September 20, 2011
Astra 7.4 Ready for Testing
After many hours on the phone with Astra support, we have finally gotten the 7.4 test verion operational. And, it will import Banner section data. The next step is to connect the accounting software (nightmare) ObjAcct to the test instance so that the WUC events folks can begin working with it.
Also, the Library folks have been looking over the 7.4 version, and like some of its new features. So, we will be scheduling an upgrade of our 7.3 production instance once they become a bit more familiar with the new version.
Posted by rossm at 2:47 PM | Comments (0)
August 17, 2011
V7.4 Moves Ahead
The installed test version of 7.4 still will not load any Banner section data. I have sent off some log files to their support, but we haven't yet pinned down the problem. My guess is it has something to do with our test user setup on the database and/or the database link we created. I am waiting to hear from Astra support on that one.
Also, we are considering putting the Hamersly Library onto the newer version as well. They have been live with 7.3 for quite some time. One of the main improvements in 7.4 is more flexibility in your form display - you can customize the data that is displayed in quite a few ways.
Right now we have our production V7 at 7.3 and our test V7 at 7.4, so it seems to make sense to move production up to 7.4.
Posted by rossm at 3:18 PM | Comments (0)
August 2, 2011
Astra Version 7.4 Installed
Our campus has long awaited the release of Astra Version 7.4. Most of the campus is presently using version 6. Version 7 is a complete re-write of the software, and takes Astra up a notch to a web-based application. Previous versions of Astra have been installed on campus, and the Hamersly Library is the sole user of version 7.3 (our production version). This is because the HL has no need for the financial package or the final exam module.
We have a long history of trying to grasp the financial piece of Version 7. It is a "bolt on" to the main application called Object Accounting (ObjAcct), and is not well integrated. It is also just a financial package - similar to QuickBooks. It is not tailored to the needs of a campus. At one point we were making headway with understanding how we can use ObjAcct, but that fell by the wayside when we realized that the 7.3 version did not have a final exam module.
So, now we have it all here - in a test version. It is my hope that we can now move forward and get all of campus on the new 7.4 version of Astra.
Posted by rossm at 3:31 PM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2011
Astra 7.4 Coming to WOU
Astra is the software used by WOU to schedule all classes and events on campus. It was implemented several years back to replace several separate programs that were then used across campus. The main advantage was to eliminate double bookings of space, which was quite a problem. Astra V6 was implemented across campus.
Some months back, Astra came out with a major upgrade from Version 6 to 7. V7 is a total rewrite of their application and takes Astra from the server-client realm to 100% web based. Of course we jumped right on board with this upgrade, and were one of the first Banner-Oracle sites to install it. Unfortunately, V7 wasn't quite ready for prime time. We discovered that the financial package was actually a separate install, and not well integrated with the Astra application. After a lot of back and forth, we did get some training on the new financial module and at one point were beginning to see how it could be used. Then we learned that V7.3 did not have an Exam module, which we use every term for scheduling final exams. We did move the Hamersly Library over to V7 as they had no need for either the financial module or the exam module. But, for the rest of campus, onto the back burner with this project.
Well, V7.4 has now been released by Astra. It contains an Exam module, and is really superior to V6 in many ways. We are scheduled to install a test instance of V7.4 on August 2nd. Hopefully, we can now move the entire campus over to V7.
Posted by rossm at 8:19 AM | Comments (0)
January 28, 2010
A Blog a Day Keeps The ..... at Bay, or Astra VII Update
Hello, Everyone: Well, some interesting things are going on in Astra these days. Kathy Bolen has scheduled some Events training for our major events users on campus. We're still dealing with the accounting side of Events - hopefully this training will help us out in that regard.
On a related note, the Hamersly Library is ramping up to use VII - they do not need the accounting piece. It will be nice to get them on Astra. We met yesterday and identified some pieces that still need tweaking, and Lori Hilterbrand is busily adding events from their current scheduling application into VII. The plan is to switch the library over during Spring break.
Posted by rossm at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)
January 6, 2010
Astra Version 7 Upgraded
Yes, I am still around. Yes, it's been awhile since my last blog entry. So, I'll try again! Yesterday, we upgraded Astra Version VII from 7.3.0 to 7.3.3. Exciting! Well, the primary reason for the upgrade was to fix an application error that occurred when requesting a room for an event. The Astra code did not communicate correctly with our Oracle database, so could not retrieve required room information. Indeed, the upgrade did fix the problem. We are moving forward again with Hamersly Library's migration to Astra.
On a related note, we purchased a day of on-campus Astra training when we purchased the Version VII upgrade. We have just started to plan a day for that training. This training will be available for the Astra section and event administrators. This will be a big help in moving the entire campus to Version VII.
