Team Escentral recently attended the Timetabling Community Conference in Manchester, and what a wonderful day! Just having the opportunity to co-sponsor and take part in an event specifically for HE timetablers felt too good to be true. We’re so grateful to Paul Brierley for arranging this for the second year in a row, and long may it continue.
Throughout the day, we welcomed visitors from a wide range of universities — some old friends, some new faces — to our stand, and had a great time discussing the kinds of challenges timetablers are facing and how we might be able to help. If you chatted to us and would like to continue the conversation, please email us at [email protected].
Throughout the day, we welcomed visitors from a wide range of universities — some old friends, some new faces — to our stand, and had a great time discussing the kinds of challenges timetablers are facing and how we might be able to help. If you chatted to us and would like to continue the conversation, please email us at [email protected].
The event schedule was jam-packed with interesting topics (and exactly the right amount of snack breaks), but here are a few of our highlights.
Humanising the timetabling process
Delivering earlier publication and 97% fewer clashes
The University of Kent have managed to make some cultural changes that have had a huge impact, including reducing student clashes by 99.5%!
Their journey wasn’t easy, but it showed how a few passionate people, with support from senior management, can make a real difference when it comes to process improvement. We were so thrilled to hear about how their hard work has paid off.
Their journey wasn’t easy, but it showed how a few passionate people, with support from senior management, can make a real difference when it comes to process improvement. We were so thrilled to hear about how their hard work has paid off.
Implementing a new timetable system
Hannah O’Toole did a great job of outlining the lengthy and complicated process of procuring and implementing a new timetabling software at your institution. It can seem like such a daunting task, but she broke it down into clear steps that highlighted how important is it to do the groundwork, set clear goals, and put together a comprehensive and achievable timeline.
We wish Oxford Brookes luck with the next stage of this implementation process!
We wish Oxford Brookes luck with the next stage of this implementation process!
Personalised welcome week timetable
We were very interested to hear about the project Edinburgh Napier University set themselves, to release personalised welcome week timetables for their students.
While the balance between overall effort and outcome is often hard to measure, it sounds like the results are positive so far and we’re excited to hear more about this once they complete the pilot programme.
While the balance between overall effort and outcome is often hard to measure, it sounds like the results are positive so far and we’re excited to hear more about this once they complete the pilot programme.
Final thoughts
It’s so important to give timetablers the opportunity to gather together like this every now and then. The event was a real reminder of the kind of passionate and creative people that end up in these roles. Even while dealing with budget cuts and sector upheaval, timetablers will continue to keep pushing against the status quo if they feel it doesn’t serve their institution well. They are determined to try and make their part of the process as effective and collaborative as possible to ensure a positive student experience.
Keep it up Paul, and we hope to see you again this time next year!
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