1. Course Combinations October 5, 2015

2. Course Combinations  A course combination is a set of courses that are required to be scheduled conflict free for a specific number of students in a program. 60 students in program X will be taking BUSI 1004, ECON 1000 and BUSI 1800 in the Fall term 2

3. Course Combinations  Course combinations are entered into the DCU by departmental timetabling coordinators.  Course combinations are used by the TPHi- Assigner module to automatically create the required academic blocks which are then used in the timetabling process.  An academic block is a set of course sections (CRNs) that need to be scheduled conflict free. 3

4. Course Combinations Academic block: BUSI 1004 A BUSI 1800 A BUSI 1800 A01 ECON 1000 A ECON 1000 A01. 4 Course Combination: BUSI 1004 ECON 1000 BUSI 1800  Academic blocks are built based on course combinations and course offerings information:

5. Course Combinations This process can best be described with a simple example: 60 students in program X are expected to be taking BUSI 1004, ECON 1000 and BUSI 1800 in the Fall term. The department submits a course combination containing the 3 courses with a student count of 60. 5

6. Course Combinations 6 In a separate process, the department determines how they will offer each of these courses: CoursesOfferingCapacity BUSI 1004LEC270 BUSI 1800 LEC270 TUT1, TUT2…TUT9 30 ECON 1000 LEC330 GRP1, GRP2…GRP11 30

7. Course Combinations  The size of the academic blocks is determined by the capacity of the smallest course offering (BUSI1800 TUT and ECON 1000 GRP have capacity 30)  Therefore, the system will create 2 academic to fulfill the demand (60 students) 7 Academic Block 1 (30 students) Academic Block 2 (30 students) BUSI 1004 A LEC BUSI 1800 A LEC BUSI 1800 A1 TUT (capacity 30)BUSI 1800 A2 TUT (capacity 30) ECON 1000 A LEC ECON 1000 A01 GRP (capacity 30)ECON 1000 A02 GRP (capacity 30)

8. How to Review Course Combinations 8

9. Review: How to Start  2015-16 Course combinations have been posted on the shared drive  V:\SES_Departmental_Reports\TIMETABLING\2016- 17\Course Combinations review 9

10. Review: Delete a Course Combination  Analyze existing course combinations to identify the ones that are redundant or repetitive. These course combinations need to be deleted.  Pay special attention to course combinations with smaller student count (e.g. 1). Is the course combination still needed? If this is an “older” program, are there still students in this program? Run SCH_PROGRAM_REGISTRATION_XLS report to verify. 10

11. Add a New Course Combination It is equally important to capture the program requirements in all their variety to make sure that students in the program get a conflict free timetable. Do you have a new program? Have there been changes for one of your old programs? Do you wish to restructure an existing course combination? 11

12. Add a New Course Combination  When constructing a course combination, the best starting point is the undergraduate and graduate calendars.  Identify the core/elective/optional courses that are required to be conflict free with each other so that students in a program can take them in the same term to fulfill the program requirements.  It is not recommended to include more than 6 courses in a course combination. Students rarely take more than 6 courses in a given term. 12

13. Add a New Course Combination  Course Combinations are term specific. Fall term courses are listed in one block and winter term courses are listed separately in another block.  Note that you need to know which term (fall or winter) the courses are offered in so that you can include them in the appropriate course combination.  Please note that only one section from a cross- list needs to be recorded. 13

14. Program Registration Report  SCH_PROGRAM_REGISTRATION_XLS report displays student registration in a selected term.  Run the report to see courses in which students in your department were registered in the previous academic term.  Filter the report by Major Description and (for undergraduate programs only) by Class (U1, U2…). 14

15. Program Registration Report  You can run the report by Department or Major 15

16. Program Registration Report  The report is in Excel.  Analyze student registration, selecting common paths and identifying popular electives for students in the selected major and class (e.g. first year Religion students). 16

17. Course Combinations Template  To create a new course combination it is recommended to use the template below. Then the course combination should be entered into the DCU.  Course Combination ID: Start with the name of your department (e.g. PADM or BUSI); followed by the block number (the number does not have to be consecutive, however it must be unique). 17 Owner Course Combination IDProgram Program Level Program Faculty Program Dept Course Faculty Cours e DeptCourse CodeTermType # StudentsComments PADMPADM Block 1Public Admin59PADM9 PADM5111201630C15 PADMPADM Block 1Public Admin59PADM9 PADM5113201630C15 PADMPADM Block 1Public Admin59PADM9 PADM5115201630C15 PADMPADM Block 1Public Admin59PADM9 PADM5116201630C15

18. Course Combinations Template  Program and level: The program and level for which the course combination is intended (e.g. Religion, 1 st year). One program and one level per course combination. 18

19. Course Combinations Template Student count: Number of students expected to register in this course combination 19 Category (Type): C (core), E (elective) or O (optional).