As I've worked more and more with Version VII, it really is a big improvement over our current Version 6 implementation. It is a pretty slick web interface, and a lot of routine repetitive tasks will be much easier to perform in Version VII. The big exception to this rule is the accounting package. Hopefully, as our staff gets training on the new accounting module, we will figure out a way we can use it.
Posted by rossm at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)
August 20, 2008
Report Modifications, Room Configuration, Server Rebuild, and User Permissions
This week we pushed Astra ahead some more by looking over report modifications and modifying user permissions. I had cut back user permissions to prevent issues such as random buildings going offline for no apparent reason, however, some of those needed to be relaxed to allow certain users to modify events. Additionally, I have been looking at some of the computer labs to make sure we don't schedule events into our open student labs without the lab manager's OK first.
As you know, our server got hacked into a while back. We've cleaned that mess up, but we continue to see some weird behavior which we believe is still connected to the break-in. Brian wants to rebuild the server entirely, and I think that's a great idea. So I've been collecting information about the process for re-installing Astra on the server. It isn't as bad as I first thought, but of course will take some doing.
By the way, it looks like Astra version 7.2 will be available soon. This is a completely web based version that we intend to install when it's available. Ah, job security! Overall, things are going pretty smoothly in the Astra world this week.
Posted by rossm at 8:54 AM | Comments (0)
August 13, 2008
Astra Is Taking Off!
Astra will soon be a household word here on campus, and we are working on the configuration to make it work. It is a mind boggling undertaking - just think about it for a minute - every class and every event scheduled all across campus will be handled by Astra. Working on this project has really opened my eyes to the wide variety of offerings we have. A couple thousand classes here and there, at least as many events being scheduled - this is a happening place! Of course a project this huge does not go smoothly all the time, but I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with some truly excellent folks that have helped a LOT.
The nitty gritty details for this week involved me "cracking" the JSP pages and making some very desirable changes to the Astraweb. These changes will make the processing of event requests much easier. Such things as added directions, default values in certain select boxes, and other modifications have been accomplished. Still to go is the assignment of "persons to be notified" for each room and each room configuration. This means telling Astra whom to notify when an event request comes in for a particular room.
Let me give you a bird's eye view of the way events will be requested. First, a person wanting to schedule an event goes to the Astraweb. They fill in all the particulars of their event - name, date, duration, how many will attend, etc. Astra will display a complete list of rooms that are available for this event. You select the room that looks good to you, and press the "Request Event" button. Astra will then send a notification to the person in charge of the room you have requested and create a tentative event (this is BIG! - the tentative event is put on the system automatically). If the event request looks good to the room custodian, then they approve the event. At this point, all events will go to Nan Lehto, who will add in such things as setup and takedown time, resource requirements (chairs, media equipment and such), and confirm the event. Voila, the event is now scheduled and a notice to that effect is sent to the requesting person. Of course, there are a million other considerations such as billing, notification to public safety, and conflicts, but this gives you a good overview of how the system will work. The great advantages of Astra are that the event requests are for rooms that are actually available, and that you can look either in Astra or on Astraweb and see EVERYTHING that is scheduled. This is a case where the added technology of Astra actually will improve our campus. Can't go wrong there!
Posted by rossm at 9:20 AM | Comments (0)
August 6, 2008
Astra - How It's Going
Astra Schedule is going great guns these days. We're just getting ready to activate a new term - Winter '09 so the classroom schedulers can get that ready to go. There is a fair amount of maintenance work required to make sure that the room information across campus remains accurate. We are still identifying certain areas, a lot of them "outside", and such things as new smart classrooms are continually being added. Last week I helped Michael Ellis set up the residence halls and Valsetz areas in Astra. This will enable the folks in those areas to also use Astra for scheduling their activities.
Later this week we're meeting to review the Astraweb configuration. We will be making modifications to this area so that the entire campus will be using Astraweb for requesting events. It should make all aspects of scheduling easier on everyone. The original goals for Astra were to reduce double booking of spaces, and to get information out to folks like the Physical Plant and Public Safety so they are aware of events that require their services. Astraweb will be the last piece that needs to be in place to enable this communication.
A couple of housekeeping chores also needed to be done with Astra. This included removing and re-installing one building - it just didn't "take" when it was created; working on some customized forms; and re-creating some users to enable them to modify certain events.
This is one BIG project! I've met more people across campus while working on this than anything else that's come my way since starting here 10 years ago. It is a really neat application, and I expect it to greatly benefit the entire campus in the future. It is just so much easier to schedule things when you can go to only one place to see what is or is not available.
