Rooms Overview

On this page:

Your school's layout and classrooms are essential parts of the scheduling process. Entering all of the necessary room information allows the system to consider the most efficient use of available space when building the master schedule.

When performing the Schedule Parameters function, you defined the departments and facilities within your school. Now it is time to enter the rooms. To each room, you can associate specific departments and facilities so that the system schedules courses in the appropriate locations.

Note: Only enter classrooms needed for next year's schedule. For example, if you know you are not going to hold classes in a particular room, do not enter its information in the system. If a room that you will not use next year is in the system, you can leave it there as long as you make it unavailable for scheduling. For more information, see Edit a Room.

To ensure that there is a place for each section of a course to meet, you must schedule them into classrooms. The system assigns courses to rooms based on the following priorities (listed from highest to lowest priority):

• The assigned teacher's preferred classroom
• Any classroom associated with the same department as the course being scheduled
• Any classroom associated with the same department as the assigned teacher
• Any classroom with an adequate number of seats

Note: If the course requires a special facility, the system considers rooms that provide the necessary facility only. If no facility is available, then the system cannot schedule the course.

Rooms

Define locations for courses so that the system best utilizes available space when building a master schedule. To create several rooms simultaneously, see Auto Create Rooms.

Filter Rooms

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Rooms from the PowerScheduler menu. 
3. If needed, click the Filter arrow to expand this section.
   Note: Click the Filter arrow again to collapse this section.

4. Use the following table refine your search:

   Field	Description
   Search	Enter search criteria in the field. Click Apply. The page refreshes and display filtered results. Note: To remove all filter selections, click Clear.
   [Column]	In addition to filtering by the Search field, you can filter by column headings. To filter by column headings: Click +. Note: The + appears shaded if all filters have been added. To delete a filter, click - next the filter. From the first pop-up menu, choose one of the following: Department Dept. Use Only Description Facilities Fac. Use Only Always Free Max Number Scheduled Enter search criteria in the search field. Note: Use a comma-separated list for multiple values. To add another filter, repeat Step 1 through Step 3. Click Apply. The page refreshes and display filtered results. Note: To remove all filter selections, click Clear.

Add a Room

Create a room for each space within your school that will be used for scheduling. This could include offices and libraries.

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu.
2. Under Resources, choose Rooms from the PowerScheduler menu. 
3. Click New. 

4. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:

   Field	Description
   Room Number	Enter the room number.
   Room Description	Enter a description of this room.
   Department	Click Associate to select the department for this room. If you associate this room with a specific department, such as Math, the system will do its best to schedule math courses in this room. To ensure that this room will only hold Math courses, you must also select the Department Use Only checkbox. Note: Click Department to create or edit departments at your school.
   Building	Click Associate to select this room's building. Note: Click Building to create or edit buildings at your school.
   House	Click Associate to select this room's house. Note: Click House to create or edit houses at your school.
   Use for Scheduling	Select the checkbox if you want the system to consider this classroom when it assigns courses to rooms. Otherwise, deselect the checkbox. For example, some rooms (such as the cafeteria) are not used for scheduling. Deselect the checkbox to indicate if the room is not to be scheduled. If this is a room that you want to leave in the system but will not be using for scheduling next year, deselect the checkbox.
   Room is Always Free	If you select the checkbox, the system can schedule multiple courses in this room at the same time. This function is often used with gymnasiums. However, sometimes the Room Maximum field can cause problems, and it would make more sense to break the class into Gym 1 and Gym 2 if you know that the maximum number of courses taught in the gym is two. If you deselect the checkbox, only one course can be scheduled in this room per period.
   Department Use Only	Select the checkbox if you want the system to schedule in this room only courses that belong to this room's department. If you deselect the checkbox, the system schedules mostly courses with the same department as the room. But it is possible for the system to schedule a course that belongs to another department into this room. This would happen if some departments need more space than others. Note: If you select the checkbox, do not select the Facility Use Only checkbox.
   Facility Use Only	Select the checkbox to specify that the system can schedule only courses requiring the facilities you enter in the Room Facilities field in this room. Note: If not many courses require the facilities in this room and you select the checkbox, the system does not fully schedule the room; the room remains free rather than accommodating another course. If you deselect the checkbox, the system considers the facilities you enter in the Room Facilities field as suggestions. For example, assume the system needs to schedule the computer course Algorithms and Data Structure. Though the course does not require a computer lab facility, the system can schedule the course in the room with the computer lab if it is free. Note: If you select the checkbox, do not select the Department Use Only checkbox.
   Room Facilities	Click Associate to select the facilities of this room, if any. Facilities are any special characteristics of a room that courses may require. For example, a room might have a kitchen, computer lab, stage, or wood shop. Most classrooms do not have room facilities. There is a limit of 50 characters that can be entered in this field. Note: Click Facilities to create or edit facilities at your school.
   Room Maximum	Enter a number to determine the maximum number of students that this room can accommodate. The capacity of the room limits the courses that the system can schedule there. For example, if you enter 25, the system cannot schedule a course section with a maximum of 35 students into this room.