20. Course Combinations Template  If a specific section of the course is required, add a comment (to be entered in the DCU). In the example below the departmental administrator flags that only ECON 1000 A should be used for the students in the program. 20 Course CombinationProgram IDLevel Faculty ID Depart ment ID Faculty ID Department IDCourse ID Category ID Student CountComment BUSI BCOMM Block 1-BUSI BCOMM-UCOM 117BUSI7 BUSI1800 FC50 BUSI BCOMM Block 1-BUSI BCOMM-UCOM 117BUSI9ECONECON1000 FC50Section A only BUSI BCOMM Block 1-BUSI BCOMM-UCOM 117BUSI7 BUSI1004 FC50 BUSI BCOMM Block 1-BUSI BCOMM-UCOM 117BUSI3MATHMATH1119 FC50 BUSI BCOMM Block 1-BUSI BCOMM-UCOM 117BUSI8SOANSOCI1005 FC50

21. Course Combinations: Preferred Section In DCU: if you wish to use a specific course offering, e.g. AFRI 2003 A:  Place the component under a separate section  Specify the course section for the course under the course combination 21

22. Course Combinations: Preferred Section  If there is no need to use a specific course offering OR  If there is only one section of the course, LEAVE THE SECTION FIELD BLANK 22

23. Course Combinations: Preferred Section  Example: CRCJ 1000 has two sections A (contains lecture A) and B (contains lecture C). 23

24. Course Combinations: Preferred Section  For CRCJ 1000 F preferred section is A; it means is that only components under the section A will be considered for academic block building.  Lecture C will not be used in academic blocks for this course combination and, as a result, may be scheduled in conflict with the rest of the courses in the combination. 24

25. Course Combinations: Preferred Section  Note that student count is 500 for this course combination while max enrollment for CRCJ 1000 A is 275.  If section C is scheduled in conflict with LAWS 1000, PSYC 1001 or SOCI 1001, 225 students will not be able to register in the course combination. 25

26. Review Course Category  Is the course core, elective or optional? Often a course is marked as core, when it is actually an elective or optional. Course category has to be accurate as it impacts the course schedule.  Note that when you change the category from C (core) to E (elective) you decrease the burden on the timetable. 26

27. How to Estimate Student Count 27

28. Student Count  Student count must be as realistic as possible, although it is still a guess. Use the SZACOMB form in Banner to realistically estimate the student count for a course combination.  Use REG_ENRPROG report for information on enrolment by program (undergraduate programs only). For example, if you have only 50 students in the program, you should not set the student count to 100! 28

29. Estimating Student Count  Note that numbers in SZACOMB represent enrollment at the end of the term and do not include students who registered in the course initially but dropped the course later. CUOL courses are excluded from the count. 29

30. Estimating Student Count Enter the term, the department, select a major code from the Major pick list and a class (year of study) code from the Class pick list. Enter the courses that form the course combination. Note that the Number of students enrolled in course column displays the number of students in the selected major and class enrolled in each entered course in the selected term. Click on the Calculate total per Combination button to see the number of students enrolled in all courses of the course combination in the selected term. 30

31. Estimating Student Count Example: Number of students registered in all four courses (PADM 5111, PADM 5113, PADM 5115 and 5116) is 6. 31

32. Estimating Student Count  What should be the student count be for this course combination? Note that the SZACOMB numbers represent enrollment at the end of the term and do not include students who registered in the course initially but dropped the course later.  A student count of 12 is appropriate for this course combination with 6 registered in 201330 + 6 who registered but dropped (this is a guess).  The student count can be increased if the department expects more students in this course combination next year. 32

33. Balance Demand  When DCU is closed, student counts are summed up and compared to the section max enrollment. This process is call Balance Demand.  Two reports are posted for departments on the shared drive: Max enrollment vs Demand and Course Combinations tapping into courses. 33

34. Review Student Count  A good starting point for your review is the 2015- 16 Max enrollment vs Demand report posted on the shared drive. 34

35. Review Student Count  The Demand column displays the projected demand from the course combinations/academic blocks.  The Max Enrollment column displays the section’s max enrollment entered in the DCU.  Coefficient = Demand/Max Enrollment, where Demand is the sum of student counts of all course combinations that tap into the course.  Use the Coefficient column as a guide in pinpointing the discrepancies quickly. Review the cases where coefficient is greater than 1.1. 35

36. Review Student Count  Check course combinations that tap into the course with the high coefficient (Course combinations tapping into courses report on the shared drive).  Was the student count over-estimated for one or more of the combinations? Or, perhaps the course combination includes courses that will not be taken by all these students? In this case you may want to restructure the course combination 36

37. Review Student Count  Example: BUSI 4709 B in the winter term has the demand/max enrollment coefficient = 6.4. How was it calculated? 37 Course combinations tapping into BUSI 4709 B:

38. Review Student Count  The overall demand for BUSI 4709 is the sum of student counts of all course combinations tapping into BUSI 4709 (plus 10%) = 286  There is only one section of BUSI 4709 with max enrollment 45  286 students are expected to register in BUSI 4709 but we only have seats for 45.  Either student counts are overinflated or we need to add more sections of the course. Another possible explanation is that although BUSI 4709 is part of all these course combinations, not all students are expected to register in the course. 38

