I want to generate my
Course schedule in three passes. First for fully
specified courses, second for partially specified courses and third for non-specified
courses. How do I go about doing that?
IQ.Session does this automatically. Using the Room Assignments screen
in Data Entry, you can select a scenario to run by assigning rooms to select
departments and opening/closing rooms for scheduling. You can save up to ten
room scenarios for future use.
Back to top
Can I schedule exams in
IQ.Session?
IQ.Session contains an Exam Scheduler to automatically schedule your exams.
You select the week, the classes that have exams, the room types that hold
exams, and other variants. For a complete explanation, see the Event
Schedulers Manual, page 55-65.
Back to top
I want to set up my schedule so no classes are scheduled Mondays 8:00-9:00,
Tuesdays 9:00-10:00, Wednesdays 10:00-11:00, Thursdays 11:00-12:00 and Fridays
12:00-1:00. There are a few exceptions on Tuesday, 9:00-10:00. How do I do
this in IQ.Session?
In "Time Management/Time Block Information", be certain those time blocks
are not contained in your table. When you run the Course Scheduler, no course
will be scheduled at those times. After running the Event Populator, on the
Event Scheduler grid you may then Drag and Drop the Course Section Icon
(Notebook) onto the individual Tuesday 9:00-10:00 days that you have courses.
Remember, if you schedule a course in Course Scheduler, it is generic for
every day and hour for the entire session. If you schedule a class in
Event Scheduler, it is specific only to that day.
Back
to top
There are certain days during the session that I want to use some rooms for special events,
preempting classes in those rooms. How do I handle this in IQ.Session?
Before running the Event Populator for the session, use the Holiday Icon
(calendar) to schedule the special event in the desired rooms. Do not
cascade to all rooms as you would a Holiday. Run the Event Populator. The
Populator does not report conflicts with Holiday events. By running the Course
Schedule Report, the Course Schedulers will see that that specific courses
were not scheduled.
Back to top
I am planning a meeting of the Senate Committee at 10:00 am on
November 22. How can I determine if the ten attendees are all available to attend at
that time?
Select the week of November 22 on the Event Schedule grid. Select the
"Employee" radio button. Select "View Multiple Employees". From the drop down
box that appears, select the employees that you would like to attend. Select
"View". Their schedules will appear overlapped. Open squares will indicate
everyone is available. White squares (assuming you did not change the default
colors) will indicate more than one person cannot attend. Green squares
(again, with the same assumption) will indicate only one person will be
unavailable to attend. Select the best time for your meeting.
Back
to top
How does IQ.Session handle security?
Each user is assigned a user ID and password. Rights assigned to the user account
permit the individual to have system administrator, scheduling or viewer capabilities.
Back to top
Can the Course Scheduler limit the time periods of an instructor's availability for
scheduling?
The user has the ability to tell IQ.Session when an instructor is
unavailable to be scheduled by selecting "Edit/Employee Unavailable Time",
and performing a Drag and Drop.
Back to top
Can you indicate to IQ.Session that a room should not be used for scheduling?
The user can indicate to IQ.Session whether a room should be used by the
Course Scheduler. For example, you can take rooms off-line for the
summer months, developing a schedule that helps conserve energy resources as well as
schedule summer maintenance projects. Individually, the "Allow Room Scheduling" option is
found under "Facility Management/Room Information", or you can maintain many
rooms at once through "Facility Management/Room Assignments".
Back to top
How many people can use the system?
The number of users is limited by the number of
"Course Schedulers" and "Event Schedulers" purchased on your
license. Schedulers are people who can make changes to the schedule.
The Viewer Module may be installed on an unlimited number of locations.
Back to top
Can the system "double book" course sections into a room with a
larger seating capacity to take advantage of space utilization? For instance: if you
have one room (a lab in this case), that has a seating capacity of 50 and you have three
course sections scheduled into that room during one time period, will the utilization
reports add up the number of students in all of the course sections when figuring the
seating utilization for that room?
Yes. You must indicate that room as "Allow Multi-Level Courses", an
option found under "Facility Management/Room Information".
Back
to top
Does IQ.Session run on the server or on the workstation?
The application can be installed on either a workstation or on a server. Users can access the server install via remote
Back to top
Is the product ODBC compliant?
You may use ODBC compliant tools such as Microsoft Access® to query the data in
IQ.Session.
