Welcome to spring 2014!

Winter break classroom renovations and updates

Several general purpose classrooms received environment or technology updates during winter break, which include the following:

• Technology
  feature upgrades
  were completed in selected rooms in Ford,
  Peik, MCBB, and Amundson. Peters 155 in St. Paul was also
  newly renovated.


• Class
  Capture and recording features were
  added to Carlson 2-213 & 2-215 through a partnership with CSOM
  and OIT.


• Furnishing
  upgrades included improved
  acoustic ceilings, lighting, paint, and marker boards in both Fraser Hall auditoriums.


• The classroom
  network connection can now display your Apple TV unit in
  all OCM rooms.

Remember to
locate your classroom assignment

Room assignments for spring 2014 classes are available on the One Stop Class Schedule. Please note: room
assignments are subject to change prior to the start of term. While this
usually only affects a small number of classes, verify your classroom
assignment before the first class meeting. If you have specific questions about
your room assignment, contact your department scheduling coordinator.



Classroom technology instructions & videos

Classroom technology instructions for each building provide a list of equipment
and additional features, a list of rooms that include the equipment/features,
and a representative image of the instructor station in each classroom.

• Find technology instructions & videos

Orientation
is available upon request for those who want to learn more about the technology
features. For any questions, contact OCM Classroom Support or 612-625-1086.



OCM News Blog

Stay informed about general purpose classrooms and student study spaces by
visiting the OCM new blog. Here, you can find news
and information throughout the semester. It is accessible via the OCM website or by subscribing using your favorite RSS
feed/blog reader.


Contact us

OCM is available to help with any questions, concerns, or comments regarding
general purpose classrooms or central student study spaces. Contact us via the
Classroom Support Hotline:

• Call
  612-625-1086


• Email
  classrm@umn.edu


• Via Service Now

The
hotline is available from 7:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday. Messages left at the
Hotline are monitored by an on-call manager for response as appropriate after
these hours.

Astra Schedule outage Jan. 16

Astra Schedule will be unavailable Thursday, Jan. 16 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. for a planned system upgrade. Updates on the outage will be available on the University's IT Service Status page.

Please contact the Office of Classroom Management (OCM) at ocmsoftwarehelp@umn.edu with any questions.

Enrollment capacities in ECS restored

Enrollment caps on Twin Cities pre-thesis, thesis, and full-time equivalency classes for spring, summer, and fall 2014, as well as spring 2015, have been repopulated to correct an accidental system error. They have been reset to the default setting of 200.

This correction applies to all 8666, 8777, 8888, 8333, and 8444 courses. Departmental schedulers may adjust these enrollment capacities, as appropriate for individual programs. 

If you have any questions, please contact the Student Records Training & Support Team at srhelp@umn.edu or 612-625-2803.

OCM is now on Twitter!

The Office of Classroom Management (OCM) has joined Twitter! Be sure to follow for the latest classroom and scheduling news, as well as updates on classroom upgrades and projects. It's also a great way to communicate with OCM staff regarding any questions or concerns you may have about room scheduling, study space, or classroom technology.

Releasing reserve seats

If reserved group seats have not been released by departments, Academic Support Resources (ASR) will do so for spring 2014 (1143) on Friday, January 17. Reserved group seats are always released the Friday before the first day of class each semester.

You may choose to release reserved seats prior to January 17 to increase enrollment. Guidelines for the Management of Reserved Group Seats are available to help department schedulers determine the appropriate release date. For questions on how to release reserved seats, contact the Student Records Training & Support Team at srhelp@umn.edu or 612-625-2803.

Spring semester starts Tuesday, Jan. 21

Spring semester starts next week! Review the Class Schedule for your department to ensure all classes requiring a general purpose classroom have been assigned a room. Contact Scheduling with any questions.

Note that room assignments are subject to change prior to the start of the term. While this usually only affects a small number of classes, the Office of Classroom Management (OCM) encourages instructors to verify their classroom assignment before the first class meeting. 

Remember to cancel classes with no enrollment for spring 2014 (1143). This will ensure the room assignment is released and the class is accurately displayed on the Class Schedule. 

Spring meeting and event requests

Spring 2014 weekend meeting and event requests have begun processing, and weekday evening and daytime requests will begin next week. Scheduling priority is first given to academic courses in general purpose classrooms and then to academic-related activities. Spaces for special events are not guaranteed, other than those for credited academic classes and their final exams.

General meeting and event requests are scheduled prior to the start of the semester. Requests will be processed in the order in which they are received. Event reservations for upcoming semesters will be held in the request queue and subsequently processed in the order in which they are received. Weekend and evening requests are filled before weekday requests. Most prime time requests are not processed until the first week of the semester.

Scheduling will assign each reservation to the most appropriate space available. Requests for specific rooms or spaces will be honored when possible. Scheduling reserves the right to re-assign space and identify suitable alternative space when necessary.