Posted by rossm at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)
July 2, 2008
Events Moves Forward, Exams Feature Reviewed
More and more users are getting their areas converted to Astra for event management. It is really coming together nicely. I've got a few more installs of Astra client to do, and we'll have even more folks using Astra. Our goal is to go to the web model by September 1st, meaning event requests will come through Astraweb, be routed to the proper person(s) for confirmation, then be scheduled in Astra. Anyone will be able to see the campus schedule, and see which rooms are available/not available for their event.
We had a meeting regarding the handling of classroom/event conflicts, who needs to make decisions on whether to move a class or event, and those sorts of internal issues. I think we have a good basis for ironing out most of the space conflicts that inevitably will crop up. Astra will help to minimize these conflicts, and will also be helpful in identifying other spaces that are available for a specific event. I was impressed with the way the main Astra users were willing to be flexible and offer really useful suggestions for solving some nagging scheduling issues.
We also discussed the implementation of an Astra feature - Exams. If the Exams feature is activated for a particular term, Astra will cancel all classes for the last week of the term, replacing the regular class meeting dates with a final exam schedule instead. The problem that comes up if Exams isn't enabled is that classes are scheduled in Astra right through finals week, when those classrooms aren't really needed then. We discussed several alternative ways of handling finals week, and are going to experiment and see what suits our needs best. We decided that Kathy Hill has the most difficult organization task around this, so we're going to go with whatever suits the needs of LAS best.
One other item that came up is maintenance of our Room information. A new smart classroom was added into the APS building, and the MAN building will also have new spaces pretty soon. I have volunteered to try and stay on top of this as I work closely with the Planning Department anyway. Amazing - we have a new smart classroom to schedule! That can only help!
Posted by rossm at 8:42 AM | Comments (0)
June 18, 2008
Astra Moving Forward
Astra continues to show itself to be a great, great asset for the campus. As we move forward with the configuration and implementation we see more and more advantages. It just can't be overstated how nice it is to have everything that is scheduled on campus right there in one spot to look at. It helps both those responsible for setting up class schedules and events, but also those who are looking for a place on campus for their event. It really helps to know whether a space is available or not just by looking - you don't have to call anyone.
That being said, the implementation continues to be difficult to move forward. One nice thing is I've met a lot people as they got their Astra client installed, and I haven't been out on campus this much in years!
Another area which has come up as we begin to use Astra in earnest is "exams". This is the tool whereby Astra does not schedule classes in their regular time slots the last week of the term - it schedules final exams that week instead. We have not yet used the exams portion of Astra, and it necessarily requires a lot more setup. This made a bit of a mess for the finals week this term as there were still classes showing in Astra even though they weren't really meeting. Of course, the space was needed for final exams and other events so it caused a lot of manual work that we'll be able to avoid in the future.
This Summer we are scheduled to go to Astra version 7, which is purely web based. That will be fun to see all the new features it contains. Also, it will eliminate the client/server architecture so I won't have any reason to be wandering around campus!
Posted by rossm at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2008
ASTRA Welcomes Campus Residences
Astra implementation is moving forward "with alacrity" - which means it's really rolling along. This week I added John Rushing as a user, and gave him a copy of the client install. We'll be working on adding some residence hall users and rooms in the near future. Astra will then be used to schedule the meeting areas in the residence halls, as well as the rest of campus. Next week we have a big training scheduled. Jill Summers is going to pass on her event scheduling expertise to the newer system users. Although the conversion of event management to Astra is a huge undertaking, we have definitely passed through some sort of barrier, and Astra is really taking off on its own. As more and more people on campus become aware of Astra's benefits, it's use is snowballing. It really is a great advantage to look in one place and see everything that's scheduled all across campus.
We will continue to add users across campus in the coming weeks, and then we'll add in "resources", which is Nathan Sauer's area - classroom equipment.
Posted by rossm at 8:48 AM | Comments (0)
May 7, 2008
ASTRA - Still Rolling
This week I set up the notification area (called workflow in Astra-ese) with the help of Astra support. We will be using internal communication to handle all event requests from the web. Once again Astra has been pretty impressive. It will send the web event request to the person responsible for the particular room requested. That person looks over the request and either approves or denies it. If approved, Astra automatically creates the event using the info from the web. Slick! The way it is set up Nan receives notification on every event request (she handles tons of these all across campus), and for certain buildings/rooms the person responsible for the space gets the notification. It is a bit complicated, but this means we can have individuals retain control over their area, but still create approved events in Astra pretty easily.
