Scheduling > Maintenance > MSALGO > Process > Place
This tab is used to place the sections in the master schedule. You must enter and save the information on the Build tab prior to using this tab.
Place Sections Using MSALGO
After entering all of the prescheduled courses, you can begin placing the course sections as determined by MSALGO. Although you can override the suggested courses at any time, it is recommended that you follow the MSALGO logic as closely as possible.
The first step is to display the next course to be placed. MSALGO provides you with three charts that help you in determining the periods in which to place the sections. Once you display the section to be placed, click View Chart. This chart indicates conflicts, sections, and seating for each period of the day.
The first priority in placing sections is conflicts. It is important to place the section in the period that results in the least conflict. The conflict chart identifies potential conflicts. The potential conflicts per period per semester are calculated and the weighted conflict chart is produced as follows:
SUM ( 1 / (# times 1st course x # times 2nd course) )
The second priority when building the master schedule is seating balance. The seating chart shows the number of students placed by period and semester for each grade level. The number of seats in each period for each grade level must match very closely the number of students in the grade level at the end of the schedule build. Too many seats distort the load balance as much as too few seats. You must look at the number of seats per grade level rather than the total number of seats per period. The balance must occur for each grade level.
The seating chart is calculated as follows:
SUM ( (# seats requested per grade per period per semester / (# semesters in course / # semesters course offered) ) / # times course offered per semester ) for each course by grade, semester, and period
The section chart is the final chart used when building the master schedule. This indicates the number of sections per period. Compare this chart against the instructors and room charts to verify that you have resources available. Note the number of sections versus the total number of seats per period. It is important that you do not fill a period with low load sections, as the scheduler may not be able to provide a seat for each student in that period. You also run the risk of using all of your resources for the period before all students can be placed.
At some point it becomes necessary to be more concerned with the seating balance than the number of conflicts. It is important to look at both values when placing a section. Relying only on one or the other results in a poorly built master schedule.
Once you select periods in which to schedule the course, determine the instructor and meeting location. Use the instructor resource chart to check prior assignments and qualifications. Next, check the master schedule to see if the instructor is available for the selected period. After selecting the instructor, determine whether rooms are available for the selected sections.
After making these decisions, you must place the section on the master schedule and update all of the charts you are using as you build the master schedule.
When placing a course, click View Chart to review the report and identify the best period to place the course at that time.
❏ Select the course to be placed:
Course to be Placed |
Type or click to select the first pre-placed course to be placed. |
---|---|
View Chart | Click to view the placement charts, which will help you determine the periods in which to place sections. Review, save, or print the report. |
❏ Under Sections:
Sec | Type the number of sections for the course. |
---|---|
Seats | Type the number of seats available for the section. |
Team Code | (Optional) Type the one-character team code for the section. When MSALGO determines which sections meet all of a student's restriction criteria, if there is a team code in the section record, it will check the student demographic team code for a match. |
MSALGO uses the following rules for the order of placement:
Singletons (i.e., courses that are only offered once) are placed first. Within the singletons, the sections are placed sequentially from highest to lowest number of total potential conflicts.
Example: Courses 1004 and 2003 are both singletons. Course 1004 shows 223 conflicts, while course 2003 shows 145 conflicts. MSALGO selects course 1004 to be placed before course 2003.
Once all of the singletons are placed, MSALGO moves on to the doubletons, and so on.
This process continues until all sections have been placed on the master schedule.
❏ Under Meeting Times:
The meeting times for the selected section are listed. A course-section must have at least one meeting time and can have up to four meeting times.
❏ Click +Add to add a meeting time. A row is added to the grid.
Sec-Meet | A sequential number is displayed for each meeting time you add. |
---|---|
Sem | Select the code indicating the semester(s) the class meets. |
Frm To | Select the beginning and ending periods when the class begins and ends. |
Instr | Click to select an instructor. |
Room | Type the room number in which the class meets, up to four characters. |
Days | Select the code indicating the day(s) the class meets. |
Delete a meeting time.
1. Click to delete a row. The row is shaded red to indicate that it will be deleted when the record is saved. You can select multiple rows to be deleted at the same time. You can save edits and delete records in the same step (i.e., the changes are all committed when the record is saved).
Meeting time 1 cannot be deleted. At least one meeting time is required for each section. |
❏ Click Save.
This updates the Courses to be Placed ellipsis lookup with information about any sections that are now placed. It also automatically retrieves the next course to be placed, as determined by MSALGO.
You can save data at any time.
Next Crs to Place |
Click to retrieve the next course to the Course to be Placed field, which will be the first course not completely placed that has the highest priority for placement, as determined by MSALGO. KEEP IN MIND: You can override the suggested courses at any time. However, it is to your advantage to follow the MSALGO logic as closely as possible. |
---|
❏ The course with the most conflicts is displayed first.
Course to be Placed |
A course number is automatically displayed. This is the course that MSALGO determines should be placed first. To select another course, click to select the course. |
---|
❏ Place all singleton courses as described previously.
❏ Click Save.
This updates the Courses to be Placed ellipsis lookup with information about any sections that are now placed. It also automatically retrieves the next course to be placed, as determined by MSALGO.
You can save data at any time.
Next Crs to Place |
Click to retrieve the next course to the Course to be Placed field, which will be the first course not completely placed that has the highest priority for placement, as determined by MSALGO. KEEP IN MIND: You can override the suggested courses at any time. However, it is to your advantage to follow the MSALGO logic as closely as possible. |
---|
Before continuing, it is recommended that you back up the MSALGO tables in case you need to start over from this point.
Scheduling > Maintenance > MSALGO > Process > Utilities
❏ Select Backup MSALGO Tables:
This option backs up MSALGO tables. This process creates a zipped file.
The Password and Verify Password fields are displayed.
Password | Type a password for the file. To restore this file using the Restore MSALGO Tables utility, the user must type this password. |
---|---|
Verify Password | Retype the password to confirm that you typed it as intended. |
❏ Click Run Process.
❏ You are prompted to open or save the zipped file. Save the file in a known location.
CAUTION:
❏ Place all doubleton courses as described previously.
CAUTION: When changing section numbers, the updated section number must be unique.
❏ Click Save.
This updates the Courses to be Placed ellipsis lookup with information about any sections that are now placed. It also automatically retrieves the next course to be placed, as determined by MSALGO.
You can save data at any time.
Next Crs to Place |
Click to retrieve the next course to the Course to be Placed field, which will be the first course not completely placed that has the highest priority for placement, as determined by MSALGO. KEEP IN MIND: You can override the suggested courses at any time. However, it is to your advantage to follow the MSALGO logic as closely as possible. |
---|
Before continuing, it is recommended that you back up the MSALGO tables in case you need to start over from this point.
Scheduling > Maintenance > MSALGO > Process > Utilities
❏ Select Backup MSALGO Tables:
This option backs up MSALGO tables. This process creates a zipped file.
The Password and Verify Password fields are displayed.
Password | Type a password for the file. To restore this file using the Restore MSALGO Tables utility, the user must type this password. |
---|---|
Verify Password | Retype the password to confirm that you typed it as intended. |
❏ Click Run Process.
❏ You are prompted to open or save the zipped file. Save the file in a known location.
CAUTION:
❏ Place all tripleton courses as described previously, and so on.
The Texas Computer Cooperative (TCC) is committed to making its websites accessible to all users. It is TCC policy to ensure that new and updated content complies with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA. We welcome comments and suggestions to improve the accessibility of our websites. If the format of any material on our website interferes with your ability to access the information, use this form to leave a comment about the accessibility of our website.