Fall 2017/Winter 2018

Timetable in DCU

December 5, 2016

Fall 2017/Winter 2018 Timetable Production Schedule

2

Date Activity

December 1st DCU is open for Fall 2017/Winter 2018

data entry.

February 1st DCU is closed for data entry; Deadline

for STA forms.

April 10th Deadline to review prerequisites at the

course levelMay 2nd Fall 2017/Winter 2018 timetable

uploaded to Banner

Fall 2017/Winter 2018 Timetable Production Schedule

3

Date Activity

May 2nd – May

12thDepartmental Timetable Coordinators

review timetable and submit changes.

May 26th Timetable is published on Carleton

Central

August 31st Post room assignments on Carleton

Central + students are notified of a

time/room change via auto email

notification

DCU

� DCU is a web-based module that eases the

collection of departmental scheduling

information and ensures that departmental

users are submitting information in a common,

consistent and understandable format.

� Go to http://dcu.carleton.ca and login to DCU

using your network login and password.

4

DCU

Email timetabling@carleton.ca if

� you have not been given access to all the

departments under your administration

� an active catalogue course is missing under

Courses

� a course that is no longer active in the catalogue

is displayed under Courses

� an active instructor is missing under Instructors

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How to start

� When you are ready to edit/enter course

information for the 201730-201810 timetabling

cycle, run SCH_INTERNAL_XLS or SCH_INTERNAL

report in Banner for the 201630 and 201710

terms.

� Mark the changes on a copy of the report.

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SES website – excellent source of

information!

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� Timetabling Documentation:http://carleton.ca/ses/content-timetabling-administrators/

Special Timetabling Arrangement

(STA) Requests

� STA requests DID NOT roll over from last year.

� Departmental Timetabling Coordinators collect STA

information from instructors

� We suggest that the STA data collection form

(http://carleton.ca/ses/wp-content/uploads/STA-

data-collection-form.pdf) is emailed to instructors;

they complete the form and return it to the

Departmental Timetabling Coordinator

8

Special Timetabling Arrangement

(STA) Requests

� When an instructor makes an STA request, the

Departmental Timetabling Coordinator contacts the

Chair of the department to assign an appropriate

category to the request.

� Then the Departmental Timetabling Coordinator

enters the STA information, including the assigned

category, into the DCU.

�STA Examples: http://carleton.ca/ses/timetabling/preparing-for-

coordinated-timetable/examples-of-special-

timetable-arrangements/9

Special Timetabling Arrangement

(STA) Requests

� Category 1 (Legislative Requirements): Carleton

Human Rights Policy

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Special Timetabling Arrangement

(STA) Requests

� Category 2 (Reported Circumstances): A medical

condition not covered by Category 1;

family/personal issues of a serious nature, other

official academic responsibilities

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Special Timetabling Arrangement

(STA) Requests

� Category 3 (May Accommodate): Category 3

requests will be considered and will be

accommodated if possible

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Special Timetabling Arrangement

(STA) Requests

� Requests of preferential or convenience matter

should not be submitted as STA.

� Use AM/PM preference on the Instructor Editing

screen to submit such requests.

13

Special Timetabling Arrangement

(STA) Requests

� Not approved as STA:

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Forced times

� Forced times requests (the proposed schedule along

with the rationale) must be submitted to the

University Timetabling Committee, for approval

review.

� This proposal can be sent via memo or an email to

Suzanne Blanchard.

� Approval is NOT necessary for contract instructors.

Details regarding contract instructors should be

recorded in the Time Requirement text box on the

Component Editing screen in DCU.

15

Forced rooms

� Departmental rooms can be forced by departmental

administrators in the DCU without approval; this

information will not be purged.

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Day and Evening patterns

� Every day is divided into 3-hour blocks

� If the course is offered twice or three times a week,

all pieces should have the same start time.

� If the course is offered twice a week, there should

be a day in between the offerings (MW, TR, WF)

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Most popular patterns

� 1X3 is the simplest pattern since all we need to do is

offer it once within a block every day of the week

(8:30 – 11:30, 11:30 – 14:30 and 14:30 – 17:30

during the day and 18:00 – 21:00 in the evening).

� 2X15 This pattern offered Tuesday and Thursday,

Monday & Wednesday, Wednesday & Friday twice

within a block (8:30 – 10:00, 10:00 – 11:30, etc.…).

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Day and Evening patterns

� 3X1 Offered on three times within a block (8:30 –

9:30, 9:30 – 10:30, 10:30 – 11:30, etc.). Please note

that 3X1 pattern is VERY RARELY used at Carleton!

� Other patterns are set up as subsets or

combinations of the 1X3, 2X15 and 3X1 patterns.

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Off-pattern timeslot requests

� If a timeslot selected for a course overlaps the

blocks, it is called off-pattern. For example, 12 – 3

PM timeslot overlaps two blocks: 11:30 – 14:30 and

14:30 – 17:30.

