Upgrade to Astra Schedule

Astra Schedule will undergo a planned system upgrade on Friday, August 11. Access to Astra Schedule will be unavailable from Friday, August 11 from 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. This upgrade does not affect PeopleSoft or CCS. Updates on the outage will be available on the University's IT Service Status page.

After this upgrade, users will notice the following changes:

1. Scheduling Grids – Significantly faster loading times. 
2. Event Summaries – The subject line of the email will now auto populate with the Event Name and Reservation Number 
3. Event Request Notifications – Now will include the actual event reservation number instead of a previously used event request number.
4. Inactive Customer Contacts – Will no longer appear on drop down menus on the Event Request forms. 

If you have any questions about the upgrade, please contact ocmsoftwarehelp@umn.edu.

Assign instructors to classes

A presentation of the internal audit for PeopleSoft Campus Solutions was given at the February 2017 Registrar's Advisory Committee (RAC) meeting. The conclusions of the audit were that the system is doing its job, but some users are frustrated. Class schedule data entry errors were highlighted, noting that the 300+ system-wide Collaborative Class Scheduling (CCS) users impact the quality of data. Specific audit findings of note:

• 725 of 1,101 (66%) graduate students were entered as Primary Instructor instead of Teaching Assistant
• 2,234 of 7,521 (30%) classes with no instructor listed
• Meeting patterns set up incorrectly 

Two bullets highlight the importance of instructor information for students. Please input instructor information, grade access, and meeting patterns in CCS on the Meetings tab. See the UPK on meeting pattern set up.

Study Space Finder

Study Space Finder has launched for students that includes images, building features, and locations. Students can find computer labs, coffee shops, and study spaces for individuals and groups via the map markers on East Bank, West Bank, and St. Paul campuses. The finder will be housed at studyspace.umn.edu and will also appear as a link on sites with study space content.

This is a joint project between the Office of Classroom Management (OCM), University Libraries, Student Unions, Office of Information Technology (OIT), AHC Classroom Services, and University Services. Technical fixes are still in progress, but issues should be resolved shortly. Please share with students and contact studyspacefeedback@umn.edu with any questions.

Fall 2017 (1179) classroom assignments

Check the Class Schedule to view fall 2017 general purpose classroom assignments. Many departments will notice that placement includes both East Bank and West Bank. If a class is not assigned a room, that means that we are still looking for a general purpose classroom for your class. If you have a departmental space for the class to meet, please email ocmsched@umn.edu to assist with assigning the class to the space. We appreciate your partnership in finding solutions to space shortages.

Please remember: All room assignments are subject to change prior to the start of fall semester. Room assignments are not guaranteed. Changes will continue to be made to the Class Schedule throughout the summer months as departments make adjustments to classes. We will likely need to re-examine room assignments once enrollments are stabilized so that we can adjust for actual, rather than projected, enrollments.

Academic calendar changes

Beginning with the 2018-19 academic calendar, the spring term will change from having 74 instructional days to having 70 instructional days. This change means that fall and spring semesters will have the same length going forward, and there is room for an additional study day for students in the spring term.

The full calendars for 2018-22 can be viewed on the University Senate page.

Spring 2019

January 21 (Monday)	MLK holiday
January 22 (Tuesday)	Classes begin
March 18-22 (Monday through Friday)	Spring break
May 6 (Monday)	Last day of instruction
May 7, 8, and 12 (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday)	Study days
May 9-11 and 13-15 (Thurs.-Sat. and Mon.-Wed.)	Final examinations
May 15 (Wednesday)	End of term

Note that spring term will continue to start on the Tuesday after the MLK holiday, the second half of the term will still begin the Monday after spring break, and there will be no finals on the Sunday of finals week.

Because some classes may have 1 to 2 fewer meeting dates (depending on meeting pattern), syllabi may need to be reviewed. Please communicate these changes to those within your departments so that they are able to prepare accordingly.

Course access

The University is anticipating higher than projected New High School (NHS) enrollments for fall 2017 with about 300 to 400 additional students. Many individuals and offices across campus are paying attention to the impact this could have on course access.

The Office of Undergraduate Education with Academic Support Resources is asking that advisors let us know if you identify specific courses filling faster and or earlier than usual. Please email Katie at russellk@umn.edu. Keep in mind, we anticipate some courses will fill as they always have.

First-year writing is aware of the increase in students and believes they have scheduled sufficient WRIT 1301 sections to serve this large incoming class. If needed, they will investigate the possibility of adding a section or two for spring 2018.

Chemistry placement exam

Advisors may enroll students in CHEM 1015 or CHEM 1065/61/81 after consulting with individual students. Advisors may enroll a student who has not yet met the 70% ALEKS completion bar threshold but the student must ultimately meet the 100% score to remain in the course. More information can be found in the Advising Update.