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Curtin University
Class Management Office

Timetabling

The University timetable is a schedule of all Unit & Thesis related activities for a particular Study Period and Campus. The Timetable is currently developed by the Class Management Office (CMO) for Semesters One and Two on the Bentley and Northam campuses only. The University Timetable is prepared each semester by the CMO using data exported from Student One in conjunction with supplementary data collected from each study area.

On this page you will find information about:

Timetable Data Collection

Timetabling Data Collection Forms

Each study period the Class Management Officers (CMO’s) extract information from Student One in the form of Timetabling Data Collection Forms for each Unit/Thesis that has an existing Availability for the campus in the following semester. The purpose of the Timetabling Data Collection Form is to verify that the information stored in Student One as well as any subsequent information for each unit and related activity is in line with the study areas current needs.

Once the Timetabling Data Collection Forms are available CMO’s will distribute the forms to their Faculty Timetabling Contacts and issue copies of a reference chart for Teaching/Calendar weeks and a timeline for the return of the completed forms.

Each study area is responsible for ensuring their Timetabling Data Collection Forms are reviewed for accuracy relating to expected student numbers, staff responsible for teaching, the method of delivery and the required facilities. Once completed all Timetabling Data Collection Forms are returned to the CMO for processing.

Student Sets

The CMO’s will also provide draft Student Sets to Faculty Timetabling Contacts which reflect a pathway of study an individual Student may take in any given semester to complete their award. The draft student sets are reviewed by and discussed with the Faculty Timetabling Contact/s in each study area before being confirmed. These student sets will be used to ensure that the grouped units occur at different times on the Semester timetable, thus providing a flexible timetable for Students.

It is the responsibility of the timetabling contact to verify the number of classes per student cohort are adequate and to arrange any class registration requirements pertaining to the groupings of student sets such as Reserved Places.

Staff Availability Forms

The Manager, Class Management Office distributes Staff Availability Forms to Heads of School and timetabling contacts, along with a deadline for return of the forms. Staff Availability Forms are to be completed by all part-time teaching staff and any full-time teaching staff that are not available during standard teaching hours (Mon - Fri, 8:00am to 6:00pm). Heads of School are responsible for distributing the forms to all necessary staff. Once Staff Availability Forms have been completed and signed by the relevant authority they are returned to the Manager, Class Management Office for processing.

The information from each Staff Availability Form will be entered into Syllabus Plus to allow the system to take constraints on Staff Availability into consideration when activities are being scheduled.

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School Allocated Teaching Space Schedules

A number of schools have ownership of rooms in which they provide facilities such as software or equipment that is specific to their own study area. As these School Allocated Teaching Spaces (SATS) are often in high demand within the teaching area, the activities that need to make use of the space are generally scheduled internally by School Staff.

School staff who are in charge of devising a SATS room schedule should provide this information to the CMO for entry into Syllabus Plus at the same deadline the Timetabling Data Collection forms are due, thus allowing this information to be taken into account when scheduling other activities. Additionally, the entry of SATS room timetables into Syllabus Plus will allow students to be able to online class register in any of the classes scheduled.

Creating the Draft Timetable

The Timetable Data Collection information is entered into Syllabus Plus by the CMO staff. When the data entry phase is complete the Class Management Officers will identify activities that require priority scheduling in accordance with the Timetabling & Class Times Policy and submit the requests to the Manager, Class Management Office for approval. The Manager, Class Management Office will manually schedule these activities in Syllabus Plus.

Syllabus Plus facilities are used to auto-schedule all remaining activities. At the completion of the auto-schedule some activities will remain unscheduled. At this time the CMO’s begin manipulating the Draft Timetable in order to schedule all activities.

When manipulation of the Draft Timetable has been completed and all activities are scheduled the Manager, Class Management Office will publish the Draft Timetable for review by importing the relevant data from Syllabus Plus into Student One. All Faculty Timetabling Contacts will be notified that the Draft Timetable is available and advised of the closing date for requesting modifications.

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Reviewing the Draft Timetable

The Draft Timetable will be available for comment and review for a minimum of two weeks It is the responsibility of all Faculty Timetabling Contacts to ensure that the Draft Timetable has been reviewed. Timetabling Contacts should take the following items into consideration during the review:

  • Are all the required activities scheduled?
  • Are the activities scheduled in appropriate teaching spaces?
  • Are the activities scheduled at times appropriate to the requirements of Staff and Students?
  • Have any special considerations such as combined classes, Staff/Student health or access issues, off campus activities or room facilities required been taken into consideration?
  • Are there enough classes allocated to various student sets?

During the review period any issues relating to the Draft Timetable should be reported to the CMO for processing. It is paramount that staff are aware that changes to Final Timetable will only be actioned if they meet the criteria set out in the Timetabling & Class Times Policy, thus, all required changes MUST be requested during the Draft Timetable review period.

During the review period the Draft Timetable will undergo significant changes to accommodate issues reported by Timetabling Contacts. As the draft is constantly evolving staff should make regular checks to ensure no changes have been made that affect their original draft timetable.

Publishing the Final Timetable

The Manager, Class Management Office will deem the timetable finalised. The Manager, Class Management Office will import the final timetable from Syllabus Plus into Student One, Set the timetable to final in Student One and open the classes for Class Registration.

Dates for publishing the Final Timetable are set by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Education and are currently as follows:

  • Semester 1:     Final Timetable publication date 31 October in the preceding year
  • Semester 2:     Final Timetable publication date 31 May in the current year

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Adjustments to the Final Timetable

Adjustments to the Final Timetable can have a ripple effect as a change requested to one item may require changes to numerous other items in order to accommodate it. As such, adjustments to the Final Timetable are kept to a minimum. As stated in the Timetabling and Class Times Policy, changes to the Final Timetable will only be considered if one of the following requirements is met:

  • Student enrolment numbers exceed the capacity of the scheduled venue, or otherwise require a change;
  • A unit is no longer deemed viable to run;
  • An allocated venue does not provide the requested specialist facilities;
  • There is unexpected staff turnover;
  • A location is a safety or health hazard; or
  • There is a need to accommodate reasonable adjustments for Students with a disability or medical condition.

Adjustments to the Final Timetable must be requested through completion of a Final Timetable Change Request Form. This form is available from and can be submitted via, the CMO website Forms page. All requests for adjustments to the Final Timetable must be approved by the Head of School/Department (or nominee). Post Final Timetable requests will not be accepted after the third week of semesters 1 and 2 and classes will be closed to class registration.

Upon receipt of a Final Timetable Change Request Form and subsequent approval from the Head of School/Department (or nominee) the CMO's will assess the requested change and determine a course of action to effect the required adjustments. The CMO's will then liaise with any parties affected by the adjustments including the requestor and anyone whose timetable may require changes to accommodate the request. All parties will be notified via email of the final outcome and adjustments. Once the required changes have been effected in Syllabus Plus the CMO's will complete a Request Timetable Modification form and effect the timetables changes in Student One also. Post Final Timetable changes once students have commenced class registration must be considered carefully as students have the flexibility of choosing their unique timetable and where class registration management has not been set up prior to this unfortunately can result in student clashes and inconvenience.

All Post Final Timetable changes which affect students will need to be communicated to students via Official Communication by the Faculties.

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