� Off-pattern scheduling arrangements should be

used in exceptional cases only as they affect student

timetables and room utilization.

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Off-pattern timeslot requests

� Off-pattern timeslot requests (the proposed

schedule along with the rationale) must be

submitted to the University Timetabling Committee,

for approval review.

� If the request is approved, the departmental

timetabling coordinator will then enter the off-

pattern timeslot requirement information into the

DCU (Time Requirements text box on the

Component Editing screen).

21

Departmental Meetings

� Time requested by academic departments for

departmental meeting or other

administrative/academic activities should not

exceed 3 hours and must follow the time slot

system

� Any requests that fall outside of these parameters

must be sent to the University Timetabling

Committee, for approval.

� If the request is approved, the submitter will be

notified by the UTC, and the departmental

timetabling coordinator will then enter the

departmental meeting information into the DCU.22

TA Ties

� TA Ties are ties between graduate and

undergraduate courses. Teaching assistants (TAs) for

undergraduate courses are typically hired from a

pool of grad students.

� TA Ties ensure that both the graduate course and

undergraduate course are assigned to be scheduled

conflict-free.

� 2016-17 TA Ties have been rolled over into 2017-18

� SCH_TA_TIES_VALIDATION_REPORT displays TA Ties

entered into SZATTDT for a selected department in a

selected term.23

TA Ties

� All changes to TA Ties should be done in SZATTDT

form in Banner.

� SZATTDT is now open for data entry; it will be closed

on February 1, 2017.

� Please note that although we strive to fulfill all TA

Ties, in some cases it is not possible due to other

constraints imposed on courses (e.g. STA requests).

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Course Combinations

� A course combination is a set of courses that are

required to be scheduled conflict free for a specific

number of students in a program.

� Course combinations are entered into the DCU by

departmental timetabling coordinators.

� 60 students in program X will be taking BUSI 1004,

ECON 1000 and BUSI 1800 in the Fall term

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Course Combinations

Academic block:

BUSI 1004 A

BUSI 1800 A

BUSI 1800 A01

ECON 1000 A

ECON 1000 A01.26

Course Combination:BUSI 1004ECON 1000BUSI 1800

�Course combinations are used by the TPHi-Assignermodule to automatically create the required academicblocks which are then used in the timetabling process.

�An academic block is a set of course sections(CRNs) that need to be scheduled conflict free.

Course Combinations

� It is important to capture the program

requirements in all their variety to make sure

that students in the program get a conflict free

timetable.

� Do you have a new program? Have there been

changes for one of your old programs? Do you

wish to restructure an existing course

combination?

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Add a New Course Combination

� When constructing a course combination, the

best starting point is the undergraduate and

graduate calendars.

� Identify the core/elective/optional courses that

are required to be conflict free with each other

so that students in a program can take them in

the same term to fulfill the program

requirements.

� It is not recommended to include more than 6

courses in a course combination. Students rarely

take more than 6 courses in a given term.

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Add a New Course Combination• Start with the program requirements in the

calendar:

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Course Combinations

� Course Combinations are term specific. Fall term

courses are listed in one block and winter term

courses are listed separately in another block.

� You need to know which term (fall or winter) the

courses are offered in so that you can include them

in the appropriate course combination.

� Only one section from a cross-list needs to be

recorded.

� More info on course combinations:

http://carleton.ca/ses/content-timetabling-

administrators/30

Course Combinations Template

� If there is no need to use a specific course

offering OR

� If there is only one section of the course,

LEAVE THE SECTION FIELD BLANK

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Program Registration Report

� SCH_PROGRAM_REGISTRATION_XLS report

displays student registration in a selected term.

� Run the report to see courses in which students

in your department were registered in the

previous academic term.

� Filter the report by Major Description and (for

undergraduate programs only) by Class (U1,

U2…).

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Student Count

� Review student count for your course

combinations

� Student count must be as realistic as possible,

although it is still a guess. Use the SZACOMB form

in Banner to realistically estimate the student

count for a course combination.

� Use REG_ENRPROG report for information on

enrolment by program (undergraduate programs

only). For example, if you have only 50 students in

the program, you should not set the student count

to 100!

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Student Count� Use SZACOMB form in Banner to check how

many students were enrolled

� in each course of a course combination in the

previous like term and

� in all courses of a course combination at the

same time in the previous like term

� SZACOMB counts do not include students who

registered in the course initially but dropped the

course later.

� CUOL courses are excluded from the count.

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Student Count

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Student Count

• Enter the term, the department, select a major code

from the Major pick list and a class (year of study)

code from the Class pick list.

• Enter the courses that form the course combination.

Note that the Number of students enrolled in course

column displays the number of students in the

selected major and class enrolled in each entered

course in the selected term.

• Click on the Calculate total per Combination button

to see the number of students enrolled in all courses

of the course combination in the selected term.

