Review room assignments for fall (1229)

While OCM is still working to assign classrooms for all classes, most room assignments for fall 2022 are available on the Class Schedule.

• The Office of Classroom Management (OCM) only finds general-purpose classrooms for classes with a blank Facility ID in CCS. If the Facility ID field is populated (including a virtual space such as ROOM000TBA), OCM is not actively looking for a classroom for your class.
• Changes to room assignments do not generate automated emails. If you change a classroom assignment, you must notify instructors and students directly.
• Room assignments are subject to change prior to the start of the term. While this usually only impacts a small number of classes, instructors should be encouraged to verify their classroom assignments before the first class meeting.
• If you are planning to cancel any classes for the fall, please do so as soon as you know they will no longer be offered. If students are enrolled, email the students to let them know and contact ocmsched@umn.edu to cancel the class. If there are no students enrolled in the class, you can cancel classes directly in CCS.

Spring 2023 (1233) scheduling is in progress

CCS Open Initial Build for spring 2023 (1233) closes at the end of the day (11:59 p.m.) on July 5, 2022 to make general-purpose classroom assignments for spring classes. Please make any changes by the end of the day Tuesday, July 5, 2022.

Prior to CCS closing, make sure to do the following:

1. Work with your faculty and instructors to obtain updated information for the term.
2. Update class information using the CCS pages in PeopleSoft:
• Cancel class sections that will not be offered this term.
• Set realistic enrollment limits and requested room capacities (+/- 10% of last year’s enrollments).
• Input instructor information and grade access in CCS.
• Adjust non-standard class meeting times to a standard time.
• Review classes outside of the Regular Session to ensure it is in the appropriate academic session (remember that classes in the extended regular session are typically not eligible for financial aid).
• Indicate the required room characteristics (technology, seating styles, etc.) needed to facilitate teaching and learning by using the room characteristic codes accessible on the meeting pattern page of CCS.
• Email ocmsched@umn.edu to add facility ROOM000TBA or NOROOMREQD to all class meeting patterns that will not require any room assignment or that will meet in a small office space.
• Use Astra Schedule to assign departmental classrooms and labs directly to class sections.
3. Review the Class Scheduling Distribution Summary Report to assess department/college compliance with the distribution of meeting times (no more than 3% in any standard time block) and distribution of meeting patterns (no more than 50% meeting on Tuesday/Thursday).
4. Avoid scheduling class sections in high-demand periods/days.

Working with session dates/codes

Sessions are a range of dates that define when classes are held during the academic term. Most classes during a term are held during the “Regular Academic Session,” which means it starts on the first day of class and ends on the last day of classes. However, there are additional sessions per term, and it is very important that a class be updated anytime the regular session dates do not align with when the class will be meeting.

Sessions are updated in the UM CSS Maintain Sched of Class page, on the basic data tab, by clicking on the lookup next to the sessions field and choosing the session that most closely aligns with when the class is being held:

Why is having your class in the correct session important? Session codes/dates affect:

• financial aid eligibility
• late registration fees
• refunds
• add/drop dates
• grade rosters
• and more

Also, once students have enrolled in a class, the session can no longer be adjusted, so having it set up correctly before students enroll is very important.

For more information on Session codes please read: Working with Session Codes. OCM maintains a list of session codes/dates per term.

New Jadu form for finals

We are working on a new form for requesting a classroom to hold an in-person final exam. Right now, there are two forms: one to request a classroom and one to indicate if something about the final exam needs to change. Starting fall 2022, we will have one form that will allow you to request a classroom for multiple classes at a time and request changes if needed to each final exam listed. We will share more information as we continue to work on this process.

New Astra Access Request Form (ARF)

We have changed our Astra ARF from a WorkflowGen form to a Team Dynamix (TDX) form to complete access requests. TDX is what most PeopleSoft ARFs currently use, so you are likely already familiar with it. Employees will still go to z.umn.edu/astraarf to request access. The new form asks for the same information as the previous one, just using a different method.