Back to top
I have departments that utilize a specific set of rooms. Can IQ.Session
help me with my scheduling scenario?
You can indicate to IQ.Session before creating a schedule that course sections
associated with a specific department should be scheduled only into rooms that are
associated with the same department. That is accomplished by assigning those
rooms to a specific department through "Facility Management/Room Information".
If a room is assigned to a department, only classes for that department will
be assigned to that room. This option can easily be manipulated by
going to the "Facility Management/Room Assignments" and opening the room to other
departments if necessary.
Back to top
I have course sections that have to occur at a specific time. Can I
indicate this to IQ.Session?
In "Time Management/Weekly Skeleton Information", you may specify time blocks for a course, such as 9:00 am - 9:50 am, Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday. Or, you may set up a Time Group in "Time Groups
Information", such as 'Morning', and force the Scheduler to schedule the
course during a 50 minute time block which falls between 8:00 am and 12:00
pm.
Back to top
Can IQ.Session help me find an available room and time after my schedule has
already been finalized?
By using the Query Builder you can easily locate an open room at a specific time that
meets the criteria that you specify. The Query Builder can also be used to find
employees that meet specific criteria. With the Schedule Grid open, select
"Queries" from the main menu, and select your options. When finished, select
"View", and all the possibilities that fit your criteria will be displayed.
Select "Apply" and those criteria will be on the new drop down list to
assist your final decision.
Back to top
When I perform a query, I can't do another unless I exit from the grid.
Why?
Only one query can be performed at a time. To eliminate screen clutter,
IQ.Session automatically minimizes queries. From the main menu, select
"Windows", select "All Windows", and select any "Queries" that are listed.
They will open. You can then close them by clicking on the "X" at the top
right of their screen. Another query will be able to be performed.
Back to top
Can I print the scheduling grid?
Yes. You may print the scheduling grid for any room, course, or
employee. From the main menu, select File/Print. There will be
other options depending on which grid you select.
Back to top
Will IQ.Session handle faculty preferences?
IQ.Session allows you to define faculty preferences and assign each a level of
importance: Must-Have, Should-Have, or Like-to-Have. It also allows
you to indicate a room preference for each course taught. These preferences
are set up in "Employee Management/Employee Requirements".
Back to top
How does the IQ.Session Course Scheduler work?
By following user-defined priorities, IQ.Session's algorithm generates room and
instructor schedules with no conflicts. Appropriate courses are scheduled to
saturate available time blocks in a room before selecting a new room to schedule.
Please see the Course Scheduler Guide, page 71, for a more detailed explanation.
Back to top
What support do you offer?
Each IQ.Session product comes with comprehensive tutorials
included in the user manuals and tutorial databases. Our tutorials walk
users through the scheduling process step-by-step. On-site training is provided upon
request. We have an IQ.Session list server for our user group.
The Annual Maintenance Plan offers three technical support incidents during
the year, warranty extension and product upgrades. Click here to go to the Support web page.
Back to top
Can IQ.Session interface with my existing systems?
IQ.Session was designed to work with any ODBC compliant third party system. By using
IQ.Session's data pipeline, data can be imported or exported from your legacy systems in
an easy, three-step process. Formats supported include comma delimited, spreadsheet,
and fixed width.
Back to top
How can I use IQ.Session as an analysis tool?
In addition to its scheduling features, IQ.Session includes graphs and reports to
assist you in answering the important scheduling questions. Seating utilization can
be analyzed based on a specific department, course, or facility. Additionally, you
can evaluate the percentage of time a facility is being utilized as well as the types of
events being scheduled into the facility. Reports are found from the main
menu at "Report/Performance Reports".
Back to top
How are room attributes used to determine
room assignments?
IQ.Session uses room attributes as one of the criteria for assigning
course sections to rooms. Attributes can be entered with import
information or if a room is entered manually, go to "Facility
Management/Room Attributes", select the room, select the "New" button at the
bottom, and select the attribute and quantity you want to add to the room.
You can define as many attributes for a
room as you want. They will only be considered if a course or instructor
requires one of them. This is a very powerful tool for scheduling certain
courses or instructors in specific areas of a building, specifying teaching
levels of expertise and many other specific requirements. Room attributes have many uses.
Call us if you have a need. We'll help you to find a solution.
Back to top
How do I set up
Event Scheduler Security in IQ.Session 3.3 SQL?