5. Click Submit. 
   
   Next, you might want to assign a course to a particular room. For example, maybe your school has several biology labs, and Biology 1 needs to be held in the classroom closest to the teacher's preferred room. To force a course to schedule in a particular room, define a Course Room constraint. For more information, see Build Constraints .

Edit a Room

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Rooms from the PowerScheduler menu. 
3. To filter the page, see Filter the Rooms Page.
4. Click the number of the room you want to modify. 

5. Use the following table to edit information in the fields:

   Field	Description
   Room Number	Enter the room number.
   Room Description	Enter a description of this room.
   Department	Click Associate to select the department for this room. If you associate this room with a specific department, such as Math, the system will do its best to schedule math courses in this room. To ensure that this room will only hold Math courses, you must also select the Department Use Only checkbox. Note: Click Department to create or edit departments at your school.
   Building	Click Associate to select this room's building. Note: Click Building to create or edit buildings at your school.
   House	Click Associate to select this room's house. Note: Click House to create or edit houses at your school.
   Use for Scheduling	Select the checkbox if you want the system to consider this classroom when it assigns courses to rooms. Otherwise, deselect the checkbox. For example, some rooms (such as the cafeteria) are not used for scheduling. Deselect the checkbox to indicate if the room is not to be scheduled. If this is a room that you want to leave in the system but will not be using for scheduling next year, deselect the checkbox.
   Room is Always Free	If you select the checkbox, the system can schedule multiple courses in this room at the same time. This function is often used with gymnasiums. However, sometimes the Room Maximum field can cause problems, and it would make more sense to break the class into Gym 1 and Gym 2 if you know that the maximum number of courses taught in the gym is two. If you deselect the checkbox, only one course can be scheduled in this room per period.
   Department Use Only	Select the checkbox if you want the system to schedule in this room only courses that belong to this room's department. If you deselect the checkbox, the system schedules mostly courses with the same department as the room. But it is possible for the system to schedule a course that belongs to another department into this room. This would happen if some departments need more space than others. Note: If you select the checkbox, do not select the Facility Use Only checkbox.
   Facility Use Only	Select the checkbox to specify that the system can schedule only courses requiring the facilities you enter in the Room Facilities field in this room. Note: If not many courses require the facilities in this room and you select the checkbox, the system does not fully schedule the room; the room remains free rather than accommodating another course. If you deselect the checkbox, the system considers the facilities you enter in the Room Facilities field as suggestions. For example, assume the system needs to schedule the computer course Algorithms and Data Structure. Though the course does not require a computer lab facility, the system can schedule the course in the room with the computer lab if it is free. Note: If you select the checkbox, do not select the Department Use Only checkbox.
   Room Facilities	Click Associate to select the facilities of this room, if any. Facilities are any special characteristics of a room that courses may require. For example, a room might have a kitchen, computer lab, stage, or wood shop. Most classrooms do not have room facilities. There is a limit of 50 characters that can be entered in this field. Note: Click Facilities to create or edit facilities at your school.
   Room Maximum	Enter a number to determine the maximum number of students that this room can accommodate. The capacity of the room limits the courses that the system can schedule there. For example, if you enter 25, the system cannot schedule a course section with a maximum of 35 students into this room.

6. Click Submit. 

Delete a Room

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Rooms from the PowerScheduler menu. 
3. To filter the page, see Filter the Rooms Page.
4. Click the number of the room you want to delete. 
5. Click Delete. 

View the Room Matrix

The room matrix function creates a visual, graphical representation of a room's schedule. This schedule can be printed, though not for more than one room at a time.

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Rooms from the PowerScheduler menu. 
3. To filter the page, see Filter the Rooms Page.
4. Click View next to the room for which you want to view the room matrix. Identical colors on the schedule indicate the same section. A blank block means that nothing is scheduled for that block in that term. If all matrix preferences are selected, each block includes the following information:
   • Name of the course
   • Course number
   • Section number
   • Name of the teacher for this section
   • Expression, which is the combination of periods and days
   • Term
   • Number of students scheduled for this section
   • Maximum enrollment for this section