reaches the absolute maximum.

3. Review the Enrolled field.

The panel displays the number of students currently enrolled in the course. This field is for your information only.

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4. In the Instructor field, type a valid teacher code.

Type the code for the teacher who will instruct this course section.

5. If you want this section available to a single grade level during automatic scheduling, type a class code in the Class field.

6. If you want this section available to only one gender during automatic scheduling, type M or F in the Gender field.

7. In the Match Group Number and Alternate fields, type appropriate numbers to group this course with linked course sections.

These fields specify the match link numbers that match this course with other linked sections. The system displays these fields only if the matching option selected in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options is set at 3 as entered on the master schedule.

You can use the alternate match group number field to increase the scheduling percentage when you use the automatic scheduler. If the preferred link combination is not available, the alternate number enables the system to complete the link with a different course. For example, you may prefer to have Chemistry Lab follow Chemistry Lecture. If a conflict in a student’s schedule does not permit this arrangement, an alternate may be Chemistry Lab at a later period in the day.

8. In the Terms field, type term numbers.

Type the term number when this section begins and ends, as defined in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options.

9. In the Periods field, type period numbers.

Type the period when this course section begins and the period when it ends, as defined in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options.

Alternates are used on a separate scheduling run. The system uses the alternate link possibility only when you choose. This procedure enables you to schedule as many students as possible in the ideal match, and use the alternate for those students with more difficult schedules toward the end of the scheduling process. See Chapter 9, “Scheduling Tips and Techniques,” for additional examples of match group linking.

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10. In the Room field, type a room number.

This field identifies the room where the section will be taught.

11. In the Days field, type valid day codes.

If you leave this field blank, the system defaults to the values specified in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options. For example, if your valid day codes are MWF and you leave this field blank, all three day codes default into this field when you click OK. If this course meets on different days, type the correct day codes.

The system displays this field only if you indicated in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options that all sections do not meet daily.

12. To include this course section on teacher rolls, type Y to select the Class Roll option.

13. To use this course section for course attendance purposes, type Y to select the Attendance Taken option.

14. To include additional sections, repeat steps 1–13.

The system includes additional lines to provide a means of defining sections with variable information. For example, you may define a course section that meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during terms 1-1, but meets on Tuesday and Thursday during terms 2-2. In this case, type the first term information on the first line and the second term information on the second line.

15. Click OK. The system displays the Master Schedule command panel.

If you chose to verify room numbers in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options, the room number you type here must match a room defined in STU.215 – Rooms.

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126 Printing a Master Schedule by Period Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Printing a Master Schedule by PeriodUse SCH.561 – Print Master Schedule by Period to print a report of your master schedule sorted by period. You can limit the report to specific terms or periods.

You can use this report while you are creating the master schedule to verify your entries. Once you have scheduled students, you can use this report to help resolve scheduling conflicts.

You also can print SCH.560 – Print Master Schedule by Course to sort the same information by course rather than by period. See the Student Applications Sample Reports guide for samples of both of these reports.

Choose SCH.561 – Print Master Schedule by Period from the Registration Reports menu. The system displays the following panel.

Selecting the Terms and Periodssch561


2. To limit the report to a range of terms, type a beginning and ending term in the Terms field.

If you leave this field blank, the report includes all terms.

To print the report for a single term, type the same term number in both fields.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Printing a Teacher Utilization Report 127



3. To limit the report to a range of periods, type a beginning and ending period in the Periods field.

To include all periods in the report, leave this field blank.

To limit the report to a single period, type the same period in both fields.


Printing a Teacher Utilization ReportUse SCH.562 – Print Teacher Utilization to produce a report reflecting teachers’ utilization. This report identifies the courses and sections being taught, the teacher, period, days, room, and enrollment information for each teacher.

You can also use this report to identify which teachers have time available to take on extra courses.

See the Student Applications Sample Reports guide for a sample of this report.

Selecting the District and School

Choose SCH.562 – Print Teacher Utilization from the Registration Reports menu. When the system displays the prompt panel, type the district and school codes.


Printing a Room Utilization ReportUse SCH.564 – Print Room Utilization to produce a report reflecting rooms’ utilization. This report identifies the courses and sections being taught, the teacher, period, days, and enrollment information for each room in the school.

You also can use this report to identify the available rooms.


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128 Printing a Master Schedule Matrix by Room Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Selecting the District and School

Choose SCH.564 – Print Room Utilization from the Registration Reports menu. When the system displays the prompt panel, type the district and school codes.


Printing a Master Schedule Matrix by RoomUse SCH.568 – Print Master Schedule Matrix by Room to print the rooms where courses are taught. The report can include section numbers, teachers, days, and student counts.

You can use this report to help you identify room conflicts while you build the master schedule.

You also can use SCH.567 – Print Master Schedule Matrix by Teacher to help you identify teacher scheduling conflicts.

See the Student Applications Sample Reports guide for samples of both of these reports.

Selecting the Report Informationsch568


2. To limit the report one term, type the term number in the Term field.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Printing a Master Schedule Matrix by Room 129



3. Review of the Include fields for Sections, Teachers, Days, and Student Count. Change the selection for any field, if necessary.

If you select a field, the report includes the information on the report. Otherwise, the report excludes the information.


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130 Printing a Master Schedule Matrix by Room Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

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Using the Automatic Scheduler

After you define courses, enter course requests, and create a master schedule, you can process students’ course requests. This chapter provides information about the automatic scheduling function of the SCH software. With the programs described in this chapter, you can perform the following functions:

l Automatically prepare schedules for all students in a school in batch mode

l Monitor the progress while the program runs

l Print a number of reports to review the automatic scheduling results

After a brief description of the automatic scheduling process, this chapter contains step-by-step instructions for the following programs:

l SCH.610 – Automatic Student Scheduling

l SCH.610Q – Automatic Scheduling Status

l SCH.566 – Print Unscheduled Period Analysis by Class

l SCH.583 – Print Incomplete Student Schedules

l SCH.581 – Print Student Schedules

l SCH.582 – Print Student Schedule List

l SCH.538 – Print Teacher Rolls

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132 Automatic Scheduling Process Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Automatic Scheduling ProcessWith the SCH software you have a choice of two scheduling methods.

l You can use the online scheduler to process one student at a time with the Process command in SCH.410 – Course Requests.

l You can use the automatic scheduler (SCH.610 – Automatic Student Scheduling) to schedule all of the students in a school in batch mode.

You typically use the batch automatic scheduler for scheduling a future school year or term. You then use the online scheduler to resolve scheduling errors with individual student’s schedules and to add or change individual student schedules.

The automatic scheduler contains the following functions:

l A “reset” option, which enables you to reschedule previously scheduled requests

l The ability to fill sections beyond the maximum number of students

l The option to schedule a study hall to fill unscheduled periods

Pre-sorting Students for the Automatic Scheduler

When you use the automatic scheduler, you can assign student priorities so that the system completes the most difficult student schedules first. The purpose of pre-sorting students before running the scheduler is arrange the order of the students, to process the most difficult schedules in a way that minimizes scheduling conflicts. You can assign scheduling priority to students based on:

l Number of sections defined for a course in the master schedule

l The students’ class

l The students’ tag assignments

Once you run the automatic scheduler, you may need to resolve some scheduling problems. The system provides a number of reports to help you identify problem areas.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Automatic Scheduling Process 133



Analyzing the Master Schedule

The system provides reports that determine possible modifications you can make to the master schedule to decrease scheduling errors. These reports are:

l SCH.515 – Print Potential Conflict Matrix

l SCH.562 – Print Teacher Utilization

l SCH.564 – Print Room Utilization

By understanding unscheduled period figures, you can determine if your sections are balanced and where you can make adjustments to improve results.

Reviewing Students’ Schedules

The following reports provide detailed information about students with scheduling errors and the courses that the scheduler was unable to schedule:

l SCH.584 – Print Scheduling Errors by Student

l SCH.585 – Print Scheduling Errors by Course

l SCH.583 – Print Incomplete Student Schedules

l SCH.565 – Print Unscheduled Period Analysis by School

l SCH.566 – Print Unscheduled Period Analysis by Class

Completing Student Schedules

After you complete your schedule, you can print the following reports:

l SCH.581 – Print Student Schedules

l SCH.582 – Print Student Schedule List

l SCH.538 – Print Teacher Rolls

You can print student schedules on a custom form and distribute them to each student.

The list of student schedules provides a printed copy of all schedules. You may use it to find a student’s location at any time during the day. You can post this list in the guidance center and main office of your school.

You use teacher rolls to give teachers a list of the students enrolled in the courses and sections they are teaching. You also can use teacher rolls as a tool for gathering attendance.

While this user’s guide describes some of these reports, you can find samples of all the reports in the Student Applications Report Samples.

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134 Automatic Scheduling Process Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

This figure illustrates the flow of the scheduling process when you use the automatic scheduler.

crs-schd

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Using the Automatic Scheduler 135



Using the Automatic SchedulerUse SCH.610 – Automatic Student Scheduling to schedule student course requests using batch processing. You can run the scheduling process for an entire school.

This program provides a number of options for you to use to tailor your scheduling process:

l You can pre-sort students so that the scheduler processes the most difficult student schedules first.

l You can use the reset option to reschedule previously scheduled requests.

l You can choose to fill courses beyond their seat maximums.

l You can assign study halls to unscheduled periods.

l You can choose whether you want to monitor the progress of the scheduler as it runs.

l You can choose whether you want to use alternate match group numbers in the scheduling process.

Before You Begin

Before you use the automatic scheduler, make sure you do the following:

l Sign on to the system using the correct fiscal year. The fiscal year determines whether you are scheduling current year or next year course requests.

l If you are processing course requests for next year, verify that your students have a class assignment for next year. You can add next year’s assignments by entering them individually through STU.301 – Basic Student Information, or by running either SCH.608 – Set Next Year Information or STU.831 – Set Next Year Information via Map Grids.

l If you defined courses with automatic course request information, run SCH.606 – Automatically Generate Course Requests to update your students’ course requests.

Caution

If you sign on to the current fiscal year and run the batch scheduler, you could potentially reschedule all of your students.

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136 Using the Automatic Scheduler Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Scheduling Course Requests in Batch

Choose SCH.610 – Automatic Student Scheduling from the Automatic Scheduling menu. The system displays the following panel.

sch61011


2. Select the Pre-sort Students Prior to Scheduling Run option if you want the system to assign scheduling priorities to students.

If you do not select this option, the system does not assign students with priorities before the scheduling run. The system automatically schedules all students in student number order, with the lowest student number scheduled first.

After you complete this panel and click OK, the system displays an additional panel for you to select scheduling order.

3. Select the Reset Prior Scheduling option if you want the system to reset any previously scheduled sections. This option enables the automatic scheduler to re-schedule all course requests except type P (pre-scheduled) requests.

If you do not select this option, the system does not reschedule any course with an assigned section number.

4. If desired, type a term number in the Only Term field.

If you type a term in this field, the system resets only those requests in the course request file that are marked with a specific preferred term.

If you selected the Reset Prior Scheduling option and want to reset all scheduled courses, leave this field blank.

