1. Classroom Utilization
Presented to Enrollment Management Council
Office of the Registrar- Greg Bouquot & Erin Mason
4/15/19

2. About Space (the Final Frontier)
It is complex
Ownership versus control
Oversight
Always changing
Inventory does not always mean availability
Availability does not always meet need, preference
In the past 5 years, 752 unique rooms appear in our Scheduling data Do not have scheduling authority over all classrooms on campus or departmental rooms; do not have scheduling control any labs. At this time, we centrally schedule approximately 190 classrooms, 165 of which are under 100.
It is complex
Who owns it? What is ownership?
Varying levels of centralization
Always changing
Inventory does not always mean availability
Availability does not always meet need, preference
Some do not need rooms (independent study, online)
Some go into “own” space (SOB, labs, studios)
Some need our space always, some need it some of the time (hybrid)
This is a best guess
We cannot give every class a space; each semester we find a cut-point (classes with enrollment of 6 or 7 will not get rooms unless asked and this is OK)
Classroom or closet? Class being held or space blocking?
In the past 5 years, 752 unique rooms appear in our Scheduling data
Do not have scheduling authority over all classrooms on campus or departmental rooms; do not have scheduling control any labs.
At this time, we centrally schedule approximately 190 classrooms, 165 of which are under 100.
0-24: 44
25-39: 58
40-49: 37
50-99: 28
: 25

3. Why use standard classroom meeting times?
The major tool to help us manage the space is the “Standard Meeting Pattern”
Schools/colleges and departments are measured by compliance to this.
We also have a “prime time” period that we encourage people to schedule outside of; departments are also measured in this way, but this is harder to influence
50 minutes (M/W/F)
75 minutes (T/Th)
75 minutes (MW/MF/WF)
7:35 – 8:50 am
8 – 8:50 am
8 – 9:15 am
9:05 – 9:55 am
9:30 – 10:45 am
10:10 – 11 am
11:15 am – 12:05 pm
11 am – 12:15 pm
12:20 – 1:10 pm
12:30 – 1:45 pm
1:25 – 2:15 pm
2:30 – 3:20 pm
2 – 3:15 pm
3:35 – 4:25 pm
3:30 – 4:45 pm
4:40 – 5:30 pm
4:40 – 5:55 pm
Standard meeting times help to accommodate as many classes as possible with limited classroom space by minimizing the time that classrooms go unused.
A meeting pattern is the schedule of all meetings of a class section. Standard meeting patterns vary by day of the week.
Classes with multiple components (e.g. lectures, labs, discussions) use multiple meeting patterns.
Evening and weekend classes may deviate from the standard schedule.

4. Non-Standard Meeting Times Impact on instructional time
Classes scheduled by standard meeting patterns allow for more classes and instruction time to be scheduled by room. In the example below, OAK 201 follows the standard meeting pattern much more closely than FSB 18, resulting in more than an hour of additional instructional time in OAK 201.
FSB 18
Day
8:00 AM
9:00 AM
10:00 AM
11:00 AM
12:00 PM
1:00 PM
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
4:00 PM
5:00 PM
6:00 PM
7:00 PM
Mins
Mon
400
Tue
435
Wed
350
Thu
475
Fri
310
1970
OAK 201
505
450
380
2035
Overlap
Non-Standard
Standard Meeting Pattern

5. Prime Time Classroom Usage
With the vast majority of classes scheduled during Prime Time, classroom availability is at or near zero for most of that time. For Fall 2018, of just over 350,000 total instructional minutes, roughly 80 percent are scheduled during prime time.
9 AM
10 AM
11 AM
12 PM
1 PM
2 PM
3 PM
4 PM
5 PM
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Classroom usage by time from 0 (green) to 100 (red) percent.

6. The Mythical World of Classroom Management
We hear all sorts of things from all sorts of people, all of which is true and some of which is possible, but the reality at this time is this…
“We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
We've been working to visualize data with the Stats department

7. Implications
What are the (positive and negative) implications of larger class sizes?
How do we address physical plant issues (lack of space) currently?
What contextual factors play a role in increasing class sizes (aside from admitting larger classes)?
Which policies and procedures are actively creating larger class sizes? Which are diminishing class sizes?
Do we think larger class sizes are an issue? If so, what can we be doing to address this?

8. University Space Initiatives
Civility
Adherence to SMP, greater spread of classes
The development of a priority list that address other needs (IT upgrade schedule already exists)
Development of Active Learning Spaces Committee
Determine best practices and guiding philosophy for classroom design/use
Data-driven and researched-informed to meet new instructional needs
Continued focus on AIT and classroom design
Several large course redesigns- Math, English, which focuses on alternative methods for teaching but has freed up space
Review of capacities by Fire Marshal, increased focus on room capacity
Better ways to collect and input data into PeopleSoft
Better data definitions and communication to departments
What is missing?