In a continuing effort to find cost-efficient electronic solutions for jobs that once required countless hours of manual labor and paperwork, CUNY recently acquired two new software packages - SCHEDULE25 and 25E - to handle the task of scheduling space for over 200,000 students on its campuses.

SCHEDULE25, a product of Universal Algorithms, is a Unix-based client/server application that will interface with SIMS and other student information management systems. It allocates a semester's classroom space assignments based on very specific criteria, while the complementary application, 25E, can be used to assign space for one-time-only academic and non-academic events.

The job of coordinating campus schedules with available space is a complex one. Each college has its own methods and the process can take weeks of planning and revision. With SCHEDULE25 it is possible to accomplish the same task in a matter of seconds, once the raw data has been prepared by the colleges and submitted via CUNYNet to the central SCHEDULE25 computer at CUNY/CIS. The data includes descriptions of available rooms and the requirements of the semester's classes. This information allows SCHEDULE25 to make appropriate room assignments in terms of physical properties (including access for the handicapped), numbers of seats, and any other characteristic the college finds relevant. For example, an undergraduate chemistry lab, for which abundant light and ventilation are priorities, would be assigned a large room with windows, whereas for a limited-enrollment art history seminar using projected images, a smaller room without windows but with a projection screen would be appropriate.

Thanks to the high-quality imaging capabilities of the companion application, 25E, anyone scheduling rooms through the SCHEDULE25 or 25E could have access not only to campus maps but to digitized online pictures of the actual rooms available for classes or for one-time-only events.

SCHEDULE25 and 25E are being introduced at CUNY in a phased implementation. Baruch, Hunter, John Jay, and Queens Colleges are currently in the implementation phase. Bronx, Kingsborough, and New York City Technical Colleges are next in line to begin. The expectation is that electronic scheduling will prove to be highly cost-effective, both because it will run on administrative hardware shared by the colleges and because it ensures optimum use of campus space. It will also advance our knowledge of client/server applications and the Unix environment.

-- by Shelley Reed