Higher education has risen to the challenge required to navigate the transition to an online only instructional environment in a short amount of time. As institutions continue to refine their Spring 2020 room schedule and plan for Summer and Fall 2020, here are five ways institutions can strategically use Astra Schedule to accomplish their work while maximizing time and effort.  

If you are considering room assignment changes for sections on your campus, but do not want to impact the room assignment data for sections in your Student Information System (SIS), consider turning off your import and export jobs. If you need to keep the original room assignment for historical purposes, turning off import and export jobs will allow you to keep a record of the room assignment in your SIS while keeping track of real-time room usage in Astra Schedule. Once you are ready to receive information from your SIS, be sure to turn your import jobs back on.  

Import Export Video  
Import Export Help  

With sections moving to an online delivery method, you may still need to track what physical space is being used on your campus to conduct online learning. One institution creatively used Astra Schedule to change section room assignments by creating a room for “online delivery” sections and then created a role that had the capability of double booking that room only. This allowed the institution to see what spaces were still being used for sections. Let us know if you would like to learn more about room assignment changes or if you need a creative solution for room tracking. 

Changing Room Assignments Video 
Assign Rooms to Event Meeting Help  
Section Meeting Dates Help 

Do you need to cancel multiple meetings on your campus? Here is how you can save time and effort by canceling multiple meetings at once within a single event.  

How to Delete Multiple Meetings in a Single Event Video  

To learn how to cancel an entire event, click here.  

To display important campus information within Astra Schedule, you can add a custom content widget to your Astra Schedule Homepage. A custom content widget allows you to display a tailored message which can include text, images, and links.  

Homepage Video 
Homepage Help  

5. Create Custom Reports 
Reports can be customized to pull information from your site based on parameters you may have not needed to use, such as meeting type and instructor. For example, an institution that needs to find sections for a specific instructor that require an in-person presence would use meeting type and instructor as parameters. Let your Client Success Manager know if you need a custom report solution.  

Events by Building and Room for Selected Attendance 

Sections by Selected Meeting Type and by Room with Instructor 

Creating and Editing Reports Help  

Ad Astra customers can reach out to their Client Success Manager or Account Executive for more information or assistance on using Astra Schedule to effectively manage your online transition. Visitors who are not current customers are welcome to reach out using this link to have someone from our team get in touch with you. 

We want to hear from you!
Share your expertise in the comment section below.