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5. Select the Allow Courses to Fill Beyond Maximum Size option if you want the scheduler to fill sections beyond the absolute maximum, as defined for each course section in SCH.320 – Master Schedule.

If you do not select this option, the scheduler follows the guidelines established in the master schedule and does not exceed course maximums.

6. Select the Try All Possible Combinations (if needed) option if you want the scheduler to try all available sections when scheduling courses. This option increases the amount of time needed to complete the scheduling process.

If you do not select this option, the scheduler will try only a few available sections. This option reduces the amount of time needed to complete the scheduling process, but may result in more students with scheduling problems.

7. Select the Assign Study Halls to Unscheduled Periods option if you want the scheduler to assign study hall (STUDY) to all unscheduled periods. The master schedule must contain enough available sections of the STUDY course to meet all unscheduled periods.

To assign study hall, you must:

l Define STUDY as a valid course in SCH.310 – Courses.

l Define sections for the course STUDY in SCH.320 – Master Schedule.

You generally wait until your last scheduling run to assign study halls.

Allowing the system to fill sections beyond the absolute maximum can be helpful on the first scheduling run. As you review the course loads, you will be able to identify potential problems in your master schedule.

You can use this option when making final adjustments for the last students with scheduling conflicts. Be sure you do not select the Reset Prior Scheduling option so that students with complete schedules are unaffected by another scheduling run.

The automatic scheduler tries to schedule the section with the highest number first. Make sure that your highest numbered section of STUDY is the section that meets most frequently. For example, section 999 would meet all terms, Monday through Friday; section 1 would meet only first semester, Tuesday and Thursday.

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138 Using the Automatic Scheduler Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

8. Select the Monitor Scheduling Progress by Student option if you want to monitor the scheduling process and be able to cancel the automatic scheduler from the monitor panel during the scheduling run. You use SCH.610Q – Automatic Scheduling Status to monitor the scheduling run.

Regardless of your selection in this field, you can view the results from the monitor panel after scheduling completes.

9. Select the Use Alternate Match Group Numbers option if you want the system to use the alternate course combination, when necessary to complete a student’s schedule.

If you do not select this option, the system uses only the preferred combination of matched courses in the master schedule.

10. Click OK.

If you selected the Pre-sort Students Prior to Scheduling Run option, the system displays the Automatic Student Scheduling panel. Proceed to “Assigning Scheduling Priorities.”

Otherwise, the system displays a submittal prompt.

Assigning Scheduling Priorities

When you use this panel, you select a point scale and assign point values to only those fields you want to use to prioritize students. You can use any number between 1 and 9999 for your point scale.

You can use this option when trying to schedule the few remaining students at the end of the scheduling process.

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The system then totals points by individual student. The system schedules the student with the highest number of points first.

sch61012

1. In the Courses Requested With field, type point numbers.

The information that you type in these fields represents the point values for each type of course request.

Use the Prior Conflict field to assign priority to students who requested courses that the system could not schedule during a previous scheduling run.

2. In the Students In field, type appropriate class codes and associated point values.

Use these fields to assign priority points based on class.

3. If you do not want the scheduler to schedule these classes during this run, select the Skip option.

4. In the Students Assigned field, type appropriate tags and associated point values.

Use these fields to assign priority points based on tag assignments.


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140 Monitoring the Automatic Scheduling Status Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Monitoring the Automatic Scheduling StatusUse SCH.610Q – Automatic Scheduling Status to monitor the progress of the batch automatic scheduler.

To monitor progress of the scheduler, you must choose the Monitor Scheduling Progress by Student option in SCH.610 – Automatic Student Scheduling when you submit the Automatic Scheduler for processing.

If you use this program to monitor the progress of the scheduler, you can use the Step field to determine how far the process has progressed. The system highlights the word representing its current process:

Before You Begin

Make sure you start the batch automatic scheduler by running SCH.610 – Automatic Student Scheduling. See Using the Automatic Scheduler on page 135.

Process Description

Load The system is retrieving all course request and master schedule information into the scheduler work file.

Reset Reset occurs only if you selected the Reset Prior Scheduling option in SCH.610 – Automatic Student Scheduling.

Sort Sort occurs only if you selected the Pre-sort Students Prior to Scheduling Run option in SCH.610 – Automatic Student Scheduling.

Schedule Schedule means the system is scheduling course requests one student at a time.

Update Update means the system is transferring the scheduling results to the student’s course request files.

Study Study appears only if you selected the Assign Study Halls to Unscheduled Periods option in SCH.610 – Automatic Student Scheduling.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Monitoring the Automatic Scheduling Status 141



Monitoring the Scheduling Run

Choose SCH.610Q – Automatic Scheduling Status from the Automatic Scheduling menu. The system displays the following panel.

sch61013

1. Review the highlighted step. The system highlights the step currently in progress.

2. If the Automatic Scheduler is running and you selected the Monitor Scheduling Progress By Student option in SCH.610 – Automatic Student Scheduling, you can click Refresh to update the information shown on the panel.

3. If you want to end the program, you can click Cancel to cancel the scheduling process before completion. The system displays the Automatic Scheduling menu.

The system allows you to cancel the run only if you selected the Monitor Scheduling Progress By Student option in SCH.610 – Automatic Student Scheduling and the system currently is scheduling students.

If the scheduler has been running for an extremely long time, you may have data problems. Consider canceling the scheduling run.

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142 Monitoring the Automatic Scheduling Status Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

4. The system displays a Processing Complete message when the program finishes running.

See the upper right hand corner of this panel under Time for the date and start and stop times of the last automatic scheduler run.

Click Exit to return to the Automatic Scheduling menu.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Printing an Unscheduled Period Analysis by Class 143



Printing an Unscheduled Period Analysis by ClassUse SCH.566 – Print Unscheduled Period Analysis by Class to produce a report of the unscheduled periods sorted by class. You can choose to include study halls or limit the report to a specific range of periods.

You also can use this report to generate a list of students not scheduled for periods, including name, class, file ID, and periods. Your counselors can use this listing to identify students who do not have complete schedules.

You can print an analysis by school using SCH.565 – Print Unscheduled Period Analysis by School.

See the Student Applications Sample Reports guide for a sample of both of these reports.

Printing the Report

Choose SCH.566 – Print Unscheduled Period Analysis by Class from the Automatic Scheduling Reports menu. The system displays the following panel.

sch566


2. In the Include Periods field, type a range of periods.

To include all periods in the report, leave these fields blank.

To limit the report to a single period, type the same period number in both fields.

3. Select the Include Study Halls option if you want the system to include study halls in the report.

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144 Printing an Unscheduled Period Analysis by Class Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

4. Select the Print Student List option if you want the system to include a list of students with the report.


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Printing Incomplete Student SchedulesUse SCH.583 – Print Incomplete Student Schedules to generate a report containing information about students who have incomplete schedules because of scheduling errors.

You can print this report to include all students in a school, a specified class, an individual student, or multiple students. You choose whether you want to include detail from the master schedule in the report.

If you want to produce a shorter list containing only actual errors on file, use SCH.584 – Print Scheduling Errors by Student or SCH.585 – Print Scheduling Errors by Course.

This program contains various options by which you can limit printing. For example, you can limit the report to print for a specific term. You can use only one of these options each time you print the report.


Printing the Report

Choose SCH.583 – Print Incomplete Student Schedules from the Automatic Scheduling Reports menu. The system displays the following panel.

sch58311

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146 Printing Incomplete Student Schedules Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.


2. Select the Print Master Schedule Detail option if you want the system to include an individual master schedule for the students you select.

3. To limit the report to one student, type a student number in the Student field.

To include all students in a school, class, or term, leave this field blank.

To include several students in the report, select the Multiple Students option. If you select this option, the system displays a student selection panel after you click OK to enable you to specify individual students.

4. To limit the report to one class, type a class code in the Class field.

To include all classes in the school, leave this field blank.

5. To limit the report to one term, type a term number in the Term field.

To include all terms, leave this field blank.

6. Select either the Student or Class sort option from the Sort field.

7. Click OK.

If you selected the Multiple Students option, the system displays additional panels for you to specify student numbers.


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Printing Student SchedulesUse SCH.581 – Print Student Schedules to print student schedules.

This program provides a number of variations you can select. For example, you can limit schedules to a specific class, term, or student, or you can specify multiple students, tags, or tag categories. The system gives you the option of printing the guardian’s name or the homeroom teacher’s name on the schedules.

You can sort the schedules by class, homeroom teacher, or counselor.

This program contains various options by which you can limit printing. For example, you can limit schedules to print for specific tags. Be aware that you can use only one of these options each time you print the schedules.

See the Student Applications Sample Reports guide for a sample student schedule.

If you have authorization to use more than one school’s information, you can print schedules for students who attend courses in a school other than the school in which they registered.

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148 Printing Student Schedules Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Printing the Report

Choose SCH.581 – Print Student Schedules from the Registration Reports menu. The system displays the following panel.

sch581


2. Select an option in Print Options field to print either the homeroom teacher name or contact on the schedules.

3. Select the Print Unlisted Phone Number option if you want the system to print telephone numbers, including those students with the unlisted phone number flag set to Yes in STU.301 – Basic Student Information.

4. Select the Print Schedule for Contacts option if you want the system to print schedules for all contacts that you authorized in the basic student information programs to receive schedules.

5. Review the default date in the Print Date field. Change the current date, if you want the schedules to show a different print date.

6. Select one of the Sort fields, to sort the schedules by student, class, homeroom teacher name, or counselor. You can choose only one sort option each time you process this report.

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7. To print a schedule for only one student, type a student number in the Student field.

To print schedules for several students, leave the Student field blank and select the Multiple Students option. If you choose this option, the system displays additional panels for you to specify student numbers.

To print schedules for all students, leave both fields blank.

8. To print schedules for only one class, type a class code in the Class field.

9. To print schedules for only one term, type a term number in the Term field.

10. To select students by tags, type up to six tag names in the Tags field.

Select the Include or Omit option to either include or exclude students who have the specified tags, if you typed tag names in the Tags field.

11. To select students by tag category, type up to six tag categories in the Tag Categories field.

Select the Include or Omit option to either include or exclude students who have the specified tag categories, if you typed tag category names in the Tag Categories field.

12. To report schedule changes for a range of dates, type the beginning date in the From field and the ending date in the To field.

To report schedule changes for a single day, type the date in the From field and leave the To field blank.

13. Click OK. If you selected the Multiple Students option, the system displays additional panels for you to specify student numbers.


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150 Printing a Student Schedule List Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Printing a Student Schedule ListUse SCH.582 – Print Student Schedule List to produce a listing of student schedules. The report includes student names, schedules, counselor, file ID, and student number. You should print a hard copy of all schedules to keep on file.

The system gives you the option of printing this report for an entire school, or you can limit it to a specific class, term, or individual student or students.

This program contains various options by which you can limit printing. For example, you can limit the schedule list to print for a specific student. Be aware that you can use only one of these options each time you print the list.


Printing the Report

Choose SCH.582 – Print Student Schedule List from the Registration Reports menu. The system displays the following panel.

sch58211

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2. To print a schedule list for only one student, type a student number in the Student field.

To print schedule lists for several students, leave the Student field blank and select the Multiple Students option. If you choose this option, the system displays additional panels for you to specify student numbers.

