file: laramee10TTCRformBackground.txt
     author: Robert S Laramee
 start date: 23 Sep 2010

Important Information About Time Tabling
----------------------------------------
Producing the Computer Science time table is a very intense and costly
administrative task.  There are over 35 change requests to the timetable 
from at least 14 members of the computer science staff for the 2010-2011 
academic year.  Over 600 emails and dozens of telephone calls have been 
exchanged on this topic during the 2010-2011 academic year. 
Central timetabling can receive up to 80 change requests per day and 
sometimes works until late in the evening, e.g., 22:00, to accommodate 
change requests. R.S. Laramee has spent approximately 60 hours (and
counting) in 2010 working on the timetable and its associated tasks.
Managing the time table can sometimes turn into an exercise in crisis 
management.

Challenges with Time Tabling
--------------------------
Production of the computer science time table used to be characterized 
by several problems.
1. Some of the change requests conflicted with one another. 
2. Some change requests were not well thought out, caused unexpected problems, 
   and caused a decrease in the overall timetable quality. 
3. Some change requests triggered further change requests. 
4. Many change requests were incomplete and left out vital information, 
   thus causing unexpected problems. 
5. The information required to successfully complete a change request was
   often spread across 6-10 different emails, sometimes scribbled on
   notes, and sometimes not recorded at all.
6. The previous timetabling change request process was often 
   counter-productive. It was oftentimes malfunctioning. 

From a processing point of view, bad input resulted in bad output.
From an engineering point of view, the requirements were not captured
properly.

Further adding to the complexity of time tabling are the following:
1. Lecturers would like their teaching concentrated on 2-3 days per week. 
2. Few want lectures on Fridays. 
3. Some members of staff are forceful with their change requests. 
4. Swansea University does not have the resources to accommodate all 
   change requests (and create a perfect timetable). 
5. (This last point is so important it's worth repeating.) Swansea University 
   does not have the resources to create personalized timetables for each 
   lecturer. 

Contributing to the problem are requests for more space and time resources 
than a module actually requires. This artificially occupies room and time 
slots, of which the university is short of, thus reducing the flexibility 
of change request processing. The number of excess rooms and time slots 
being requested is non-trivial to quantify. A rough guesstimate is that 
20% of the timetable is artificially frozen space/time resources.

What the Time Table Change Request (TTCR) Forms Hope to Achieve
---------------------------------------------------------------
The TTCRs introduce a more structured process into time table
change requests.  They provide the following advantages:

1. Vital TTCR information is not longer scattered across several
   emails, paper notes, and verbal exchanges.  In other words,
   TTCR's have a higher success rate due to less information loss.
2. Understanding the background and motivation behind the TTCR
   helps us make better and more informed decisions.
3. TTCRs help us to try and maintain the overall quality of the 
   timetable from the student point of view and raise members'
   of staff awareness with respect to the issues involved.
4. Members of staff are always informed of their TTCR status
   because they are stored online.  This is vital because we do
   not have the resources to:
   4.1. Send out the volume and number of emails required to keep
        each member of staff happy.
   4.2. Call each and every staff member several times in order to
        resolve their TTCR.
   4.3. Meet with each staff member every time the status of their
        TTCR changes.
5. TTCR's also provide some history of the time table.  All staff can
   see what change requests have been made.  Providing historical 
   information reduces the likelihood of a previous TTCR being
   reversed.

It's also worthy to note that there is no "undo" button for TTCRs.
Once a TTCR has been resolved and completed, another TTCR must be
filled out in order to make another change.  This is because once
a TTCR has been resolved, the space and time resources that a module
previously occupied are released back to the university for
reallocation.  Another TTCR is required to find out if given rooms 
and times are still available.

Note:
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Robert S Laramee is the sole author of this file.  Any views 
expressed herein are solely his and not that of the Computer
Science Department in general.