Timetable slots

A timetable slot is one placement: a course, the instructor who teaches it and the room it uses, from a start to an end. Instructors propose slots for their own courses. Each slot must start before it ends, and it cannot overlap another slot in the same room or for the same instructor. A proposal that clashes is refused with the reason, so the timetable never holds two classes in one room at once.

Proposed slots go to the Timetable Coordinator, who checks the room’s capacity, equipment and unavailable times against the course and approves the slot. Approved slots are then published. The published timetable is what learners and staff work from. A slot the coordinator turns down is closed with a reason and a new proposal is made.

• Propose. The instructor proposes a slot with course, room, start and end. Clashes with the same room or the same instructor are refused at once.
• Approve. The Timetable Coordinator checks the room’s fit and approves the slot, or turns it down with a reason.
• Publish. Approved slots are published as the working timetable, and class sessions are scheduled from them.

Agree the teaching day and the standard slot lengths, such as 50 or 90 minutes. Agree who may propose slots: each instructor for their own courses, or the coordinator for everyone. Decide when the timetable for a term must be published and how late changes are handled. Agree how room changes after publication are communicated to learners.

An instructor proposes Data Analysis 101 in Lab 2 on Mondays, 09:00 to 10:30. Another instructor has already placed Statistics in Lab 2 from 10:00 to 11:30 on the same Monday. The proposal is refused because the room is taken. The instructor moves the proposal to 11:30 to 13:00, which is free, and it is accepted as Proposed.

The coordinator checks Lab 2: 24 seats against a course capacity of 20, projector and workstations in place, no unavailable interval on Mondays. She approves the slot and publishes it with the rest of the week. If the same instructor had been placed in another room at 11:30, that proposal would have been refused too.

• Timetable Board — Slots grouped by Proposed, Approved and Published, with course, instructor and room.
• Slots Awaiting Approval — Proposed slots with start and end, waiting for the coordinator.
• My Timetable Slots — The signed-in instructor’s own slots with room and times.

• Course plan to published timetable: Plan the course, propose slots, approve and publish.

Plan the rollout with your coordinators.