To print schedule lists for all students, leave both fields blank.

3. Select either the Student or Class sort option from the Sort field.

4. Click OK. If you selected the Multiple Students option, the system displays additional panels for you to specify student numbers.


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152 Printing Teacher Rolls Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Printing Teacher RollsUse SCH.538 – Print Teacher Rolls to give teachers a list of students enrolled in the courses and sections they are teaching. You can also use teacher rolls as a tool for gathering attendance information. The system gives you the option of limiting teacher rolls by individual teachers, periods, or courses and sections. It also gives you the option of specifying a date range for the rolls.

The following information prints in the heading of teacher rolls:

l School number and name

l Teacher name

l Date

l Name of the course (such as Algebra)

This program contains various options by which you can limit printing. For example, you can limit teacher rolls to print for specific periods. You can use only one of these options each time you print teacher rolls.

See the Student Applications Sample Reports guide for a sample teacher attendance roll.

Switch Setting


l New Page for Teacher/Room/Period?

If you select this switch setting, the system prints a new page for different courses that have the same teacher, room, and period.

An example is Spanish 1 and Spanish 2 courses taught by the same teacher, in the same room, and during the same period. If you enabled the switch, the system prints students in Spanish 1 and students in Spanish 2 on a separate page.

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Printing Rolls for Your Teachers

Choose SCH.538 – Print Teacher Rolls from the Registration Reports menu. The system displays the following panel.

sch538


2. To limit the report to one term, type the term number for the report in the Term field.

3. Select a section option in the Print field.

If you select Sections defined as Class Rolls = Y, the system includes only sections that use class rolls.

If you select Sections defined as Attendance Taken = Y, the system includes only those sections where attendance is taken.

To include all classes on the teacher rolls, leave this field blank.

4. Select the Print Unlisted Phone Number option if you want the system to print all telephone numbers, including those students with the unlisted phone number flag set to Yes in STU.301 – Basic Student Information.

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154 Printing Teacher Rolls Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

5. To limit the rolls to a range of dates, type the beginning date in the Attendance Information for Date field and the ending date in the Through field.

If you leave the date fields blank, the system prints blank spaces on the rolls so your teachers can record absences manually. If you are printing the teacher rolls to collect absences, you should leave these fields blank.

6. To limit the rolls to specified teachers, type up to six teacher codes in the Teacher field.

7. To limit the rolls to specified periods, type period numbers in the Period field.

8. To limit the rolls to specified courses or sections, type course and section codes in the Course and Section field.

To limit the rolls by course only, type course codes in the first field and leave the Section field blank.


If you specify fewer than 10 days in the date range, the system prints absence detail information for each day. If the range is greater than 10, the system prints absence summary information for each student, including absences, tardies, and excused absences.

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Changing and Processing Schedules

This chapter describes how to manipulate student course requests both during the scheduling process and the school year. The chapter provides the following information to help you revise student schedules:

l Adding a course request to an existing schedule

l Changing course requests

l Processing course requests

l Displaying a student’s schedule

l Printing an individual student’s schedule

To change and process a student’s course requests, you need to access the Course Requests detail panel from one of the STU.301 programs or SCH.410 – Course Requests.

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156 Adding a Course Request to an Existing Schedule Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Adding a Course Request to an Existing ScheduleTo add a course request to an existing student schedule, use the Change command to access the student’s course requests. The remaining steps are identical to the steps you used to enter initial course requests. See Chapter 4, “Entering Course Requests,” for information on completing the other fields.

Changing a Scheduled CourseThis section provides some tips that you can use to change scheduled courses at various times in the school year. Before you change a student’s schedule, you must decide whether you want to keep a record of the student’s enrollment in that course. Your decision affects the procedure that you use to drop a class.

Changing a Scheduled Course Before School Begins

You usually do not keep a record of a student’s enrollment in a course if the school year has not started. No attendance or grading information is attached to the course.

To remove a course before the school year begins, move the cursor to the course you want to delete. The system no longer displays the course code. If you click OK, the system deletes that course and displays the command panel.

Changing a Scheduled Course After School Begins

Depending on the time of year, the course you are dropping may have associated attendance and grade information. You may want to keep a record of the student’s enrollment in the course. Each of the following procedures reflects how you might handle the existing grade and attendance information.

l The first procedure is to move the cursor to the course you are dropping, type *DROP directly over the course code, and click OK. The system retains all grading information, as well as all associated information for this course on the Course Request panel, but changes

A course request panel displays ten available lines. If the panel does not have an available blank line, click OK until the system displays a blank line.

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the status code from S to D. With this approach, you can keep a record of the course section, graduation category, link, preferred term, and period information. The system does not include students with courses dropped using *DROP on printed attendance or grading sheets.

l The second procedure is to remove the course information. When you click OK, the system displays the Keep Grades/Att? column if grading or attendance information is on file. The system default is to remove the grading and attendance information for the dropped course.

If you choose not to keep the information, the system does not retain any associated information on this course for this student. The student’s name does not print on the pre-slug form for the dropped course, even if you ask for dropped students when you pre-slug your scan sheets.

If you choose to keep the information, the system retains all associated information with the original course and changes the status code from S to D. This option has the same effect as using *DROP.

l The third procedure is to type the new course directly over the old course. When you click OK, the system displays the Keep Grades/Att? column. The system default is to remove the grading and attendance information for the dropped course.

If you choose not to keep the information, the system does not retain any associated information on this course for this student. The student’s name does not print on the pre-slug forms for the dropped course, but will print on the pre-slug forms for the new course.

If you choose to keep the information, the system attaches any associated information from the dropped course to the new course changes the status code from S to D. The student’s name does not print on the pre-slug forms for the dropped course, but will print on the pre-slug forms for the new course.

Select the same status for both fields. For example, do not try to keep the information for grading but not for attendance. Both fields should contain the same response.

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158 Changing a Scheduled Course Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Using the Change Command

Use one of the following programs to access the Course Requests detail panel:





The system displays the following panel.


1. In the Requests for Courses at District and School fields, type your district and school codes.

2. In the File ID field, type the student’s file ID.

See the Student Management System User’s Guide Volume 1 for information about using STU.301, STU.301E, and STU.301M. See Chapter 4 of this guide, “Entering Course Requests,” for information about how to start SCH.410 – Course Requests.

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3. Select the Include Dropped Courses option if you want the system to display dropped courses after the processing completes.

Dropped courses are those courses with a status code of D.

4. Select the Maintain Add/Drop Dates option if you want the system to display the add and drop dates on the following Course Requests panel.

If you do not select this option, you still can access the add and drop dates by clicking Add/Drop Date on the following panel.

5. Click Change to change a student’s scheduled courses. The system displays the following detail panel.

Changing a Student’s Schedulesch41011ch

1. Move the cursor to the course you want to change.

2. Using one of the techniques for dropping a scheduled course (explained in Changing a Scheduled Course After School Begins on page 156), make the desired schedule change.

3. Click OK.

4. If applicable, review the Keep Grd/Att fields. The system displays these fields only if grade or attendance information is on file for this course.

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160 Processing Individual Student Course Requests Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.


Processing Individual Student Course RequestsYou also can use SCH.410 – Course Requests to process a student’s course requests and enroll the student into course sections. This program uses course requests that you previously entered or changes you made to course requests. It then schedules the student into the appropriate course sections. The system schedules only the specified student.

Make sure you review the student’s course requests for accuracy before you ask the system to process them.

Using the Process Command

Use one of the following programs to access the Course Requests detail panel:





The system displays the following panel.

If necessary, you can make several changes to a student’s schedule before clicking OK. You can click Schedule to view the current schedule from this panel.

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1. In the Requests for Courses at District and School fields, type your district and school codes.

2. In the File ID field, type the student’s file ID.

3. Select the Include Dropped Courses option if you want the system to display dropped courses after the processing completes.

4. Skip the Maintain Add/Drop Dates option. The default in this field does not apply to the Process command.

5. In the Process field, select the applicable option:

Option Description

Schedule If you choose Schedule, the system schedules an individual student’s course requests.

Print Schedule If you choose Print Schedule, the system generates a printout of the individual student’s schedule.

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6. Select the Use Alternate Match Group option if you want the scheduler to consider alternate match group numbers.

If you do not choose this option, the system uses the primary match group number on linked courses and not the alternate match group number.

You defined match group numbers and alternate match group numbers in SCH.320 – Master Schedule.

7. Select the Reset option if you want the scheduler to reset any previously scheduled sections. This option enables the scheduler to reschedule all course requests except type P requests.

8. Select the Overfill option if you want the scheduler to fill sections beyond the absolute maximum defined for each course section in SCH.320 – Master Schedule.

9. Select the Study Hall option if you want the scheduler to assign STUDY sections to unassigned periods. STUDY is assigned to unscheduled periods only, based on the availability of sections in the Master Schedule.

10. Click Process. The scheduler processes the student’s course requests.

The student is assigned to course sections for all courses requested except for course type P (pre-scheduled). Because you already identified the section numbers for pre-scheduled courses, the system simply enrolls the student into the pre-scheduled course sections.

After processing completes, the system displays the Course Requests detail panel, which lists the following information:

l A list of courses and their scheduling status in the Sts field.

l A course section number in the Sec field and an S after the assigned section number for each scheduled request.

Always review this field before you process your student’s course requests. If you want to process only unscheduled courses, leave this option unselected.

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l Any requests that the scheduler cannot schedule, with one of the following status codes:

If the student was scheduled previously, the system may display a D status code. This code identifies a dropped course request.

Review this information on the Course Requests detail panel that the system displays.

Status Code Description

N No open sections

1 Single section conflict

U Unable to schedule (multiple section conflict)

C Pre-schedule conflict

L Link conflict

X Unexpanded link

D Dropped

B Problem during scheduling

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Reviewing Course Request Informationsch4100b

1. Review the information on the panel for accuracy and completeness.

If desired, you can click Schedule to review the student’s schedule.

2. To reprocess the student’s course requests, you may need to change some information.

If you use type A to assign courses, the system may leave the Sts field blank after processing. A blank status means that the system did not use the alternate course.

When you pre-schedule components of an unscheduled link, you must remove all link information before scheduling. If you do not remove the link information and you later use SCH.610 – Automatic Student Scheduling to run the automatic scheduler, the system will remove your pre-scheduled course. The system treats the pre-scheduled course as an unscheduled link component due to its link identifier (C, L, or M) in the course request.

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See Chapter 4, “Entering Course Requests,” for information on changing fields before reprocessing course requests.

Displaying a Student’s ScheduleTo display a student’s schedule from the SCH.410 – Course Requests command panel, type valid codes in the District, School, and File ID fields. Select the Index option for Display Student Schedule, and click the Index command.

To display the student’s schedule from the SCH.410 – Course Requests detail panel, simply click Schedule.

To display the student’s schedule from STU.301E – Access to All Student Records or STU.301M – Access to Multiple Student Records, select the Schedule option.

Printing a Student’s ScheduleTo print an individual student’s schedule from the SCH.410 – Course Requests command panel, type valid codes in the District, School, and File ID fields. Select the Print Schedule option in the Process field, and click the Process command.

