Constraints
The School Setup menu includes a Scheduling link, Constraints. Click the Constraints link to access the Constraints page, which you can use to define scheduling constraints for students. Load constraints restrict the way the system loads students into courses that have already been scheduled.
This information is either captured as part of the PowerScheduler commit process or can be manually defined (added, edited, deleted) using these pages. In the past, this information was strictly defined within the context of mass scheduling within PowerScheduler.
Since constraints restrict student schedules, the more constraints you define, the less flexibility the system has to load students into courses and the less optimal the resulting schedule will be. It is always best to use the fewest number of constraints required to accomplish your scheduling goals.
Add a Student Or Student Avoid Constraint
Use a Student/Student Avoid constraint to specify that two selected students cannot be scheduled into any of the same course sections.
On the start page, choose School under Setup in the main menu.
Under Scheduling, click Constraints.
Click Student Avoid.
Click New.
Click Associate to select the name of a student to separate.
Click Submit. Add a Student Or Teacher Avoid Constraint
Use a Student/Teacher Avoid constraint to specify that this student and this teacher cannot be scheduled into any of the same course sections.
On the start page, choose School under Setup in the main menu.
Under Scheduling, click Constraints.
Click Teacher Avoid.
Click New.
Click Associate to select the name of the student you want to avoid scheduling with a selected teacher.
Click Associate to select the name of the teacher you want to avoid scheduling with the selected student.
Click Submit. The Student/Teacher Avoid Constraints page appears.
Add a Student Free Constraint
Use a Student Free constraint to specify those periods when a student must be free, such as when taking a course at another school.
On the start page, choose School under Setup in the main menu.
Under Scheduling, click Constraints.
Click Student Free.
Click New.
Click Associate to select the name of the student who needs to have a free period.
Select the checkbox next to each period in each day that you want to schedule this student to have a free period.
Choose from the pop-up menu the term that this student needs the free periods.
Click Submit.
Add a Section Link Constraint
Use a Section Link constraint to specify that if students are enrolled in one course section, they must also be enrolled in another, specific course section.
On the start page, choose School under Setup in the main menu.
Under Scheduling, click Constraints.
Click Section Link.
Click New.
Click Submit.
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Course Number 1 | Click Associate to select the name of one of the courses for which you want to link a section. |
Section Number 1 | Enter the section number of the course in the Course Number 1 field that you want to link to another course section. |
Course Number 2 | Click Associate to select the name of the other course for which you want to link a section. |
Section Number 2 | Enter the section number of the course in the Course Number 2 field that you want to link to the section in the Section Number 1 field. |
Add a Student Preference Constraint
Use a Student Preference constraint to schedule a student into a particular course section. You can also specify the course per a specific term and teacher.
On the start page, choose School under Setup in the main menu.
Under Scheduling, click Constraints.
Click Student Pref.
Click New.
Click Submit.
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Student | Click Associate to select the name of the student you want to force to schedule in a specific course section. |
Course Number | Click Associate to select the name of the course. |
Section Number | Enter the section number of the course into which you want the student to be scheduled. |
Term | Choose from the pop-up menu the term to which you want this constraint to apply (optional). |
Teacher | Click Associate to select the name of the teacher who instructs this course section (optional). |
Modify Load Constraints
After creating load constraints, you can modify them by choosing Constraints under the Scheduling heading from the School Setup menu. Select the constraint you created to view the constraints by type.
On the start page, choose School under Setup in the main menu.
Under Scheduling, click Constraints.
Click the name of the type of constraint you want to modify, such as Student Avoid.
Click the course name, student name, or teacher name in the row of the constraint you want to modify. The Edit page for that particular constraint appears.
Edit the information as needed.
Click Submit.
Delete Load Constraints
After creating load constraints, you can delete them by choosing Constraints under the Scheduling heading from the School Setup menu. Select the constraint you created to view the constraints by type.
On the start page, choose School under Setup in the main menu. The School Setup page appears.
Under Scheduling, click Constraints. The Constraints page appears.
Click the name of the type of constraint you want to delete, such as Student Preference.
Click the course name, student name, or teacher name in the row of the constraint you want to delete. The Edit page for that particular constraint appears.
Click Delete.
Click Confirm Delete.