39. Course Combinations: Preferred Section  Is the coefficient too low? Is there a preferred section and not all of the components are used for academic blocks building? Should the course be part of other course combinations?  Max enrollment vs Demand report shows that the coefficient for lecture CRCJ 1000 A is 2 (the demand is 2 times greater than the max enrollment of lecture A).  The coefficient for lecture CRCJ 1000 C is 0.3; it means that the demand for lecture C is too low.  By selecting preferred section A, you are telling the system to use lecture A but not lecture C in the academic blocks built for this course combination. 39 Faculty ID Departmen t IDCourse ID Componen t ID Scheduling EnrollmentDemandDisabled Session CodeCoefficient 9CRCJCRCJ1000 FA270528D2.0 9CRCJCRCJ1000 FC30088D0.3

40. Restructuring a Course Combination: Example 1  Note two language courses in this course combination  This course combination claims 30 seats in SPAN1110 and ITAL1010 for first year BUSI BIB students.  Most likely students will not be taking both language courses in the same term.  It is likely that the students will be taking either SPAN1110 or ITAL1010 in the Fall term to satisfy their language requirement. 40 Course CombinationProgram IDLevel Faculty ID Department ID Faculty ID Depart ment IDCourse ID Catego ry ID Studen t Count Comme nt BUSI BIB Block 1-BUSI BIB 117BUSI7 BUSI1004 FC30 BUSI BIB Block 1-BUSI BIB 117BUSI7 BUSI1701 FC30 BUSI BIB Block 1-BUSI BIB 117BUSI8LALSSPAN1110 FC30 BUSI BIB Block 1-BUSI BIB 117BUSI9ECONECON1000 FC30 BUSI BIB Block 1-BUSI BIB 117BUSI8LALSITAL1010 FC30

41. Restructuring a Course Combination: Example 1  To reflect student demand more accurately, it is recommended to divide the student original combination into two smaller combination with only one language course.  Student count for each new course combination is assigned proportionally (10 students are expected to take ITAL1010, 20 students – SPAN 1110). 41 Course CombinationProgram IDLevelFaculty ID Department IDFaculty IDDepartment IDCourse ID Category ID Student CountComment BUSI BIB Block 1-BUSI BIB 117BUSI7 BUSI1004 FC10 BUSI BIB Block 1-BUSI BIB 117BUSI7 BUSI1701 FC10 BUSI BIB Block 1-BUSI BIB 117BUSI9ECONECON1000 FC10 BUSI BIB Block 1-BUSI BIB 117BUSI8LALSITAL1010 FC10 Course CombinationProgram IDLevelFaculty ID Department IDFaculty IDDepartment IDCourse ID Category ID Student CountComment BUSI BIB Block 2-BUSI BIB 117BUSI7 BUSI1004 FC20 BUSI BIB Block 2-BUSI BIB 117BUSI7 BUSI1701 FC20 BUSI BIB Block 2-BUSI BIB 117BUSI8LALSSPAN1110 FC20 BUSI BIB Block 2-BUSI BIB 117BUSI9ECONECON1000 FC20

42. Restructuring a Course Combination: Example 2  Note that there are two electives in this course combination.  If you know that students will not likely be taking both electives at the same time it will be better to divide the course combination into two combinations and have one elective per course combination. 42 Course Combination Program IDLevelFaculty ID Department ID Faculty ID Departmen t ID Course ID Category ID Student Count BUSI BIB Block 1-BUSI BIB 117BUSI7 BUSI1004 FC50 BUSI BIB Block 1-BUSI BIB 117BUSI7 BUSI1701 FC50 BUSI BIB Block 1-BUSI BIB 117BUSI9ECONECON1000 FC50 BUSI BIB Block 1-BUSI BIB 117BUSI8WOMNWGST1808E50 BUSI BIB Block 1-BUSI BIB 117BUSI9CRCJCRCJ1000E50

43. Restructuring a Course Combination: Example 2 43 Course Combina tion Program ID Level Faculty ID Departm ent ID Faculty ID Departm ent ID Course ID Categor y ID Student Count BUSI BIB Block 1- BUSI BIB 1 17BUSI7 BUSI1004 FC20 BUSI BIB Block 1- BUSI BIB 1 17BUSI7 BUSI1701 FC20 BUSI BIB Block 1- BUSI BIB 1 17BUSI9ECONECON1000 FC20 BUSI BIB Block 1- BUSI BIB 1 17BUSI8WOMNWGST1808E20 Course Combinat ion Program ID LevelFaculty ID Departme nt ID Faculty ID Departm ent ID Course ID Category ID Student Count BUSI BIB Block 2- BUSI BIB 1 17BUSI7 BUSI1004 FC30 BUSI BIB Block 2- BUSI BIB 1 17BUSI7 BUSI1701 FC30 BUSI BIB Block 2- BUSI BIB 1 17BUSI9ECONECON1000 FC30 BUSI BIB Block 2- BUSI BIB 1 17BUSI9CRCJCRCJ1000E30

44. Overcrowded Course Combinations  Restructure course combinations with more than 6 courses! 44