The system runs the print process interactively. After completion, the system displays the original defaults on this panel and retains the student information previously displayed.

If you used STU.301 – Basic Student Information to access this program, the system displays the Student Record command panel. If you used STU.301E – Access to All Student Records to access this program, the system displays the Access to All Student Records panel. If you used STU.301M – Access to Multiple Student Records to access this program, the system displays the Access to Multiple Student Records panel.

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166 Printing Student Locator Information Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Printing Student Locator InformationTo print student locator information, choose STU.570 – Print Student Locator (Profile and Schedule) from the Student Record Reports menu in the SMS software.

This report combines a student’s general information with his or her schedule, replacing the manual locator cards that many schools maintain. See the Student Management System User’s Guide Volume 1 for details on using this program.

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Scheduling Tips and Techniques

Read this chapter if you are familiar with using the automatic scheduler to process student course requests. This chapter provides the following information to assist you during scheduling:

l A checklist of the procedures you follow to use the automatic scheduling process.

l A review of some of the critical components of the scheduling process, along with some additional examples.

This chapter will not to teach you how to use the programs mentioned; other chapters in this guide describe those programs. This chapter contains tips to help you improve the results of your scheduling process.

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168 Automatic Scheduling Checklist Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Automatic Scheduling ChecklistThis checklist provides a brief overview of the scheduling process. The checklist contains the following parts:

l Steps you perform to prepare the system for a new year

l Steps you perform in the new year assignment

l Using the period resource allocator to build a master schedule

l Building a master schedule without the period resource allocator

NCS recommends you follow the steps in the order they are listed. If you have any questions that are not addressed in enough detail in this checklist, please refer to the section in the appropriate user’s guide that provides the step-by-step information about the program.

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Preparing the System for the New Year

Perform the following steps while you are signed on to the current fiscal year.

Step Task Menu Program

��1. Revise ACS Work Areas for the new year

ACS250 ACS.250

Use ACS.250 – Maintain Work areas to enter the 2-digit code for the next school year in the work areas being used to perform the scheduling process. See the Application Control System User’s Guide for information about maintaining work areas.

��2. Revise user assignments ACS250 ACS.270

Use ACS.270 – Maintain User Assignments to assign the next school year to be used for scheduling each user who is involved in the scheduling process. See the Application Control System User’s Guide for information about maintaining user assignments.

��3. Set up client members for the new year

SMS700 STU.000

Choose the current year’s Student Management System assignment to set up SMS client members for the next school year, using STU.000 – Set Up Client Members for SMS System Files. This program builds client members for the new year and also enables you to copy up to 12 non-annual files to the new year. Examples of non-annual files are the course and teacher files.

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Continue the new year process by following the checklist to set up the new fiscal year.

Setting Up the New Year

To perform the next steps in the checklist, change assignments to the new fiscal year.

��4. Set the Next Year field in the student records

SMS700 SCH.608 or STU.831

Use SCH.608 – Set Next Year Information or STU.831 – Set Next Year Information via Map Grids to set the next year district, school, and class fields in the basic student records. You can perform this step one student at a time, but these programs use previously defined class advancement criteria to make the assignments in mass.

Update exceptions to the promotion process on an individual student basis in STU.301 – Basic Student Information.


Caution

Be sure that you sign on to the correct year when you perform scheduling functions. Any scheduling functions for next year must occur in next year’s assignment.


��5. Set up the student record options SMS200 STU.102

Use STU.102 – Student Record Options to add student record options for the new year for your district. Review the defaults and make necessary changes. The defaults are the previous year’s settings.

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��6. Set up the scheduling options SCH100 SCH.101

Use SCH.101 – Scheduling Options to add your scheduling options for the new year for every school. You can use this program to define terms, periods, and grading options for the new year.

��7. Revise files for the new year Various Various

When you built client members for the new year in Step 3, you had the option of copying non-annual information from last year. If you copied this information, review the following files and make any modifications required for the new year:

SCH.310 – Courses STU.322 – School ClassesSTU.220 – Course Prefixes STU.240 – TeachersSTU.215 – Rooms

You can review and revise the other copied files at a later date; they do not pertain to the scheduling process.

Remember that properly defining your courses is a vital aspect of the scheduling process. See Chapter 3, “Defining Courses,” for detailed information.

If you did not copy the non-annual information from last year, you need to review each program and enter the pertinent data for the new year.

��8. Distribute course request worksheets to students

SCH250 SCH.589

Gather course request information from your students. You can choose from many methods of collecting course requests. If you are not equipped to scan course requests, an optional method provided in the system is to use STU.589 – Course Request Worksheet to print worksheets to gather the course request information.

If you are equipped to scan, refer to your scanning checklist for information on pre-slugging Course Request Worksheets and scanning procedures.


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Create the Master Schedule

After the course requests are in the system, you can begin the process of building your master schedule.

The system provides two methods of creating a master schedule. You can use the aid of the period resource allocator, or you can enter the master schedule after your school administrator creates it.

Building a Master Schedule with the Period Resource Allocator

��9. Enter course requests SCH200 SCH.410

Use SCH.410 – Course Requests to enter course requests for the new year. Be sure the panel displays the words NEXT YEAR to the right of the District field. This message indicates that you are signed on to the correct year.

If you are equipped to use scanning, follow the procedures in the scanning checklist to both scan and upload your course requests to the IBM AS/400 system. Be sure you are signed on to next year’s assignment before uploading any scanned data.

��10. Verify student course request entries

SCH250 SCH.588

Use SCH.588 – Print Student Request Verification to verify your entries after you enter course requests.

This step is optional.



��1. Create Proposed Master from This Year or Create Proposed Master from Last Year

SCH300 SCH.621 or SCH.631

If your master schedule from either the current year or a previous year is potentially useful for the upcoming year, you can copy or duplicate that master schedule into next year’s files. If not, proceed to Step 3.

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��2. Print Proposed Teacher Master by Teacher or Print Proposed Teacher Master by Room or Print Proposed Teacher Master by Course

SCH350 SCH.541 orSCH.542 orSCH.543

Before making any adjustments to the proposed master schedule, you may want to print a copy of the proposed master to help you.

You can perform Step 2 only if you completed the task in Step 1.

��3. Print a Course Requests Tally SCH250 SCH.510

Use SCH.510 – Print Course Requests Tally to print a report to help you determine the number of sections each course needs to accommodate the students’ requests.

��4. Make adjustments to the proposed master schedule

SCH300 SCH.330

Use SCH.330 – Proposed Teacher Master to make the necessary adjustments to the master schedule for next year.

If you did not copy your old master schedule but want to use the period resource allocator, you need to enter the proposed master through this program.

��5. Run the period resource allocator SCH300 SCH.615

After course requests and a proposed master schedule are in the system, the period resource allocator uses this information to produce a master schedule that best accommodates the students’ course requests. You can run the period resource allocator as many times as necessary to produce the desired results.


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��6. Create the master schedule SCH300 SCH.622

When you are satisfied with the results, you can run SCH.622 – Create Master Schedule from Proposed to copy your master schedule from the proposed master file to the actual master schedule file.

Note: After you run this program, you must make any further changes to the master schedule through SCH.320 – Master Schedule. If you use match group numbers in the master schedule for linking, also make those changes in SCH.320.

��7. Run the automatic scheduler SCH400 SCH.610

You are now ready to run SCH.610 – Automatic Scheduler. The Automatic Scheduler schedules students into courses and sections. You can view the progress of the Scheduler by running SCH.601Q – Automatic Scheduling Status.

��8. Print the automatic scheduling reports to identify scheduling errors

SCH450 Various

If the first run of the Auto Scheduler does not produce the desired percentage of successfully scheduled students, you can use the reports listed on menu SCH450, Automatic Scheduling Reports, to help you determine the necessary adjustments.

These reports can help you identify the course requests that were not scheduled and the reason. Then, you may need to make adjustments to SCH.310 – Courses, SCH.320 – Master Schedule, or SCH.410 – Course Requests.

��9. Run the automatic scheduler again SCH400 SCH.610

Repeat the process of running and rerunning the automatic scheduler as many times as necessary to obtain a desirable percentage of successfully scheduled students.


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Building a Master Schedule Manually

��10. Manually change and process individual course requests

SCH200 SCH.410

After you achieve a desirable percentage of scheduled students, counselors or scheduling staff members must make manual changes to incomplete student schedules. Use SCH.410 – Course Requests to make the necessary changes.

��11. Print student schedules and teacher rolls

SCH250 SCH.581SCH.538

Use menu SCH250 to print schedules. For planning purposes you may choose to distribute teacher rolls to your teachers.

Now you are ready for next year and need to perform year end procedures when appropriate.


��1. Create Proposed Master from This Year or Create Proposed Master from Last Year

SCH300 SCH.621 or SCH.631

If your master schedule from either the current year or a previous year is potentially useful for the upcoming year, you can copy or duplicate that master schedule into next year’s files. If not, proceed to Step 3.

��2. Print Proposed Teacher Master by Teacher or Print Proposed Teacher Master by Room or Print Proposed Teacher Master by Course

SCH350 SCH.541 or SCH.542 or SCH.543

Before making any adjustments to the proposed master schedule, you may want to print a copy of the proposed master to help you throughout the planning process.

You can perform Step 2 only if you completed the task in Step 1.


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��3. Print a potential conflict matrix SCH250 SCH.515

Use SCH.515 – Print Potential Conflict Matrix to produce three reports that you can use to help you design your master schedule. The three reports are Course Tally, Conflict Matrix, and Critical Conflicts.

��4. Make adjustments to the proposed master schedule

SCH300 SCH.330

If you did not complete Step 1, go on to Step 6. Otherwise, use SCH.330 – Proposed Teacher Master to make the necessary adjustments to the Master Schedule for next year.

��5. Create the master schedule SCH300 SCH.622

When you are satisfied with the results, you can run SCH.622 – Create Master Schedule from Proposed to copy your master schedule from the proposed master file to the actual master schedule file.

��6. Enter the master schedule SCH200 SCH.320

Use program SCH.320 – Master Schedule to enter your master schedule. Remember to assign match group numbers to sections that are part of matching section links.

��7. Run the automatic scheduler SCH400 SCH.610

You are ready to run SCH.610 – Automatic Scheduler. The Automatic Scheduler schedules students into courses and sections. You can view the progress of the scheduler by running SCH.610Q – Automatic Scheduling Status.


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��8. Print the automatic scheduling reports to identify scheduling errors

SCH450 Various

If the first run of the Auto Scheduler does not produce the desired percentage of successfully scheduled students, you can use the reports listed on menu SCH450, Automatic Scheduling Reports, to help you determine the necessary adjustments.

These reports can help you identify the course requests that did not get scheduled and the reason. You may need to make adjustments to SCH.310 – Courses, SCH.320 – Master Schedule, or SCH.410 – Course Requests.

��9. Run the automatic scheduler again SCH400 SCH.610

Repeat the process of running and rerunning the automatic scheduler as many times as necessary to obtain a desirable percentage of successfully scheduled students.

��10. Manually change and process individual course requests

SCH200 SCH.410

After you achieve a desirable percentage of scheduled students, counselors or scheduling staff members must make manual changes to incomplete student schedules. Use SCH.410 – Course Requests to make the necessary changes.

