Adding a Non-standard Meeting Pattern in CLSS
- Max Klinkert
Background
A meeting pattern for a course is indicated by day(s) of the week, start time, and end time. Most courses have one meeting pattern for a specific term. However, some courses have multiple meeting patterns because they meet only on specific dates or because the class meetings take place in multiple locations on different days (e.g., in person in a specific classroom on certain days of the week and online at specific times on another day of the week).
Standard meeting patterns are designed to utilize classroom space efficiently and avoid room scheduling conflicts. Standard meeting patterns, including “primetime” meeting times, are listed with additional information at the University Scheduling website.
These are the currently defined standard meeting patterns with primetime patterns in red text.
A non-standard meeting pattern is any meeting day and time that is not included on the standard meeting pattern chart. A non-standard meeting pattern may be used in course scheduling. However, when a centrally supported classroom room assignment is requested, priority is given to courses with standard meeting patterns during the classroom optimization process used to assign centrally supported classrooms.
Critical Info and Prep
Consulting LUC (CourseLeaf Documentation Site)
CourseLeaf has a robust catalog of help documentation for all of interfaces within CLSS, which can be accessed using the question mark icon. One of these help documents provides additional information about the Snapper Screen. One of the topics within this is ‘How to Propose a Meeting Pattern’. This provides additional information about how to set a non-standard meeting time for a course. It includes step-by-step instructions as well as a helpful video demonstrating the process. Users should first consult this documentation.
The CourseLeaf documentation site can be accessed by clicking the question mark located on the top right of each interface
Rooms and Dates Information
When setting up courses that do not meet for the full length of the semester, CourseLeaf is unable to differentiate meeting dates when calculating room overlap conflicts. This means that if a class is setup to meet for only the first four Fridays of the semester from 12:30PM-3:45PM in a particular room, that room will register as being unavailable every Friday of the semester from 12:30PM-3:45PM in CLSS.
Only dates within the semester academic calendar can be used. The Provost office may soon discourage creating sections that don’t start or end on the first day or last day of the semester.
When assigning rooms to each meeting pattern, you will not be able to use the EMS Room Seek located on the Section Editor. Any assignment will need to be done via the EMS Room Seek located within the Snapper Tool or when creating new meeting patterns and must be done to each individual meeting pattern.
Instructions
Setting Non-Standard Meeting Pattern
From the Section Editor for the class, open the Snapper Tool by selecting the hyperlink under the Schedule section.
Select the Patterns dropdown menu located in the toolbar of the Snapper Tool of the Snapper Tool.
Insert the desired meeting pattern into the Meeting Pattern Name textbox.
When entering the meeting pattern, please note that it must be entered exactly as follows:
Enter the first letter of the desired days in capital letters followed by the start and end time of the meeting patterns separated by a hyphen. Specify AM or PM if not using military time.
Select the green Add button next to the textbox to add the meeting pattern.
Select the green Accept button from the Snapper Tool.
It is important to select the accept button from within the Snapper Tool to ensure all your changes are implemented.
Select Save Section within the Section Editor to implement your changes.
Adding Multiple Meeting Patterns
Multiple meeting patterns are necessary for some situations, such as:
Classes that meet at different times on different days of the week;
Hybrid classes that meet in person on some days and online on others;
Classes that don’t meet at the same time every week.
To get started, navigate to the Section Editor of the section to add multiple meeting patterns.
Open the Snapper Tool by selecting the hyperlink displaying the current meeting time or Does Not Meet if one has not been added yet under the Schedule section.
Set the meet times for this meeting pattern (following the previous directions if its a non-standard meet time) if not already defined by utilizing the Patterns dropdown menu.
Assign a classroom for the meeting pattern via the EMS Room Seek located within the Snapper Tool.
Select the Meetings button from within the Snapper Tool.
Select the gray plus symbol located within the Meetings menu.
If the new meeting pattern is the same as an existing one, but being added to include different dates, then the copy option accessible via the stacked squares logo may be more appropriate. This will create a new meeting pattern with the same meet time and classroom assignment of another existing meeting pattern.
Select the green Accept button from the Meeting Details submenu to add the new meeting pattern.
Select the newly created meeting pattern from the Meetings menu.
From the Snapper Tool, select the meet times for this new meeting pattern by setting the meeting pattern if meet times are not already defined in the Patterns dropdown menu and assigning a classroom for the meeting pattern via the EMS Room Seek located at the bottom of the Snapper Tool.
Repeat the process to to add any additional meeting patterns.
Once all meeting patterns have been added, select the Accept button located within the Snapper Tool.
It is important to select the accept button from within the Snapper Tool to ensure all your changes are implemented.
Select the pencil icon within the Instructor section of the Section Editor.
Select the links to each separate meeting pattern.
Select the instructor information for each individual meeting pattern.
Select Save Section within the Section Editor to implement your changes.
Setting Specific Dates
From the Section Editor for the class, open the Snapper Tool by selecting the hyperlink displaying the current meeting time or Does Not Meet if one has not been added yet under the Schedule section.
Select the Meetings button located within the Snapper Tool.
Select the pencil icon to edit a specific meeting pattern.
From the Dates drop-down menu, select Custom.
Adjust the start date and end date of the meeting pattern accordingly, then select Accept.
Select the gray X button located on the top right of the Meetings menu.
Select the Accept button located within the Snapper Tool.
It is important to select the Accept button from within the Snapper Tool to ensure all your changes are implemented.
Select Save Section within the Section Editor to apply your changes.