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Scheduling Optimizer Features
 Scheduling Optimizer Features
Contents of this Section:
Product Overview
Features
Feature Extensions
Technical Specifications
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What's New in this Release?
The Scheduling Optimizer is a highly optimized, fully featured
student scheduling loader program. It performs the task of assigning students
to classes based on course requests, a given master schedule and specified scheduling
rules. The Optimizer generates an interrelated set of simulation reports which
can conveniently be viewed in your browser.
Use the Scheduling Optimizer with Schedule Pro
The Scheduling Optimizer is plug-in compatible with the
standard SASIxp/Schedule Pro Class Loader component, directly accepting input
and generating output compatible with the Schedule Pro simulation environment,
at the same time adding some extended capabilities. The optimized results created
by Schedule Pro enhanced with the Scheduling Optimizer are significantly better
than those achievable with standard Schedule Pro alone (or with currently available
competitive products).
Use the Scheduling Optimizer with Mass Scheduling
The SASIxp Mass Scheduling component can be configured
to use the Scheduling Optimizer in place of the “Schedule All Students” function.
The Scheduling Optimizer with Mass Scheduling adds extended scheduling features
and a more powerful loader engine that remains compatible if you later choose
to add the master schedule building capabilities of Schedule Pro.
Plug-in Compatible
Installs on the SASIxp desktop and is a replacement for the SASIxp Schedule
Pro or Mass Scheduling student loader.
Superior Scheduling Results
Rescheduling: Rescheduling of students before classes become full
ensures optimal class size balancing. Rescheduling of students in full classes
minimizes conflicts.
Fewer conflicts: Results vary, but the improvements can be substantial.
For example, a school of 1,000 with a near final master schedule may see the
number of students scheduled go from 75% to 85%. This translates to a drop in
the number of conflicts from 250 students with standard SASIxp scheduling alone
to 150 students with the Scheduling Optimizer, a 40% reduction.
Term Load Balancing: Reads a list of core courses and balances them
evenly across terms in individual student schedules.
Musts and Trys: Schedules as many students as possible with all rules
in effect, then drops the "try" rules and schedules the remaining students.
Once scheduled, a student may subsequently be rescheduled to release seats needed
by later students, but the student’s original "must" and "try" level is always
maintained.
Term Overrides: Tracks section filling by term. Because of term overrides,
the overall number of unique students assigned to a section may exceed the section
capacity although the total scheduled in any given term will not. You may, for
example, find a section with 35 seats that has 37 different students scheduled
to it - 32 students who take the class all year, 3 students who take it only
in semester 1 and 2 students who take it only in semester 2. The Master Schedule
Lists show the number of students assigned to the class in each term independently,
in this case 35 in semester 1 and 34 in semester 2.
Teacher Preferences: Observes requests for specific teachers in student
course requests. If a course request includes a teacher preference, the student
will be assigned only to one of the sections of the requested course taught
by the preferred teacher.
Prescheduled Classes: Locks in all of a student’s prescheduled classes
before it schedules non-prescheduled requests. The prescheduled classes are
assigned without regard to loader rules, section limits or even meeting time
conflicts. Assignment of sections for non-prescheduled course requests still
obeys all rules with respect to both each other and any prescheduled sections.
Corequisites: Provides an additional rule to specify "before or in
the same term as" course relationships.
Section Load Restrictions (SLRs): Processes Schedule Pro Restrict and Allocate
SLRs. Includes an extension which allows you to define a "non-exclusive Allocate"
SLR.
Section Load Restrictions (SLRs): Processes Schedule Pro Restrict
and Allocate SLRs to define categories of students permitted in or excluded
from designated classes. Includes an extension which allows you to define a
“non-exclusive Allocate” SLR limiting certain students to specified sections
of a course while not excluding other students from these sections.
Grade Level Ordering: Automatically orders all students from highest
to lowest grade before it begins scheduling. This places students in the higher
grades into available seats ahead of other students.
Partial Schedules: Uses the sequence order of entries in each individual
student course request list as the course request priority. You can manipulate
the sequencing of course request lists to control which courses the Scheduling
Optimizer will drop for students in conflict.
Partial Simulations: A selected group of students can be scheduled
while the currently assigned schedules for all other students remain unchanged.
Browser Based Reports: Generates a set of reports based on results
of the current simulation. View these reports in your browser.
- Simulation Loading Summary: Summarizes loading results by grade and gender.
- Simulation Run Log: Listing of messages generated by the Scheduling Optimizer
during the current simulation run.
- Master Schedule Lists: Views of the master schedule in list format, each
in a different user-selectable order showing course information, number of
students assigned to each course section, number of student requests and number
of those requests not scheduled for the course.
- Master Schedule Grids: Displays the group of course sections associated
with each teacher, room or course in a grid, or matrix, format. Each course
section entry shows the days, teacher, room and number of students assigned
to the course section for the given term and period.
- Unscheduled Period Summaries: Displays the number of individual students,
male, female and total, who have no class scheduled in each term-period-day.
- Resource Schedule Grids: Printable individual teacher and room schedules
for each term with course-section entries in rows and columns representing
periods and days.
- Free Resource Reports: Lists teachers and rooms not allocated to a class
in a given period, day and term in either list or grid (matrix) format.
- Request Conflict Pairs: Displays the number of students requesting each
course and each course pair in a list format (paragraph style conflict matrix).
- Course Request Tallies: Displays the number of students requesting each
course in total, by gender and by grade.
See Reports for more information.
The Scheduling Optimizer enhances standard SASIxp scheduling.
|
Feature |
Scheduling Optimizer |
Schedule Pro |
Mass Scheduling |
|
Rescheduling |
Built into loading algorithm |
Separate step adjusts initial loading |
None |
|
Musts & Trys |
Uses Musts & Trys, then drops Trys |
Simulation can include Musts & Trys or Musts only; none dropped |
All rules are Musts |
|
Term load balancing |
Supported |
None |
None |
|
Teacher preferences |
Supported |
None |
Supported |
|
Course links/rules |
Supported |
Supported |
Limited |
|
Corequisite rule |
Supported |
None |
None |
|
Term overrides |
Tracks number of students by term |
Tracks aggregate number of students |
Tracks aggregate number of students |
|
Section Load Restrictions (SLR) |
Recognizes SLRs; adds non-exclusive Allocate |
Recognizes Restrict and (exclusive) Allocate rules |
Can limit sections based on some student attributes |
|
Prescheduled classes |
Always assigned |
May fail – won’t override rules |
Always assigned |
|
Reports |
Browser based reports and standard SASIxp database reports |
Text file reports and standard SASIxp database reports |
Standard SASIxp database reports |
Technical Specifications
Read our technical specifications.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Read our FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).
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