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Restructuring a Course Combination

Example 1� Note two language courses in this course combination

� This course combination claims 30 seats in SPAN1110 and

ITAL1010 for first year BUSI BIB students.

� Most likely students will not be taking both language

courses in the same term.

� It is likely that the students will be taking either SPAN1110

or ITAL1010 in the Fall term to satisfy their language

requirement.

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Course

Combination Program ID Level

Faculty

ID

Department

ID

Faculty

ID

Depart

ment ID Course ID

Catego

ry ID

Studen

t Count

Comme

nt

BUSI BIB Block 1- BUSI BIB 1 1 7BUSI 7BUSI BUSI1004 F C 30

BUSI BIB Block 1- BUSI BIB 1 1 7BUSI 7BUSI BUSI1701 F C 30

BUSI BIB Block 1- BUSI BIB 1 1 7BUSI 8LALS SPAN1110 F C 30

BUSI BIB Block 1- BUSI BIB 1 1 7BUSI 9ECON ECON1000 F C 30

BUSI BIB Block 1- BUSI BIB 1 1 7BUSI 8LALS ITAL1010 F C 30

Restructuring a Course Combination Example 1� To reflect student demand more accurately, it is

recommended to divide the student original combination

into two smaller combination with only one language

course.

� Student count for each new course combination is

assigned proportionally (10 students are expected to take

ITAL1010, 20 students – SPAN 1110).

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Course Combination Program ID Level Faculty ID

Department

ID Faculty ID Department ID Course ID

Category

ID

Student

Count Comment

BUSI BIB Block 1- BUSI BIB 1 1 7 BUSI 7 BUSI BUSI1004 F C 10

BUSI BIB Block 1- BUSI BIB 1 1 7 BUSI 7 BUSI BUSI1701 F C 10

BUSI BIB Block 1- BUSI BIB 1 1 7 BUSI 9 ECON ECON1000 F C 10

BUSI BIB Block 1- BUSI BIB 1 1 7 BUSI 8 LALS ITAL1010 F C 10

Course Combination Program ID Level Faculty ID

Department

ID Faculty ID Department ID Course ID

Category

ID

Student

Count Comment

BUSI BIB Block 2- BUSI BIB 1 1 7 BUSI 7 BUSI BUSI1004 F C 20

BUSI BIB Block 2- BUSI BIB 1 1 7 BUSI 7 BUSI BUSI1701 F C 20

BUSI BIB Block 2- BUSI BIB 1 1 7 BUSI 8 LALS SPAN1110 F C 20

BUSI BIB Block 2- BUSI BIB 1 1 7 BUSI 9 ECON ECON1000 F C 20

Prerequisites

� Prerequisites are not part of DCU

� Prerequisites in Banner have two

levels: course level (SCAPREQ)

and section level (SSAPREQ).

� When the new timetable is built

and uploaded to Banner, course

sections (CRNs) will ”inherit”

prerequisites stored at the course

level (SCAPREQ).39

Course level:

E.g. ECON 2400

(SCAPREQ)

Section level:

E.g. ECON 2400 A

(SSAPREQ)

Prerequisites

Prerequisites at the course level� It is important that you review your prerequisites

at the course level before the first upload, to

make sure that course sections inherit the right

prerequisites.

�For the Fall 2017/winter 2018 timetable

deadline is April 10th

� To review prerequisites stored at the course level,

run the new report SCH_COURSE_LEVEL_PREREQ

(enter the term 201730).

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Prerequisites at the course level� To modify existing prerequisites at the course

level, go to the SCAPREQ form, enter Subject,

Course number and the term 201730, perform

Next Block and click on the Course Prerequisites

Restrictions tab.

� Note: Far Fall/Winter courses enter 201730 even if

the course is offered in the Winter!!! In this case

201730 is not the term when the course is offered,

it is the calendar “effective” term for prerequisites.

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Prerequisites at the course level

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� To change prerequisites at the course level click on

the Maintenance button (if enabled), select copy

restriction, make the change and save.

Prerequisites at the section level� After the first upload, any changes to prerequisites

should be done at both levels (in SCAPREQ and

SSAPREQ).

� At that point, changes made at the course level

will not be passed to the section level and vice

versa.

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DCU Closure� DCU will be closed on February 1st (end of day)

� After DCU is closed for data entry, you will be able

to access DCU to view the data you had submitted

and to assign instructors.

� DCU will be locked in March and April for timetable

building. During these months administrators will

be submitting requests for instructor assignments

through SZACHRU form in Banner.

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Invalid Primary Indicator Assignment Warning

� The warning message will appear for components

with no instructors assigned. Changes will be

saved. Ignore the message.

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DCU Support• Email: timetabling@carleton.ca

• Julia Piatigorskaia: ext. 8877

• Phay Mui: ext. 8803

Documentation: http://carleton.ca/ses/content-

timetabling-administrators/

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Working on the Timetable for Your

Department: Best Practices

Laura Thomas, Administrator

Department of Biology

Institute of Biochemistry

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