When attempting to resolve instructor assignment issues in the sandbox, a user may need to have access to several pieces of information in order to make an informed decision about what to change.  For example, if instructor optimization was unable to find an instructor for a section, then we automatically know that there were no authorized instructors available to teach at that time.  In order to resolve the issue and find an instructor, a user will need to either assign an instructor outside of the authorization configuration, or change the section time to accommodate an instructor.  In order to do this, they may need to know when a given instructor IS available to teach, what rooms are available at various times, and also (if using student data for sectioning) what impact a time change will have on the students enrolled.

 

Starting with version 7.5.14, instructor conflict checking is included in Astra Schedule's available rooms tool when working with sandbox sections. This provides all three pieces of information in the same interface, as needed.

 

To utilize instructor conflict checking in the available rooms tool, perform the following:

 

1.Click the Sandboxes option on the Academics tab.
 

2.Click the name of a completed sandbox with results you would like to edit.
 

3.Identify a section meeting in the results and click its edit icon.
 

4.Click the Assign Room icon to launch the available rooms tool.
 

5.In the upper left corner of the filter panel, select an instructor for whom you would like to check availability.  This filter defaults to the currently assigned instructor, but you may also check availability for a different instructor.
 
Optionally, place a check in the "Authorized" box to limit the list to those instructors that are authorized to teach the course in question (as per the Astra Schedule course configuration).
 

 

6.Place a check in the box next to "Show Additional Meeting Patterns".  This option displays alternate standard meeting patterns with the same contact hours for the section.
 
Click Search to update the results.
 

7.The results grid will display the selected instructor's availability for the other meeting times in the header near the top of the window.
 
You may click to expand a specific meeting pattern to view its individual days for a more detailed view of availability.
 

 

8.To resolve an instructor time conflict, select an available room for a time slot during which the desired instructor is available.  Upon saving the selection, the meeting's time will be updated to the selected time.  (NOTE:  This action requires section meeting pattern editing permission)
 

9.Click OK.
 

10.On the section edit form, make sure to edit the instructor assignment using the drop down menu.
 

11.Save your changes.