��11. Print student schedules and teacher rolls

SCH250 SCH.581SCH.538

Use Menu SCH250 to print schedules. For planning purposes you may choose to distribute teacher rolls to your teachers.

Now you are ready for next year and need to perform year end procedures when appropriate.


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178 Hints for Improving Scheduling Results Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Hints for Improving Scheduling ResultsThis section contain information on the following topics:

l Linking courses

l Linking courses using match groups

l Maximizing the period resource allocator results

l Miscellaneous scheduling hints

More experienced users who want to improve their scheduling results may find this information helpful.

Linking Courses

Linking enables you to join two or more courses during scheduling. The system offers multiple link combinations, and you must choose the type of link that best suits your expected results. Linking courses offers the following benefits:

l Decreased entry time for keying or scanning

l Decreased margin for error

l Increased automatic scheduler speed

l Capability of scheduling multiple courses according to a pre-determined pattern

A linked combination must contain at least two valid course definitions and a single “bonding” course definition (the “Link”) to join the valid linked elements. Schools can use as many different types of links as necessary for specific course scheduling requirements. Links can be one of four types.

l Link by specified term

The valid course elements in the link must be scheduled in the sequence and terms defined. An example is a prerequisite link. In the example of Word Processing I/Word Processing II, the fall course is a prerequisite of the Spring course.

l Link as a couplet

A couplet links courses in any order but in opposite terms. An example is an ECON/GOVT couplet link. Students must be scheduled into both courses during the same school year, but not during the same term.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Hints for Improving Scheduling Results 179



l Link with no specific preference

The system schedules all courses in the link, without regard to a pattern. An example is a 7th grade core academic course link for year-long requirements:ENG/SCI/SOC ST/MATH/PE. All students would be scheduled in every course, in no particular order.

l Link by Match Group

A match group link enables you to join specific combinations of sections of the link elements together. A good use of match group linking is a Science Lecture/Lab link, in which the student needs to have both courses in the same semester with the same teacher, and scheduled consecutively in the student’s day.

The more you use course linking in the system, the easier it becomes. The next few sections provide a review of the basic steps to follow when creating links for scheduling.

Approaching the Linking Process

You may find it easier to define your links if you identify the intended result, and then work backwards. Most schools find it best to attempt a link with the easiest link type. If the simple link does not suit your needs, look to the next link type.

Programs Involved in Linking

As you are working with your course links, remember that the following programs are each involved with the linking process.

l SCH.101 – Scheduling Options

If you will be using the Match Group element for some of your links, define the match group selection that your system will use.

l SCH.310 – Courses

Define the valid course offerings first, then set up your link numbers and the type of link to be used by the scheduler.

Do not choose a more complex link than you require to meet each specific scheduling need.

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180 Match Group Linking Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.


Enter the student course requests, using the link number in place of the individual course element numbers.

l SCH.320 – Master Schedule

Define the valid course section offering in your master schedule. Assign match group numbers here, if you use them.

Analyzing the Scheduled Links

After the scheduling run, review the reports, noting specifically any scheduling status errors of “L.” This error most easily identifies a link course scheduling conflict. Remember, when you use links, you cannot:

l Link a link

l Pre-schedule a link

l Create course sections in the master schedule for the link course number

Match Group LinkingA match group link enables you to join specific combinations of sections of the link elements together.

If you are using match groups, you define how you want to use them in SCH.101 – Scheduling Options. If you schedule match links using the third option, “As Input on the Master Schedule,” this section provides some common matching you can use.

When you schedule using SCH.410 – Course Requests, or SCH.610 – Automatic Scheduling, the system prompts you to use the Alternate Match Group.

l If you specify Y, only the alternate match is used

l If you specify N, only the primary match group number is used

See Example 2: Primary Match on Same Teacher, Same Period Alternate Match on Teacher Only on page 182 for more information on alternate matching.

You will have the best results by setting up the simplest match groups to accomplish your scheduling objective. Many schools have greater success when working first with small groups of link combinations to see how they schedule, then working with the entire schedule.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Match Group Linking 181



Here are some examples of using match groups.

Example 1: Primary Match on the Same Teacher, Any Available Hour

This setup offers a number of acceptable lecture/lab combinations. A student could schedule into either lecture period 01, 02, or 03 on MTW with Jones, and any period 01, 02, or 03 lab on RF with Jones.

Course Name Teacher Period Days Primary Alternate

Science Lecture Jones 01 MTW 12

Jones 02 MTW 12

Jones 03 MTW 12

Smith 04 WRF 31

Smith 05 WRF 31

Wilson 01 MTW 57

Science Lab Jones 01 RF 12

Jones 02 RF 12

Jones 03 RF 12

Smith 04 MT 31

Smith 05 MT 31

Wilson 01 RF 57

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Example 2: Primary Match on Same Teacher, Same Period Alternate Match on Teacher Only

In the above example, a student might be scheduled in lecture with Smith period 05 on WRF and also scheduled in lab with Smith on MT period 05.

If you want to see how successful your scheduling run could be using alternate group numbers, you can re-run the automatic scheduler and select the option to use alternate group numbers. In that scenario, a student might be scheduled into any period of Jones’ science lecture matched with any period of Jones’ science lab. This is designated by the 12 in the alternate column.


Science Lecture Jones 01 MTW 121 12

Jones 02 MTW 122 12

Jones 03 MTW 123 12

Smith 04 WRF 314 31

Smith 05 WRF 315 31

Smith 06 WRF 316 31

Wilson 01 MTW 571 57

Science Lab Jones 01 RF 121 12

Jones 02 RF 122 12

Jones 03 RF 123 12

Smith 04 MT 314 31

Smith 05 MT 315 31

Smith 06 MT 316 31

Wilson 01 RF 571 57

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Example 3: Primary Match on Same Period, Any Available Teacher

In the above example, a student could schedule into lecture period 01 with Jones on MTW and lab on RF period 01 with either Wilson or Jones.


Science Lecture Jones 01 MTW 1

Jones 02 MTW 2

Jones 03 MTW 3

Smith 04 WRF 4

Smith 05 WRF 5

Smith 06 WRF 6

Wilson 01 MTW 1

Science Lab Jones 01 RF 1

Jones 02 RF 2

Jones 03 RF 3

Smith 04 MT 4

Smith 05 MT 5

Smith 06 MT 6

Wilson 01 RF 1

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Example 4: Block Teaching

This example illustrates teams of three teachers, with students moving as a group from teacher to teacher. All courses meet every day in consecutive periods.

In the above example, the matrix numbers would represent the match group number.

For example, students in English period 01 with Adams would go to US Hist period 02 with Baker and Science period 03 with Mayo.

Students in US Hist period 04 with Peters would go to Science period 05 with Roberts and to English period 06 with Olson.

This matrix concept works for any number of periods, as long as you have the same number of courses as periods. Also, no number can appear in more than one column vertically, or one row horizontally, per matrix.

Periods 01 02 03 04 05 06

Matrix #1 Matrix #2

Adams (English) 1 2 3 4 5 6

Baker (US Hist) 3 1 2 6 4 5

Mayo (Science) 2 3 1 5 6 4

Olson (English) 7 8 9 10 11 12

Peters (US Hist) 9 7 8 12 10 11

Roberts (Science) 8 9 7 11 12 10

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Example 5: Team Teaching

This example illustrates a team teaching approach, with teams of three teachers, and students attending any hour, as long as they get all three teachers on the team.

This flexible setup offers a number of acceptable lecture/lab combinations.

A student could have English with Olson period 03, Science with Roberts period 05, and US Hist with Peters period 06.

A student could have Science period 01 with Mayo, English period 04 with Adams, and US Hist with Baker period 05.

The students could schedule a.m. or p.m. as long as they retain the same team of teachers.

Periods 01 02 03 04 05 06

Matrix #1




Matrix #2


Peters (US Hist) 2 2 2 2 2 2


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This example illustrates another team teaching approach with teams of three teachers, students attending any hour as long as they get all three teachers on the team within the 4-hour block.

As can be seen in this example, the planning period has no impact on this type of match group. This type of grouping will only work if each of the teachers teaches the same number of periods as there are courses in the block (for example, 3 teachers, 3 courses in the above scenario).


This example illustrates teams of three teachers, and students attending any hour, as long as they get all three teachers on the team in the morning or all three in the afternoon.

Periods 01 02 03 04

Matrix #1

Adams (English) Plan 1 1 1

Baker (US Hist) 1 Plan 1 1

Mayo (Science) 1 1 1 Plan

Matrix #2

Olson (English) 2 Plan 2 2

Peters (US Hist) 2 2 Plan 2

Roberts (Science) Plan 2 2 2

Periods 01 02 03 04 05 06

Matrix #1 Matrix #2




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In this example, a student could have Science period 04 with Mayo, English period 05 with Adams, and US Hist with Baker period 06.

Another student could have English with Olson period 01, Science with Roberts period 02, and US Hist with Peters period 03.

The students could schedule a.m. or p.m., as long as they retain the same team of teachers, all in the morning or all in the afternoon.

Matrix #3 Matrix #4


Peters (US Hist) 3 3 3 4 4 4


Periods 01 02 03 04 05 06

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Example 8: Mixed Teacher and Period Matching

This example illustrates matching some sections of the same course by teacher and period, some by teacher only, and others by period only.

Obviously, this example is very complicated, but it shows the total flexibility of match group numbers.

A student that schedules into Phys Ed with Lamb period 02 semester 1 would also schedule into Lamb’s period 02 Health semester 2 (noted by $).

If the same student scheduled into Sloan’s Health period 01 semester 1, he or she could schedule into any available period with Sloan’s semester 2 for Phys Ed (noted by @).

Periods 01 02 03 01 02 03

Semester #1 Semester #2

Teacher & Period:

Lamb (Phys Ed) 121 122$ 623 621 622 123

Lamb (Health) 621 622 123 121 122$ 623

Teacher Only:

Sloan (Phys Ed) 32 32 32 32@ 32@ 32@

Sloan (Health) 32@ 32 32 32 32 32

Davis (Phys Ed) 47 47 47 47 47 47

Davis (Health) 47 47 47 47 47 47

Period:

Anders (Phys Ed) 1 2 3 4 5 6

Conners (Phys Ed) 1*

Brown (Health) 4 5 6 1* 2 3

Smith (Health) 1*

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If the same student were scheduled into Phys Ed period 01 semester 1 with Conners, he or she could schedule into any available Health course offered period 01 semester 2 (noted by *).

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190 Miscellaneous Scheduling Hints Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Miscellaneous Scheduling Hintsl The Verify Room Numbers prompt in the Scheduling Options program

(panel SCH.101.15) not only edits the room number in the master schedule (SCH.320) and the proposed master schedule (SCH.330), it also edits the homeroom number on the Student Registration and Enrollment panel (STU.360.11).

l If you add a link through SCH.650 – Mass Change Course Requests, you must run SCH.684 – Reestablish Link Definitions to update the link to the correct status of X in the course request file (PSCH410). This relinking process also creates a record in the link definition file (PSCH607).

l When you run SCH.611 – Reset Enrollment Count, the system updates the following items:

l The student count in the master schedule file (PSCH320)

l The class year, sex, and so on, for each student record in the course request file (PSCH410)

l In the Course Tally Report, the system uses this specific logic to determine the recommended number of course sections:

The number of student course requests for a course, divided by the usual number of students per section from SCH.310.

