Scheduling > Maintenance > MSALGO > Process > Place

After entering and saving the sections on the Build tab, click the Place tab.

Field	Description
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. The courses in the ellipsis lookup are sorted by the ranking in an algorithm: from the least number of sections and greatest number of conflicts within the number of sections, to the greatest number of sections and number of conflicts, from greatest to least, within the number of sections. For each course, the course number and title, number of conflicts, and the number of sections placed are displayed. (The lower the number of conflicts, the more difficult to place.) If all sections of a course are placed, the message “Placed” is displayed. Otherwise, the number of sections placed out of the number of sections available is displayed (e.g., 0 of 1). The algorithm ranks the most difficult courses to place first, but any course can be selected for placing. Data for the selected course is displayed, including the course title, number of semesters and periods, number of conflicts, number of sections placed, and number of requests.
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. Section placement: 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.
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. 2. Click Save. You are prompted to confirm that you want to delete the row. Click Yes to continue. Otherwise, click No. 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.

Under Meeting Time(s), the meeting times for the currently selected section are listed. A course section can have up to four meeting times and must have at least one meeting time.

Click +Add to add a meeting time. A row is added to the grid. Add data in the following fields:

The Sec-Meet field displays sequential numbering of the meeting times. The number is automatically generated and cannot be changed.

In the Sem field, click  to select the semester in which the section is offered. For two-semester campuses, if the course is a two-semester course, the Sem field is set to 3 by default. The field is required.

In the Frm field, click  to select the beginning period that the class meets. The field is required.

In the To field, click  to select the last period that the class meets. The field is required.

In the Instr field, click to select the instructor.

In the Room field, type the room number of the room in which the class meets.

In the Days field, click  to select the days on which the class meets. The field is required and is set to MTWThF by default.

To delete a meeting time, click . A message is displayed asking if you want to delete the row.

Click Yes to delete the meeting time. The row is deleted. Otherwise, click No.

Note:  Meeting time 1 cannot be deleted. At least one meeting time is required for each section.

Click Save.

This will update the Courses to be Placed dialog box with information about any sections that are now placed. It will also automatically retrieve the course which MSALGO determines is the next course to be placed.

Note:  You can save data at any time while you are on the Place tab.

Click Next Crs to Place to retrieve the course which MSALGO determines should be placed next. This will be the first course which is not completely placed that MSALGO determines has the highest priority for placement.

A section is considered placed if meeting time 1 has a semester code, beginning period, and ending period. The information must be saved.

All sections of a course must be placed for MSALGO to consider the course completely placed.

The next course to place is not accurate unless all meeting time information entered is saved.

Click View Chart to view the placement chart. The report opens in a new window. Review, save, or print the report.