Pullman GUC Room Assignments
The Registrar’s Office determines the building and room assignments for each section based on available classroom space considering the best utilization of seats, time and room features, and past history of course enrollment.
Proofing Process and Timeline
The term is "rolled" or "cloned" from the previous year. Fall is copied for the next Fall; Spring is copied for the next Spring. For the upcoming terms: View the Deadlines page. Instructors are automatically rolled unless you have notified the Campus Scheduler of subjects that should not roll instructors. Pullman campus rolls classrooms for the Spring & Fall schedule. Other campuses may opt NOT to roll classrooms. Contact your Campus Scheduler if you have questions about room rolling.
Campus Schedulers "cleanup" the new term performing a variety of clean-up tasks. Pullman Campus Schedulers will open Initial Proofing immediately. Other campuses may opt to do clean-up before opening Initial Proofing.
Initial Proofing "opens". View the Deadlines page for the timeline. Visit the Proofing pages for more information. As an overview, the department scheduler works with department leadership to determine which courses will be offered for the term, what times the courses will be offered, the size of the room requested (if needed), enrollment numbers, and other factors. The department scheduler checks the Approved checkbox in Maintain Schedule of Classes (MSC) for each class that is ready for review and addition to the Schedule of Classes. When edits are not possible, leave a Notes/Request in MSC.
Initial Proofing "closes". Campus Schedulers prepare the term for the Optimizer. This includes correcting mistakes, activating sections, combining sections, creating shared meeting lists, and many other manual tasks. Courses with pre-assigned rooms that are not approved will have the room removed.
The Room Optimizer is run. This application will attempt to find rooms for courses with the Facility codes of GUC_TBS or VC_PUL based on several criteria, including: Room Characteristics, Requested Room Capacity, Building Preferences, and Day/Time. All courses run through the Optimizer on the same day. The Optimizer success rate is about 60%.
Specialty rooms are assigned first: Parliamentary (86), Active Learning (83), Flex (84), and Videoconference (82). Courses with these room characteristics not assigned a room by the Optimizer are reviewed for manual assignment.
Standard or no characteristic rooms are assigned next. Standard (81) and sections with no room characteristic are run through the Optimizer in batches based on requested size, starting with the largest sections. All available rooms are utilized, even specialty rooms.
Manual Assignment. Sections that remain unassigned after the Optimizer run are reviewed for manual assignment options. This process traditionally takes several weeks.
Final Proofing "opens". Departments review their room assignments and make specific room requests. These requests are honored as best possible in the order received.
Final Proofing "closes". The Campus Scheduler works to accommodate as many requests as possible prior to the publishing of Schedule of Classes. If a class must be active when SOC is published, we recommend that it be approved during Proofing.
Schedule of Classes is published. October 1 or the next Monday for Spring terms. March 1 or the next Monday for Fall terms.
Requests for changes to the Schedule of Classes are accepted through the 10th day of classes. Requests are made in Maintain Schedule of Classes > Meeting tab > Notes/Requests via the department scheduler. Updates occur at least weekly; more frequently as time is available.
Frequently Asked Questions
For Fall 2021, 45% of sections were successfully assigned a room based on their preferences. For previous terms, the number is closer to 60% successful Optimizer assignment.
No. The Optimizer reviews building preferences only and does not consider specific room requests. Specific requests are accepted after the initial Optimizer run.
Yes. Once a term is rolled, you may update your classes. If you can find the term in Maintain Schedule of Classes, it is available. Just remember that once you select Approve, you will no longer have access to edit the section. As we do not run reports for terms that have not opened for Proofing, we will not see your requests. We recommend waiting to Approve a course until Proofing has opened.
GUC room assignments may be changed, and though our best efforts to accommodate everyone are made, and we do not guarantee specific space assignments. We recommend that departments and instructors review the assigned space during proofing and again prior to the start of a term. During massive room re-assignment events, such as during COVID, departments will not be notified of room changes and should review the assignments prior to the term. If a room is changed after the start of a term, the instructor and department will be notified. Otherwise, changes are noted in Maintain Schedule of Classes.
The Registrar’s Office does not pre-assign classrooms for purposes other than a documented reasonable accommodation. Rooms on the Pullman campus are "rolled" for Fall/Spring whenever possible. Room assignments are not guaranteed.
The Room Optimizer is not set up a specific room requests. Room requests are made in Maintain Schedule of Classes (MSC) by leaving a Notes/Request with a date.
Exceeding room capacity: The Optimizer will not assign a room smaller than requested capacity; if you request a specialty room, ensure that your capacity matches the available rooms. If you later request a specific room, but the RRC exceeds the room capacity, we will not honor your request for the room unless the instruction mode is SO/HY.
Too many room characteristics: We recommend researching the characteristics of the available rooms in 25Live. If you add too many room characteristics in Maintain Schedule of Classes, Optimizer may not find a room that meets all of them. This is particularly important for specialty rooms; we recommend only listing the specialty room characteristic, if this type of room is important.
Specifying features that are impossible to accommodate: Some requests for room features are impossible for us to place. For instance, requesting Video Data Projectors and Video Monitors cannot be accommodated. We do not have large classrooms with movable seating.