Registrar’s Office Launches New Classroom Scheduling Software, Seeks Campus Feedback

With limited classroom space on campus, the need for effective classroom scheduling across the Institute is more important than ever. To address this challenge, the Registrar's Office launched a new classroom scheduling optimization tool, 25Live, in October that was utilized for Spring Semester classroom assignments.

"Georgia Tech has handled classroom scheduling in much the same way for many years," said Reta Pikowsky, associate vice provost and registrar. "After a comprehensive look at this process, we realized our existing approach was no longer fair or optimal for the needs of our community. Campus has changed, as have the educational needs of our students. As an Institute, it is central to our core values to be responsible stewards, and that includes thoughtful, strategic stewardship of our educational spaces - thus, the move to 25Live, a tool that we believe can help us achieve this goal."

The tool was implemented as part of a three-pronged solution that includes the ongoing conversion of event spaces into classroom-compatible spaces and the refurbishment of outdated classrooms. Efforts were guided by the Strategic Growth Management Steering Committee and the Provost's Advisory Committee on Academic Scheduling, which includes a group of administrators and faculty, as well as graduate student representatives, from Colleges and units across the Institute. Already, these efforts have allowed around 2,000 more students to secure seats in physical classrooms.

Because booking classroom space and time for hundreds of classes with varying instructional needs is quite a feat for schedulers to coordinate each semester, rooms and labs are allocated based on a set of Institute-approved guiding principles. These principles recognize that course and program-level pedagogical needs and priorities vary widely - both within and across campus communities. 25Live takes into account details the previous manual system didn't, for example, maximum room capacity and course size, and uses those numbers for right-size space deployment. Both official accommodation requests and exception requests will continue to be taken into consideration by schedulers; the implementation of 25Live does not negate these existing policies.

However, spring semester classroom assignments may look different because of 25Live. It is possible, for instance, that a class that may have met in the same place for a number of semesters will have a new location - if it has been deemed that the new location is a more efficient fit. Matching the needs of faculty and classes to classroom space is a process that will continue to be refined moving forward, according to the provost's office. Significant work will continue to be done to use the technology to its maximum benefit and gather data to support decision-making and planning, ensuring a future where efficiency supports better service for all of Georgia Tech.

"The administration understands that a change in classroom location can be an adjustment or a frustration," said Karie Davis-Nozemack, executive chief of staff and associate provost in the Office of the Provost. "The implementation of any new enterprise tool can be a challenge. It is of the utmost importance to our success as a community that we hear from our schedulers and instructors about their experience with this new tool, so that we can continuously improve the booking experience and refine the tool's use. This feedback is critically important."

The Office of the Provost has created a feedback form for use by anyone in the campus community affected by classroom scheduling. Faculty and staff feedback is invited through this form, and the Office of the Registrar will also directly engage campus schedulers to examine successes and challenges experienced this semester. Feedback from these efforts will be taken into consideration to improve future scheduling iterations.

Writer: Brittany Aiello, Faculty Communications Program Manager, Executive Communications, Institute Communications