Any course requests remaining after the last full recommended section are multiplied against 4 to determine if that number exceeds 1. If so, adding another section is recommended.

Example 1

133 course requests for Typing I, with the usual number of students for that course = 30.

133/30 = 4.43, or 4 recommended full sections plus .43

.43 X 4 = 1.72, which exceeds the whole number 1.

The total number of recommended sections for this course will be 5.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Miscellaneous Scheduling Hints 191



l The Course Tally Report lists the number of course requests by the actual course codes and not the link course codes.

l Program SCH.588 – Print Student Request Verification will also use the actual course codes and not the link codes.

l Course sections can be filled beyond the absolute maximum when pre-scheduling (type P) course requests if you select the Overfill prompt. If you do not select the Overfill prompt, this message is displayed when pre-scheduling a course request for a section that is full: SCH.0020 THIS SECTION OF THE COURSE IS CLOSED.

l If you want to restrict periods from being allocated in the resource allocator, you can flag the periods through SCH.101 – Scheduling Options. This period restriction feature (on panel SCH.220.11) is available to you only if you pass through the scheduling portion of this setup option.

l The student course requests must be in place prior to running the resource allocator.

l The resource allocator checks the student course request conflicts: Singletons/doubletons/others identified in the conflict matrix.

l The resource allocator checks the student course request type to see that it’s not equal to A (Alternate), and checks the scheduling status to see that it is not equal to *DROP.

l The following is a list of defined maximums for both the on-line and batch schedulers:

l 60 requests per student

l 60 alternates per student

l Total of 990 Courses

l 40 sections per course

l Total of 3000 Sections

l 600 sections for STUDY

Example 2

102 course requests for Spanish II, with the usual number of students for that course = 25.

102/25 = 4.08, or 4 recommended full sections plus .08

.08 X 4 = .32 , which does not exceed a whole number. The total number of recommended sections for this course will be 4.

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A course may have more than 40 sections defined, but the scheduler will only use up to 40 sections when attempting to schedule a course. The sections selected are based upon the type of request, and whether sections have been filled.

If a section of a course is full, the scheduler will not select it as a possible section.

If a course has been assigned as a match link, the scheduler selects only those sections that apply to matching.

If the possible selection could exceed 40, the scheduler will generally select the first 40 sections.

Automatic Scheduling Priorities

The automatic scheduling priorities are as follows:

l Students are sorted:

l According to pre-sort point groups

l Into student number order

l Students are scheduled:

With the highest number of pre-sort points and the lowest student number. That student’s course requests are scheduled according to the following priorities:

1. Prescheduled requests are assigned

2. Singleton Required

3. Singleton Counselor Assigned

4. Singleton Electives

5. Doubleton Required

6. Doubleton Counselor Assigned

7. Doubleton Electives

8. Tripleton Required

9. Tripleton Counselor Assigned

10. Tripleton Electives, and so on

11. Alternates

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Miscellaneous Scheduling Hints 193



After the scheduler has tried all possible combinations and all sections cannot be scheduled, the scheduler will schedule by request type.

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Using Additional Scheduling Programs

This chapter describes various programs in the SCH software that do not fall within the normal usage patterns described by the other chapters.

This chapter provides instructions for the following programs:

l SCH.638 – Assign Homerooms from Scheduling

l SCH.611 – Reset Enrollment Count

l SCH.630 – Remove Unscheduled Requests

l SCH.684 – Re-establish Link Definitions

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196 Assigning Home Rooms from Scheduling Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Assigning Home Rooms from SchedulingUse SCH.638 – Assign Homerooms from Scheduling to create homeroom assignments in STU.360 – Registration and Enrollment Information from student schedule information. This program only updates the registration record; it does not change student schedules.

You can update the Homeroom and Homeroom Teacher fields on the registration record with a teacher and room number from a scheduled course by indicating the homeroom period.

Choose SCH.638 – Assign Homerooms from Scheduling from the Student Registration menu. The system displays the following panel.

Limiting the Selection Processsch63811


2. In the Term field, type a valid term number.

The value you type in this field determines the term for which you want to copy the room and teacher information. For example, if this is the beginning of the school year, type 1 for the first term.

3. In the Period field, type a valid period code.

The value you type in this field determines the period for which you want to copy the room and teacher information.

4. To limit the process to only one teacher’s homeroom assignments, type that teacher code in the Teacher field.

To make homeroom assignments for all students in the school, leave this field blank.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Assigning Home Rooms from Scheduling 197



5. Select the Reset Prior Assignments option if you want the system to delete the current home room and homeroom teacher information and replace it, based on the selection options you identified.

If you do not select this option, the system assigns the home room and homeroom teacher information to only those students who do not have a current assignment.


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198 Resetting the Enrollment Count Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Resetting the Enrollment CountUse SCH.611 – Reset Enrollment Count to recalculate the student count for each course section. If the total number of seats taken for a course section does not match the actual number of students enrolled, you can use this program to update the total number of seats taken.

Choose SCH.611 – Reset Enrollment Count from the Scheduling Data Integrity menu. The system displays a prompt panel.




Removing Unscheduled RequestsUse SCH.630 – Remove Unscheduled Requests to delete all unscheduled course requests. The system deletes course requests that do not have a status code of S or D.

You run this program after you complete the scheduling process, if you want to delete your unscheduled course requests.

Choose SCH.630 – Remove Unscheduled Requests from the Scheduling Data Integrity menu. The system displays a prompt panel.




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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Re-establishing Link Definitions 199



Re-establishing Link DefinitionsUse SCH.684 – Re-establish Link Definitions to restore corrected link definitions.

The scheduler identifies links for each link code, when you enter them into students’ course request files in SCH.310 – Courses. If you inadvertently defined a link course as an actual course, then entered course requests while the link was defined as an actual course, you must modify the course definition by selecting the Scheduling Link Only option in SCH.310.

After you change the course definition for the link code in SCH.310, the scheduler does not recognize it as a link until you run SCH.684. When you run this program, the system ensures that all link codes are identified in the course request file. A link status tells the scheduler that it must schedule the courses as a link. When you reprocess schedules, the system properly schedules the corrected link.

Resetting Link Definitions

Choose SCH.684 – Re-establish Link Definitions from the Scheduling Data Integrity menu. The system displays a prompt panel.




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200 Re-establishing Link Definitions Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

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Processing Reports for Multiple Students

When you specify on a selection panel that you want to process a report for multiple students, the system displays a series of panels that contain windows of information to enable you to complete the process. Use the following instructions to assist you in selecting multiple students for a process or report.

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202 Specifying Individual Students Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Specifying Individual StudentsWhen you choose the Multiple Students option on a selection panel and click OK, the system displays the student selection panel for that report or process.

1. Click the Select option if you want the system to display a window to help you choose students.

2. Click the Display option if you want the system to display a window containing the name, class, and gender of students, once you select them. Use this window only when you have selected students for this report and want to review more detailed information about the selected students.

3. If you do not use a selection window to help you choose students, you can type up to 72 student numbers directly into the blank Student Numbers fields.

4. Click OK.

If you chose the Select option and you are selecting students for the first time, the system displays the position window.

If you chose the Select option and you already typed student numbers, the system displays the selection window.

If you chose both the Select and Display options, the system displays the position window first.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Using the Position Window 203


If you left both options blank and typed student numbers directly into the Student Numbers fields, the system displays a submittal prompt.

Using the Position WindowThe system displays the position window when you first begin the process of selecting students for the report. This window enables you to move to a specific position in the student index file, rather than having to review information for every student. For example, you can position the selection to a specific student name. You can also limit the list of possible students by specifying a class or gender.

1. Type a full or partial name in the Last Name, First Name, and Middle Initial fields.

The name or partial name you type in these fields indicates where to start the selection list of students. For example, if you type SMITH JOHN C and click OK, the system displays the selection window, beginning with John C. Smith. If you type MA in the Last Name field, the system displays the selection window, beginning with the first student whose last name begins with “Ma.”

2. To limit the selection list to a specific class, type the class code in the Restrict to Class field.

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204 Using the Selection Window Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

3. To limit the selection list to a specific gender, type M or F in the Restrict to Gender field.

4. Click OK. The system displays the selection window.

Using the Selection WindowThis window enables you to select students from the list that the system displays. You can type letters in the Position to field to change your position in the list.

1. To select a student, type X in the X field to the left of the student’s name.

You can page through the list of students and select as many as 72 students.

2. To stop selecting names, click OK. The window disappears and the system displays student numbers for the students that you selected in the Student Numbers fields.

3. Click OK.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Using the Display Window 205


If you chose the Display option on the Multiple Student Selection panel, the system displays the display window.

Otherwise, the system returns to the Select Multiple Students panel.

Using the Display WindowUse this window to display the names for students you have already selected in the Student Numbers fields. The window displays the associated name, class, and gender for the students whose numbers display in the selected row. You can remove a student from the list by deleting the X next to the student’s name in the window.

1. Review the displayed names.

To eliminate a student from the selection list, delete the X from the field to the left of the student’s name.

The system displays as many as six student names in the window. These names correspond to the row of student numbers on the panel that is marked with an arrow. If you page through the list of names, the system displays the arrow to the left of the previous or next row of numbers.

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206 Using the Display Window Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

When you remove the X from the left of a name, the system removes that number from the list of students in the body of the panel.

2. Click OK. The window disappears and the system displays student numbers for the students you selected in the Student Numbers fields.


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Annual and Non-annual Files

This appendix provides a list of the annual and non-annual files used by the CIMS G/T student software.

An annual file contains information for only one school year. For example, a separate school calendar (file PATT210) for one school year is an annual file.

A non-annual file is a file that does not change for each school year. For example, Basic Student Information (file PSTU301) is a non-annual file.

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208 Annual Files Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

Annual FilesThe following is a list of the annual files used by the CIMS G/T student software.

