• Overview
• Projects Underway
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  • Classroom Scheduling and Utilization
  • Facilities Maintenance and Upkeep
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• Guidelines
  • Capital Project Guidelines
  • Food Service Planning Guidelines
  • Office Space Guidelines
  • Research Space Guidelines
  • Target Goals for Classroom Utilization
• Resources and Tools
  • Utilization reporting and information
  • Building and space information
  • Utilities information
  • Additional resources
• News and Events
• Contact

system to capture non-class events in classrooms

• Overview
• Scope
• About the system
• Estimated timeline
• Current status
• Project team
• Communications and training
• For more information

Overview

To better understand how classrooms are used and to determine if a classroom is available for use, information on all classroom activities (classes and non-class events) must be stored in a central system. On the Ann Arbor campus, classes are currently recorded in the central M-Pathways system, but most non-class events (dissertation defenses, department meetings, etc.) are recorded in other departmental scheduling systems.

This project was implemented to capture all non-class events that are scheduled in classrooms and ensure that this information is stored in the central M-Pathways system. This enables academic and administrative units to have complete classroom utilization information, identify classrooms that are available for use (sharing), and allow for more effective space management campus-wide.

All units with general purpose classrooms are being asked to maintain scheduling information in M-Pathways by June 30, 2010.

Scope

This project applies to all units with classrooms on the Ann Arbor campus. Units may choose to use M-Pathways for other types of rooms (class labs, open labs), but activities in these other rooms do not need to be stored in M-Pathways.

About the system

The M-Pathways Student Administration system is being enhanced to enable units to:

• Enter non-class events directly into M-Pathways or upload non-class events from a departmental scheduling system
• Search M-Pathways for classrooms that are available for use
• View a classroom calendar
• Schedule a classroom (your own department/unit) or request the use of a classroom from another department

A number of schools and colleges have started transitioning from their departmental scheduling systems to M-Pathways. One of the main reasons for the transition is that it eliminates the extra time and effort that was needed to schedule classes in M-Pathways (required for registration) and to schedule classes and events in other systems. It also eliminates the risk of multiple scheduling systems becoming out of sync.

NOTE: At some point in the coming months, use of the M-Pathways system or uploading scheduling data from existing scheduling systems will be required campus wide. If your department, school or college is interested in learning more about the M-Pathways scheduling enhancements or the data upload process or would like to be an early adopter of the system, please contact space.utilization@umich.edu.

Estimated Timeline

• July to August 2008: Finalize project plan including development estimates to determine rest of project plan and implementation date.
• September 2008 to February 2009: Implement M-Pathways system solution for the data entry, upload/interface, and room viewer of events scheduled in classrooms.
• March 2009 to June 2009: Volunteer schools/colleges and departments participate in early adoption of system and provide system and business process feedback.
• July 2009: Schools/colleges and departments with classrooms begin entering non-class event data into M-Pathways.
• June 2010: All schools/colleges and departments with general purpose classrooms will need to maintain classroom scheduling information in M-Pathways (by June 30, 2010).

Current Status

• 10/09: Demonstrations of the event scheduling features of M-Pathways continue with additional units on campus. System enhancements requested by the pilot users and the Registrar's Office have been prioritized. MAIS is estimating the amount of development time it will take to make these requested system changes. All schools/colleges and departments with general purpose classrooms are being asked to maintain classroom scheduling information in M-Pathways by June 30, 2010. Provost's Office will coordinate additional demonstrations to the remaining schools/colleges and departments on campus.

• 8/09: Additional units who were not part of the pilot have requested to use the system.
• 7/09: Nearly all departments that piloted the system are now using M-Pathways as their primary scheduling system. Decision is to go forward with a phased campus rollout.
• 6/09: Pilot comments and requests for change are being prioritized by the user group and project sponsors. A Go/Delay decision for a campus-wide rollout is expected in late June or July.
• 5/09: Additional pilot units began using the new M-Pathways functionality, including English, Psychology, Philosophy, and the School of Music, Theater, and Dance. Departments outside of the pilot group were interested in the new functionality and also began using M-Pathways for recording events in classroom. Pilot users' feedback and requests for change are being collected for review in June.
• 4/09: The pilot began with the College of Engineering, Registrar's Office, and the International Center. Discussions are in progress with additional pilot units.
• 3/09: Phase 1 basic system functionality development work is completed. Four academic units agreed to be part of the pilot, which will kick off this month.
• 1/09: MAIS has finalized Phase 1 system functionality and is targeting 1st quarter 2009 to pilot the new non-class event capturing tools. MAIS, Provost's Office, and Registrar's Office are currently identifying a group of academic units to be early adopters of the new tools and assist in the Phase 1 pilot.
• 12/08: MAIS has completed End User Acceptance Testing of the new non-class event capturing tools and has compiled a list of feedback and comments to review and prioritize. MAIS, Provost's Office, and Registrar's Office are finalizing Phase 1 system functionality.
• 11/08: Regular user group meetings are being conducted to help define and prioritize functional requirements for the data entry page and room viewer. Development tasks are underway based on the user group feedback and recommendations.
• 10/08: A user group was established with representatives from various academic units and the Registrar's Office to help define system requirements and provide feedback on the user interface design. End user involvement throughout the design and development process ensures that the final system solution meets the business needs of academic units and the campus as a whole. Academic units include Art & Design, Engineering, LSA, and the Ross School of Business.
• 9/08: Background, system, and use data were gathered to develop a project charge/scope. The project charge and resources were approved by the MAIS Leadership committee.

Project Team

This project is being led by Michigan Administrative Information Services (MAIS), in collaboration with the Office of the Registrar, Office of the Provost, and academic units.

Communications and Training

• Training resources will be listed as they become available.

For More Information

Please refer to the following for other related information:

• Shared Scheduling of Classrooms (8am-12pm)
• Classroom Scheduling and Utilization Project Overview
• Target Goals for Classroom Utilization
• Classroom Utilization Reports and Data Warehouse

For more information on the Space Utilization Initiative, contact space.utilization@umich.edu.

 

Last updated: 10/15/09