The midnight scheduling showdown between Penn State students may soon become easier, thanks to the new schedule planner made available today on eLion.
The new feature on eLion will allow students to put in potentially conflicting time schedules and the course results that fit their schedule will be provided based on their availability, Penn State Spokeswoman Jill Shockey said.
It’s designed to let students look at their conflicts with work, clubs and sports before they schedule their classes. The planner will return all available courses that are offered when the student does not have a registered conflict.
University Registrar Karen Schultz saw the schedule planner tool used at a conference and decided to bring it back to Penn State to present to a student advisory board. Schultz said she expects the schedule planner to be a permanent change to eLion.
“We did a demo for the student advisory board, and they were very enthusiastic […] they thought it looked great,” Schultz said.
In the excitement of scheduling, this tool is meant to ease the burden of coordinating extracurricular activities and classes.
“It really allows a student to build all possible schedules, tell it what courses they want, and they can block off when they are unavailable and the planner will build schedules based on the student’s availability,” Schultz said.
The application is also flexible, allowing for students to modify their settings as they get involved with new activities or as they drop and add courses throughout the semester.
“The scheduler is an independent application, an added tool, to aid with scheduling, Shockey said. “It does not schedule courses for you, and you have the ability to change it over time as your schedule and your commitments change.”
It’s important to note, Shockey said, that the schedule planner application does not register students in the courses that it returns in its search and that they still must enter the course codes as usual to be enrolled in their desired course sections.
Jon Lyne said he thought the planner sounded helpful, but that the planner alone isn’t a final solution to scheduling.
“I think that you still need to talk to your adviser about your classes” Lyne (senior-agricultural and biological engineering)said.
Alexa Fox (senior-theatre and public relations) said the feature would be “super helpful” for students who, like her, juggle a host of club meetings and rehearsals on top of their academic workload.