File Number File Name

PATT210 School Calendar

PATT211 School Calendar Notes

PATT212 Calendar Note Distribution Codes

PATT240 Attendance Register Definitions

PATT240L Attendance Register FTE

PATT241 District Register – Attendance

PATT241H Attendance Reports Run

PATT242 District Register – Absences

PATT243 District Register – Entry Codes

PATT244 District Register – Age Groups

PATT250 Entry/Withdrawal Code Definitions

PATT260 Valid Absence Reasons

PATT260L Absence Reasons Extended

PATT270 Student Enrollment History

PATT282 Attendance Letter Control

PATT420 Student Absence Record

PATT420C Student Absence Record by Course

PATT420L Student Absences Period Reasons

PATT620 Group Attendance Request

PGRD210 Marking Period Definitions

PGRD211 Report Card Definitions

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Annual Files 209


PGRD410 Course Request Grading Information

PSCHP07 Prompt Data for Scheduling

PSCH301 Student Availability Grid

PSCH310 Course Definitions

PSCH311 Course Catalog Descriptions

PSCH312 Course Scheduling Links

PSCH313 Course Request Instructions

PSCH314 Course Graduation Requirements Satisfied

PSCH315 Course Competency Requirements Satisfied

PSCH316 Course Grade Definitions

PSCH320H Course Schedule Master – Sections

PSCH320L Course Schedule Master – Resources

PSCH321 Master Schedule Section Extension

PSCH330 Master Planning Record

PSCH410 Course Requests

PSCH440 Study Hall Assignments by Student

PSCH607 Course Expansion File

PSCH650 Mass Changes Requests

PSHR330 Student Medications Header

PSHR330H Student Medications Header Detail

PSHR330L Student Medication Detail

PSHR360 Student Health Log

PSHR360H Student Health Log Header

PSTU215 School Room Definitions


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210 Annual Files Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

PSTU220 Department Definitions

PSTU231 Map Grid Definitions

PSTU240 Teacher IDs

PSTU241 Teacher Numbers

PSTU241A Next Available Teacher Number

PSTU322 School Class Definitions

PSTU360 Student Registration Information


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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Non-annual Files 211


Non-annual FilesThe following is a list of the non-annual files used by the CIMS G/T student software.


PATT101 Attendance Options

PATT111 Attendance Options (load table)

PATT280 Attendance Letter Formats

PATT280L Attendance Letter Text

PATT450 Absence History File

PGRD101 Grading Options

PGRD201 Grade Title Definitions

PGRD202 Grade Computation Definitions

PGRD203 Comment Title Definitions

PGRD240H InteGrade Pro Validation Rule

PGRD240L InteGrade Pro Validation Tokens

PGRD250 Valid Grades

PGRD251 Valid Grade Extensions

PGRD253 Valid Comments

PGRD255 InteGrade Pro Incomplete Symbol

PGRD260H Format File

PGRD260L Report Writer Format Lines

PGRD270H InteGrade Pro Grade Table

PGRD270L InteGrade Pro Grade Item

PGRD290H InteGrade Pro End Term Spreadsheet

PGRD290L InteGrade Pro Spreadsheet Task Setup

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212 Non-annual Files Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

PGRD275 Honor Roll Report Definition

PGRD300 Class Ranking File

PGRD301 Student Graduation Date

PGRD450 Student Transcripts

PSCH101 Scheduling Options

PSCH210 Scheduling Term Definitions

PSCH220 Scheduling Period Definitions

PSCH610Q Auto Scheduler Results

PSHR102 Result Codes File

PSHR221 Immunization Definition

PSHR221H Immunization Definition Header

PSHR222 Immunization Status

PSHR223 Medication Groups

PSHR262 Symptom Codes

PSHR263 First Aid Codes

PSHR264 Disposition Codes

PSHR265 Diagnosis Codes

PSHR306 Student Immunization

PSHR306H Student Immunization Header

PSHR310 Student Hearing

PSHR310H Student Hearing Header

PSHR320 Student Tuberculosis

PSHR320H Student Tuberculosis Header

PSHR390 Student Vision


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PSHR390H Student Vision Header

PSHR400 Student Notes

PSHR400H Student Notes Header

PSHR501 Values from Prompt for QRYLST File

PSMS100 Access to all Student Records Items

PSMS110 Access to all Student Records Categories

PSMS120 Access to all Student Records Assignments

PSMS1101 Category Lines

PSMS1201 Category Assignment Lines

PSTULID Next School Student Number

PSTU102 District Options

PSTU107 General Student Attributes

PSTU108 Value Table For General Attributes

PSTU109 Graduation Requirement Plan Attribute Location

PSTU203 Suspension/Disposition Codes

PSTU206 Immunizations Definitions

PSTU209 Achievement Test Descriptions

PSTU210 City Code Definitions

PSTU221 Class Definitions

PSTU250 Mailing Label Definitions

PSTU251 Label Definitions

PSTU260 General Report Writer Formats

PSTU265 Locker Combinations

PSTU280 Student Tag Definitions


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PSTU280L Student Tag Verification Data

PSTU282 Student Tag Restricted Access

PSTU300 Alternate Student Number Reference

PSTU301 Basic Student Information

PSTU301X Basic Student Information Extension

PSTU302 Special Education Information

PSTU303H Student Discipline Header Record

PSTU303L Student Discipline Text Data

PSTU304H Student Tag Assignments

PSTU304L Student Tag Text

PSTU304M Student Tag Columnar Data

PSTU305C Additional Contact Information

PSTU305H Student Emergency Information

PSTU305L Student Emergency Information – Special Instruction

PSTU307 Bilingual Education Records

PSTU308 Optional Student Basic Information

PSTU309 Student Achievement Test Scores

PSTU310 Graduation Requirements

PSTU320 School Master Information

PSTU334 District Master Information

PSTU350 Family Information

PSTU370 Discipline Location Description

PSTU371 Discipline Referral Codes


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PSTU580 Student Tag Report Writer Formats

PSTU606S Abacus Unique School ID


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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Reviewing Switch Settings 217


Switch Settings

A switch setting, or program option, is a value that determines how a program functions. For example, switch settings can control:

l Whether all users can add, change, or delete records

l Whether the system displays certain fields on a panel

l Defaults for specific fields

Reviewing Switch SettingsYour system switch settings are set to fit the needs of the majority of CIMS G/T clients. You probably will not need to change them.

The system programmer assigned a number to each switch setting when creating the student application programs. The switch setting number ranges from 1 to 16, depending on where the switch is located in the menu item definitions.

If authorized, you can use ACS.310 – Maintain Menu Item Definitions in the ACS product to review your switch settings. The Menu Item Definition detail panel (panel reference ACS.310.13) lists each switch setting and its

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218 Student Application Switch Settings Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

status for the specified program under Program Options. Checking the box to the right of the switch setting enables that program option. Leaving the box unselected means that the program option is disabled.

Student Application Switch SettingsThe following charts list the switch settings for the SMS, SCH, SAS, and SGS software. The charts include the menu item and description for each switch setting.

Caution: Do not change your switch setting descriptions or the sequence in which the system displays them in ACS.350 – Maintain Program Technical Definitions.

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Student Application Switch Settings 219


SMS Switch Settings

The following SMS menu items contain default switch settings when you receive your system.

Program Menu Item Description

SCH.310 Courses Use alternate course descriptions?

SCH.320 Master Schedule Allow Delete of sections with student count greater than 0?

SCH.538 Print Teacher Rolls New page for same teacher/room/period?

STU.005 Student Record Access Restrictions

Allow users restricted to a school to have “Lookup” access?

STU.102 Student Record Options Use Alternate Student ID Verification panel?

STU.108 Table Values for Student Attributes

Allow entry of options for Alternate ID?

STU.209 Achievement Test Definitions Allow users restricted to a school to have “Update” access?

STU.301 Basic Student Information Default Family Record access to “Y?”

Default Emergency Record access to “Y?”

Default Registration Record access to “Y?”

Default Tag Assignments access to “Y?”

Default Request Records access to “Y?”

Default Health Records access to “Y?”

Allow changes to Last Year information?

Enable call to STU308 for Custom student record?

Include old and new family members on change of family number?

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STU.301E Access to All Student Records Disable access to the Registration Record?

Disable access to the Tag Assignments?

Disable access to the Transcript Records?

Disable access to the Health Record?

Disable access to the Graduation Status Display?

Disable access to the Student Grades?

Disable access to the Bilingual Education Record?

Disable access to the Achievement Test Scores?

Apply excess credits to ELECTIVE on graduation status?

Should credit earned be adjusted when credits are applied?

Display course attendance absences?

Display discipline records in ascending order?

Has the SGS product been installed at this location?

Has the SAS product been installed at this location?

STU.301M Access to Multiple Student Records

Allow changes to last year information?

Enable call to STU308 for Custom student record?



Display course attendance absences?

Display discipline records in ascending order?


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STU.301T Student Transfers Default course request removal response to “Y?”

Allow review of grades on Drop or Transfer?

Prevent usage of the Drop command for all users?

Prevent usage of the Transfer command for all users?

Blank next year district, school and class?

Make next year district, school and class same as current?

STU.320 School Information Use Alternate information?

STU.334 District Information Use Alternate information?

STU.519 Print Mailing Labels Enable immunization information selections?

STU.950 Remove All Records for a Student

Disable edit to allow deletion of students with attendance?


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SCH Switch Setting

The following SCH menu item contains a default switch setting when you receive your system.

SAS Switch Settings

The following SAS menu items contain default switch settings when you receive your system.


SCH.510 Print Course Requests Tally Eliminate separate count of alternate requests on tally?


ATT.210 Attendance Calendar Always display scheduled day code and term?

ATT.421 Enter Student Absences By Course and Section

Use course request “Add Date” when selecting students?

Use course request “Drop Date” when selecting students?

ATT.510 Print Absence Reason Worksheet

List students in student order?

List students in the order they are displayed in ATT.430?

List students by guardian?

ATT.620 Group Absence Maintenance Do work interactively? If “N”, updates will occur in batch.

STU.805 Preset Starting Enrollment History

Print listing when unable to create requested enrollment?

STU.910 Audit Enrollment History Print report at 66 Lines/Page? If “N”, will print at 88 L/P?

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SGS Switch Settings

The following SGS menu items contain default switch settings when you receive your system.


GRD.310 Display Student Graduation Requirements



GRD.450 Maintain Student Transcripts Must graduation requirement be entered for credit courses?

GRD.511 Print Report Cards Disable printing of **PERFECT ATTENDANCE**?

Limit attendance information to periods grades are reported?

GRD.570 Print Graduation Requirement Status



GRD.611 Compute Grades Always use next higher grade symbol?

GRD.665 Transcript Student Grades Use Credits Attempted for computing grade points?

