A meeting pattern is a specific combination of meeting times and days that may be assigned to an academic course section offering.  A meeting pattern record includes the time/day combination, the repeating pattern and sequence, contact hours, term types and campus/meeting type combinations for which the pattern is valid, and whether or not the pattern is "standard" for any of the campus/meeting type associations.  Additionally, usage statistics are provided per term type and campus/meeting type association.  Meeting pattern information maintained in Astra Schedule may be used to help enforce the adherence to "standard" patterns when editing sections and to provide insight into pattern usage at your institution.

 

If academic section data is being imported from a student information system, distinct meeting pattern records will be automatically captured and added to the Astra Schedule database as they are imported. However, meeting patterns may be manually added and edited directly in Astra Schedule as well.  In either case, the categorization of "standard" patterns must be configured manually.

 

Repeating vs. Non-Repeating Patterns

 

Many typical meeting patterns repeat regularly, each week, over the duration of an academic term.  Other meeting patterns, however, may not repeat at all, or repeat on a different cycle than weekly.  Astra Schedule's meeting pattern record accommodates these practices by allowing configuration of a repeat cycle, a meeting sequence, and non-repeating meetings.  For repeating patterns, the combination of the repeat cycle and sequence provides a way to specify how often the day/time combination repeats, and within the cycle, on which occurrences does it meet.  So, for example, a typical MWF class repeats on a 1 week cycle, and each occurrence of MWF during that cycle (sequence 1) is counted as a meeting.  If a meeting should occur only every other week, then the repeat cycle would be 2 weeks, and the day/time sequence would be either 1 or 2 depending on even or odd meetings.  Patterns flagged as "non-repeating", on the other hand, have no repeat cycle and are configured simply as a series of defined day/time combinations that meet the pattern's contact hours.

 

Following are a number of examples of possible configurations:

 

•Typical Recurring Meeting Pattern
Repeat every 1 week
MWF 8-8:50 - SEQ 1

 

•Multiple Meeting Times per Week
Repeat every 1 week
MW 8-8:50 - SEQ 1
F 10-10:50 - SEQ 1

 

•Even Meetings
Repeat every 2 weeks
MWF 8-9:40 - SEQ 2

 

•Odd Meetings
Repeat every 2 weeks
MWF 8-9:40 - SEQ 1

 

•Alternating Day Pattern
Repeat every 2 weeks
MWF 8-8:50 - SEQ 1
TR 9-10:15 - SEQ 2

 

•Random/Custom Meetings
Repeat every 4 weeks
M 8-10 - SEQ 1
T 9-11 - SEQ 2
W 10-12 - SEQ 3
S 8-5 - SEQ 4

 

•Continuous/Non-Repeating Meetings
Flag "Non-Repeating"
No repeat cycle
M 8-5
T 8-5
W 8-5
R 8-5
F 8-5

View Meeting Pattern List

To find the list of meeting patterns in the Astra Schedule system, click the Meeting Patterns option on the Academics tab.

 

 

A list page is displayed with all meeting pattern records either captured by a section import process or created manually.  As with other list pages, the list may be filtered by using the filter options presented in the panel to the left of the list.  After entering filter options, click Search to update the list results.

View Meeting Pattern Details

From the list page, click on the pattern display name link you would like to view.

 

 

The meeting pattern form is displayed.  Following are highlights of the details provided:

 

Display Name
The Display Name is automatically created and simply reflects the day/time combination created for the pattern.

 

Description

This is the optional text description entered for the pattern.

 

Contact Hours
Contact Hours represents the total contact hours associated with the pattern.

 

Repeating Sequence

If the pattern repeats during the course of the term, the repeat sequence defines how often, in weeks, the pattern repeats.

 

Non-Repeating

Patterns with no repeat cycle that are configured simply as a series of defined day/time combinations that meet the pattern's contact hours.

 

Is Active
The Is Active flag determines whether or not the pattern is available for processes within Astra Schedule, including pattern assignment at the section level.

 

Is Exam
The Is Exam flag designates a meeting pattern as an exam meeting pattern.  Only exam meeting patterns may be used when creating times for exam section meetings.

 

Meeting Pattern Times
The Meeting Pattern Times section of the form includes the individual meeting instances that make up the pattern.

 

NOTE:  Meeting Pattern Times cannot be edited if the meeting pattern is associated with a course section offering.

 

Term Types
The Term Types section of the form displays valid term types for the pattern, including usage statistics per term type.

 

Campus/Meeting Types
The Campus/Meeting Types section of the form displays the valid campus/meeting type combinations for the pattern, including usage statistics per combination.  Each campus/meeting type combination may be flagged as "standard".

Add New Meeting Pattern

Meeting Pattern records are typically created automatically by the system during section record imports.  However, patterns may be created manually as well.  To add a meeting pattern to the list, perform the following:

 

1.Click the Meeting Patterns option from the Academics tab.
 

 

2.Click Add a Meeting Pattern.

3.The Display Name will be automatically populated with the string of days/times added to the pattern.  However, if you wish to create a different name for the pattern you may enter this information in the Display Name field.

4.If desired, enter a Description for the pattern.

5.Enter the number of contact hours that the pattern represents.

6.If the meeting pattern is to be used for exam meetings, place a check in the box next to "Is Exam".

7.If the pattern repeats during the term, enter the number of weeks that represent the repeat cycle.  The default repeat cycle is 1, and represents the typical recurring pattern.

8.If the pattern does not repeat, place a check in the box next to Non-Repeating.

9.Click the Add button in the Meeting Pattern Times section of the form.

10.In the Day and Time window, enter the start time, duration (end time is automatically calculated), days, and sequence number (if applicable) for the meeting pattern being created.  (see examples above of sequence numbers for various pattern types)
 

11.Repeat the process if there are multiple meeting times associated with the pattern, and/or edit and delete the instances until the pattern is represented correctly.

NOTE:  Meeting Pattern Times cannot be edited if the meeting pattern is associated with a course section offering.

12.Click the Add button in the Term Types section of the form.

13.Select a term type for which the meeting pattern is valid and click Save. The term type is added to the pattern.  This may be repeated for all valid term types.
 

14.Click the Add button in the Campus/Meeting Types section of the form.

15.Select a meeting type and the campus(es) for which the meeting pattern is valid.  Optionally, place a check in the box labeled "Is Standard" to specify that the pattern is a standard meeting pattern for the campus/meeting type combination specified.  Click Save to add the combination to the pattern.  Repeat as needed.
 

16.Click Save on the meeting pattern form to save the pattern information and return to the meeting pattern list page.