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ARTICLE

The who, what, where, why and how of building a strategic scheduling team

A stronger schedule requires clear ownership, defined roles, and shared accountability.

The course schedule is an important institutional commitment to student success, and institutions that pledge to keep their completion promises must ensure course scheduling stakeholders have the necessary knowledge to make scheduling smarter by aligning the work with larger goals and institution-wide policies.


Building a strategic scheduling team can strengthen collaboration across scheduling stakeholders to help an institution make strategic and timely decisions about the schedule and its associated processes. This starts with understanding the who, what, where, why, and how.

 

WHO MAKES UP A STRATEGIC TEAM?

Members of a strategic scheduling team are tactical and functional experts who are champions of student-aligned schedules. The team should include diverse voices of decision makers who foster a shared sense of urgency to identify solvable problems. This can include Deans, Department Chairs, Registrars, Advisors, stakeholders in Student Success, Facilities, IR/IC, Curriculum, Financial Aid, and Athletics.

 

 

We’re being very intentional about who has a seat at the table for our strategic scheduling team. Our large early college dual-credit population significantly shapes how we build the schedule, so we’ve added representation from that area along with advising, the registrar, faculty, and myself. The goal is to create true cross-functional conversations about the practices that best support students.

— Duane Williams

AVP for Student Success and Retention, Texas A&M–San Antonio,

WHAT DOES A STRATEGIC SCHEDULING TEAM DO?

  1. 1 Strengthen collaboration across all scheduling stakeholders by ensuring communication reaches all areas of the institution.
  2. 2 Make strategic and timely decisions about the academic schedule and associated processes using benchmark metrics and real-time assessment to consider the logistics of the schedule including the scheduling grid and primetime compression.
  3. 3 Track and measure progress with alignment of the goals and outcomes of the strategic plan including progression, completion, space utilization, and financial sustainability.

WHERE SHOULD A STRATEGIC SCHEDULING TEAM START?

bar chart

Access the Data

Ensure the team has visibility into course demand, historical patterns, and student progression data before building the schedule.
students

Define the Student Mix

Understand the composition of the student population your schedule must serve—including program pathways, modality needs, and key populations such as transfer, dual-credit, or part-time students..
goals

Know Your KPIs

Identify the metrics that signal whether the schedule is working—such as course fill rates, time to completion, space utilization, and progression through key programs.

WHY IS A STRATEGIC SCHEDULING TEAM NECESSARY?

A strategic scheduling team can help an institution build an efficient academic schedule designed for student progression and completion that’s in alignment with the goals and outcomes of the institution and its student population.

What really changed for us was seeing, through the data, how deeply course scheduling affects students’ ability to progress toward graduation. Once everyone — from departments to student-facing offices — saw the same information, it created a common understanding of why we needed a coordinated, strategic approach to building the schedule.

— Mary Cruz

Associate Dean for the College of Liberal Arts, University of Guam

HOW CAN A TEAM INCLUDE SMART SCHEDULING™?

  • Knowledge: Essential insights to understand students and the population the institution is serving.
  • Culture: Cultivate curiosity to understand institutional goals and manage change effectively.
  • Process & Policy: Align institutional policies and processes to support scheduling. Define ownership and reinforce scheduling practices through clear workflows and documentation.
  • Technology: Start with the current SIS, align technology investments with operational goals and student needs, and cross-train users across units.

We still have a long way to go, but we’re building the foundation for a permanent strategic scheduling team that can truly address these challenges. This is a major culture shift for our university. Scheduling has long been faculty-driven, with limited attention to how offerings align to degree maps or support student cohorts. Our next big step is reshaping that culture so scheduling becomes intentional, student-centered, and integrated into the academic journey.

— Katherine Barich

Enrollment Analyst, Portland State University

Want to learn more? Connect with an expert today!

Download the Smart Scheduling Guidebook
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