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, July 14, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. 225


Index

Aabsences

withholding credit option 42absolute maximum

definition 32add/drop information

course requests 89individual course requests 85report 98

alternate course requestsdefinition 77scheduling options 29, 32–33switch setting 93

alternate match groupscomplexity considerations 180numbers 124schedules 162

annual fileslisting 208overview 207

attributesgraduation plan 49

auditing coursesscheduling option 29

automatic course requestsadding definitions 70course definition 64creating 57overview 97setup considerations 60

automatic schedulerassigning priorities 138fiscal year selection 135overfilling courses 137overview 131prerequisites 135pre-sorting students 132priorities for processing 192process flow diagram 134

process time note 141running 135status 140study halls 137techniques overview 167using master schedule 133

automatic schedulingchecklist 168maximums 191overview 8priorities 192processes 132

Bbalance factors

scheduling 36balancing sections 36batch scheduling 131block teaching example

match groups 184bold-face type

convention 3

Ccapacity of classrooms

setup 46Change command

master schedule 109, 121checklists

automatic scheduling 168master schedule 172, 175

class rosterschanging 91maintaining 90

class sizesetup 37

classroomsdefining 46

combined terms 21

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Index


Index 226 Copyright © 1997, 1999, July 14, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc.

commandsChange 109, 121Preset 105Process 83, 160

conflict matrixcourse definition 65courses to include 96overview 95printing reports 95

conflictscourse requests 88

continuous-feed paper 11conventions used in book 3copying course definitions 73counselor-assigned course requests

definition 77example 58

coupletsdefinition 55

course attendancemaster schedule 125study halls note 60

course catalogsadding descriptions 69including courses 65printing 74

course codesconsistency 47

course creditsscheduling options 28

course definitionscopying 73

course feesselection 26

course linksdefined 22

course listingprinting 74

course prefixesadding courses 60checking validity 27defining 47defining courses 54

course request worksheetslimiting content 82printing 80using 78

course requestsaccessing records 158, 160

add/drop dates 89adding to existing schedule 156alternate 29, 77automatic 54, 57, 70automatic generation 64, 97batch scheduling 136compilation form 78counselor-assigned 33, 77date information 88–89deleting students 93deleting unscheduled 198dropped 163duplicate 29editing 78elective 77entering 7, 83entering for individual student 85examples 58–59individual 84mass change 100overview 75prerequisites 80prescheduled 77processing 160required 33, 77restricting by tags 71scanning 7, 77scheduling options 32tally report 93types 77verification 78viewing 164

course requests tallyprinting 94

course scheduling linksadding 72

course sizebalancing 37setup 62

course tally reportcalculations 190

coursesadd and drop report 98adding 60auditing 29balancing sections 36creating requests automatically 57definition 6, 22, 53deleting students 93

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Copyright © 1997, 1999, July 14, 2000 National Computer Systems, Inc. Index 227


description for catalogs 69enrolling students 160fees 62grading information 65grading setup 67graduation requirements 49including in catalog 65including in GPA calculations 68including on honor roll 68links 54maintaining enrollment 90master schedule enrollment 123maximum level setup 32minimum student setup 61multiple periods 35overfilling 137prerequisites for creating 59scheduling options 26teaching multiple in one period 36

creating master schedule from proposed 174credits

course 28grade titles 67required for graduation plan 52transcripts 66

curriculum listing 74custom programming

description 17CUSTOMER LINK bulletin board services 17

Ddates

course requests 88–89day codes

master schedule 125setup 35

defining coursesoverview 6

display windowmultiple students option 205

districtsscheduling 24

drop datescourse requests 89

drop/add informationreport 98

dropped coursesindividual course requests 85

dropping courses

procedure 156duplicate course requests

scheduling options 29

Eeducation support

description 17elective course requests 77enhancement subscription

description 17enrolling students 160

Process command 83enrollment count

resetting 198ethnic balance

setup 37

Ffees

defining for courses 62selection 26

field namesconvention 3

final gradescredit calculation 67

fiscal yearautomatic scheduler note 135

formsused with Student Scheduling System 11

Ggathering course requests 78gender balance

setup 37GPA

credit 67including courses 68

grade levelsscheduling options 42

grade point average 67grade points

using in scheduling options 27grading options

course setup 60defining 41defining for courses 65setup for courses 67weighting factor for reports 67

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Index



graduation categoriesdefinition 68

graduation requirementscategory code entry 87credits 52defining 49plan code 51selection 27Student Management System interactionsdiagram 50

GRD.101 41grids

student availability 36

Hhomerooms

assigning 196honor rolls

including courses 68

Iimplementing SCH

beginning of the year 14end of the year 15middle of the year 14times to avoid 15

Internet supportdescription 17

italic typeconvention 3

Llink types

blank example 56course scheduling links 73definitions 55examples 56L examples 56matched example 57

linking coursesanalysis 180benefits 178course scheduling 72defined 22improving scheduling results 178match group analysis 180match groups 120, 180planning considerations 54

re-establishing definitions 199related program considerations 179scheduling options 30setup considerations 60types 55

linkscomplexity considerations 179course scheduling 72creation overview 6, 54exploding with tally report 94improving scheduling results 178overview 6re-establishing 199selection 30unscheduled 164updating status 190when to use 54

list of annual files 208list of non-annual files 211lists

class 90locator information

printing for students 166locator report 166long courses

setup 35

Mmanual scheduling

master schedule checklist 175mass change

course requests 100master schedule

automatic scheduler 133building 120by period 126checklist 172, 175course attendance 125course linking 120creating 109creating final 118creating for current year 108creating from last year 107creation overview 7definition 23maximum students 123minimum students 123overview 119presetting 105

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report 117resource allocation 116using for next year 105

match group numbersalternates 124automatic scheduler 138definition 55master schedule 124scheduling options 30

match groupsexamples 181–186, 188linking 120, 180setting scheduling options 30

match typesdefinitions 55

matrix by room report 128maximum course size

setup 32maximum students

master schedule 123minimum course size

setup 61minimum students

master schedule 123multi-period courses

setup 35multiple students

specifying on reports 202

Nnon-annual files

listing 211overview 207

non-credit coursesselection 26

numeric equivalent gradesusing in scheduling options 27

Oonline scheduler

overview 132status codes 163

option typesscheduling 25

overfilling coursesautomatic scheduler 137processing 191scheduling options 32

overfilling sections

processing schedules 162overview of SCH 6

PPATT files 208, 211period resource allocator

defined 23master schedule checklist 172overview 103periods unavailable 40process diagram 106processing 113processing hints 191reducing conflicts 114requirements for using 113restricting periods 191running 116scheduling 104selection 26system requirements 116

periodsadd/drop information 89defining 21, 40defining note 41master schedule 110resource allocator 40sequence warning 21

PGRD files 208, 211planning SCH software 8planning worksheets

overview 23plans for graduation

defining 49diagram 50

position windowmultiple students option 203

potential conflict matrixcourses to include 96overview 95printing reports 95

preferred maximumdefinition 32

preferred termscourse scheduling links 73scheduling options 29weighting 37

prescheduled course requestsdefinition 77link note 164

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Index



Preset commandmaster schedule 105

presetting proposed teacher master 105pre-sorting students 132, 136printing reports

multiple students 201Process command 83, 160processing course requests 160programs

GRD.101 41SCH.101 23SCH.310 60SCH.320 120SCH.330 109SCH.410 83, 160SCH.415 90SCH.510 93, 95SCH.515 95SCH.521 78SCH.538 152SCH.541 117SCH.550 74SCH.555 74SCH.561 126SCH.562 127SCH.564 127SCH.566 143SCH.568 128SCH.581 147SCH.582 150SCH.583 145SCH.588 78, 191SCH.590 80SCH.593 98SCH.606 97SCH.610 135SCH.610Q 140SCH.611 190, 198SCH.613 73SCH.615 113SCH.616 95SCH.621 108SCH.622 118SCH.630 198SCH.631 107SCH.638 196SCH.650 100SCH.684 190, 199STU.215 46

STU.220 47STU.240 44STU.310 49STU.570 166

proposed teacher mastercreating 109creating from current year 108creating from last year 107creation overview 7final 118presetting 105report 117selecting course options 26

PSCH files 208, 211PSHR files 211PSMS files 211PSTU files 208, 211

Rre-establish link definitions 199relinking status

updates 190reports

adds and drops 98course catalogs 74course listing 74master schedule by period 126master schedule matrix by room 128multiple students option 202page sizes 12period resource allocator prerequisites 114potential conflict matrix 95processing for multiple students 201proposed master by teacher 117room utilization 127student schedule list 150student schedules 147student schedules with errors 145teacher rolls 152teacher utilization 127unscheduled period analysis 143

required course requestsdefinition 77

requirementssoftware 10

resetting enrollmentprocessing 190

resetting enrollment count 198resetting schedules 132, 136, 162

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resource allocationdefinition 23prerequisites 106, 113procedure 116process 113process diagram 106scheduling 104using 104

room numbersverification 190verifying in schedules 35

roomscapacity 46defining 46master schedule 111utilization report 127

Sscanning course requests 77scanning forms 11SCH.101 23SCH.310 60SCH.320 120SCH.330 109SCH.410 83, 160SCH.415 90SCH.510 93, 95SCH.515 95SCH.521 78SCH.541 117SCH.550 74SCH.555 74SCH.561 126SCH.562 127SCH.564 127SCH.566 143SCH.568 128SCH.581 147SCH.582 150SCH.583 145, 152SCH.588 78, 191SCH.590 80SCH.593 98SCH.606 97SCH.610 135SCH.610Q 140SCH.611 190, 198SCH.613 73SCH.615 113

SCH.616 95SCH.621 108SCH.622 118SCH.630 198SCH.631 107SCH.638 196SCH.650 100SCH.684 190, 199schedules

changing 159changing before school begins 156completing 133limiting content 149printing 147, 161, 165process flow diagram 79reset option 132resetting 136, 162reviewing 133revision overview 8viewing 160, 165

schedulingassigning priorities 138automatic 135change overview 155hints 190miscellaneous hints 190monitoring progress 138, 141process flow diagram 134tips for improving results 167, 178

scheduling conceptscourses 22linking courses 22master schedule 23options overview 23overview 21periods and terms 21resource allocator 22

scheduling functionsStudent Management System 20

scheduling linkscourse definition 63defining courses 63

scheduling optionsalternate course requests 33balancing sections 36course credit 28course requests 33course size 37courses 26

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Index



courses in same period 36day codes 35defining grading options 41defining periods 40defining terms 38district, school, and year 24ethnic balance 37gender balance 37multiple-period courses 35option types 25overview 19, 23preferred terms 37sections 35student availability grids 36transcripts 27verifying room numbers 35withholding credit for absences 42

schoolsscheduling 24

seatsmaster schedule 111

sectionsautomatic scheduler processing 192balancing 36determination overview 7master schedule 110, 122scheduling options 35

selection windowmultiple students option 204

sequenceperiods 21

sex balancecourse setup 37

software requirementsStudent Scheduling System 10

source code supportdescription 17

status codesscheduling 163

STU.215 46STU.220 47STU.240 44STU.310 49student availability grids

scheduling options 36student groups

changing course requests 100student information

printing 166

student locator cards 166Student Management System

scheduling functions 20student schedule list

printing 150student schedules

displaying 165limiting content 149printing 147, 161, 165–166process flow diagram 79revision overview 8verification 78

Student Schedules with Errors report 145Student Scheduling System

application diagram 11overlap with Student Management System 20overview 6planning considerations 8software requirements 10training 16

study hallsautomatic scheduler 137course attendance 60processing schedules 162

suppliesused with Student Scheduling System 11

supportcustom programming 17enhancement subscription 17Internet 17source code 17

switch settingsSAS 222SCH 222SCH.320 121SCH.510 93SCH.538 152SGS 223SMS 219

synonyms for terms 39

Ttags

course request examples 58–59restricting automatic course requests 71

tally reportcourse requests 93

teacherscodes 44

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defining 44master schedule 109multiple courses in same period 36number in CIMS 45period resource allocator 104rolls 152short name 44utilization report 127

team teaching examplematch groups 185–186

termscombined 21date ranges 38defining 38defining for courses 62defining note 38definition 21individual course requests 87master schedule 110preferred 29, 73synonyms 39

trainingNCS 16

transcriptscourse credits 66grading options 27

Uunscheduled period analysis

printing 143unscheduled requests

deleting 198

Vvalid day codes

scheduling options 35

Wweighting factor

reports 67

Yyear

scheduling 24

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Index



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Documents

Student Scheduling System Guide