QUICK scheduler a time-saving tool for scheduling class sections

摘要

QUICK Scheduler is a web-based application to help students and academic advisors with the scheduling process. At the point where a student knows what courses he or she will take in a given semester, the courses can be put into the scheduler and the scheduler will select sections of the courses that do not conflict with other classes or with other specified activities. The final result is a one-page graphic schedule showing activities the student has entered as well as sleep time, study time, and class times. The students get a visual representation of the time commitment required for the course load they are attempting, and save many hours of looking through the course schedule booklet for class times. The Scheduler is flexible, allowing students to enter section numbers for some courses if desired. The remaining courses will be scheduled around the selected sections. The paper and presentation will describe the application, its success at Texas Tech University over the last six years, and the issues involved in making such an application available. Issues in modifying the application for use at other universities will be discussed, with The University of Texas of the Permian Basin as an example. The issues will include availability, possible stress on the server, security and privacy, and interoperability with other University applications. Using student software development projects for production applications will be addressed. This application was originally written by Texas Tech University graduate students (including the author of this abstract).