Once we get this round of setup completed, then we'll configure the email section, which will be used to notify service areas of the need for such things as table and chair setup, parking, HVAC, custodial, and so forth. Is that a light at the end of the tunnel I see??
Posted by rossm at 9:54 AM | Comments (0)
April 30, 2008
What's Happening With Astra?
Astra schedule has taken off like crazy again. The events folks are working overtime to get all the pieces put together to allow all events from every corner of campus to be scheduled through Astra. This is not a small task! For my part I've been installing the Astra client on various computers all across campus, adding events users, and adjusting user privileges. Just for fun, one of our services - the one that moves Banner data into Astra - decided to quit working. It really fooled me because the system showed that is was working normally. However, repeated reminders from the users told me it really wasn't working. By stopping and restarting the service, everything got back to normal. So, the fix was easy, the diagnosis was hard.
Next on my list of Astra tasks is to get the web email notifications working. That should be finished by tomorrow. Once this is working, it opens a whole new can of configuration worms, as many rooms on campus will need to be set up to notify the proper individuals when there is a request for an event.
All in all, Astra is really turning out to be a very positive addition to campus. It truly is a HUGE advantage to be able to look in one place and see everything that is going on around campus. Also, the scheduling engine that does the actual scheduling of classrooms is a great advantage.
In the near future, I will be adding in automatic notifications to persons such as custodial, HVAC, and campus safety when events requiring their services are scheduled. This will help to give these folks better information on what is required all across campus.
Posted by rossm at 9:58 AM | Comments (0)
April 16, 2008
Astra Is Moving Along!
The Astra implementation got a huge shot in the arm this week. We had a meeting of the Astra administrators and were able to decide to move all event scheduling to Astra. This means a lot of work, but it also means we'll finally be looking at one place only to see what spaces are available all across campus. This is neat. Very soon we'll be releasing the web piece which will allow anyone to request events and see what rooms are available from the web - Very Cool!
Once we get all the events pieces put together, then the campus will really be able to take advantage of the application, and it should cut down on double bookings and a lot of confusion. I am constantly amazed at the number of events that are scheduled across campus - it is a lot!
(By the way I attended one event last night at the WUC Pacific Room - Step Afrika - it was really good!)
Another piece that will be very useful is the notification of service persons such as Custodial, Setup/Takedown, Public Safety and Heating/Air Conditioning. Also the combined information will make it easier for these folks to track events directly.
It's good to have this Astra train moving down the track again!
Posted by rossm at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)
April 9, 2008
Astra Events - Here We Come!
Well, Astra configuration has turned another corner. Jill has begun entering events for the WUC in, and there are a lot of events visible on the Astraweb. One problem is still with Astra to fix, and that is the "collection" issue I wrote about previously. Basically, the event confirmation doesn't bill correctly if a collection (a group of resources) is reserved. Aside from that, Jill has the configuration done and can now schedule events with Astra. The next step is to meet with the key Astra users to determine how to configure the web event request notifications. In other words, how do we complete the event scheduling process once a request is received? We need to make sure that the building managers, event schedulers, and service providers all get the information they need. We will be meeting early next week to figure this next phase out, and get Astra properly configured. After that is completed we'll be moving on to include all other event scheduling areas (Hamersly, Athletics, Music...).
The implementation of Astra has proven to be a monumental task. It is really amazing to see what all is going on behind the scenes to schedule events for the campus community! Wow!
Stary tuned as we bring the Events part of Astra online.
Posted by rossm at 9:57 AM | Comments (0)
March 19, 2008
ASTRA - Full Tilt!
You've heard the saying, "the train's a commin' - you can either get on it or get under it"? Well, that describes Astra this week. Jill has shifted into high gear and the events portion of Astra has really taken off. I have added 5 more users this week, and we are really making some headway by adding in more areas of campus into the Astra fold. Soon we will have the Hamersly Library, Music, and Creative Arts all on board.
Jill showed me something else that's pretty neat with Astra. If you go to the Astraweb, which is located here, then choose "Schedules", then at the top View as: select "Daily Room Grid", then pick a building and time frame that interests you, then click the "apply filter" button. This will show you a really cool grid of all events scheduled in that building for that day. You could use this to determine if a room you were interested in is available or not, and about a thousand other uses.
As we move forward, Astra just seems more and more like a really great asset for the entire campus.
Posted by rossm at 9:24 AM | Comments (0)
March 12, 2008
Astra Update - Another Bug!??
Well, Astra took a back seat to the database upgrade this week, but it looks like Jill has found yet another system bug. I wish she would quit doing that.... Anyway, Jill set up a "collection", which is a group of items the WUC checks out as a package - the sound system for the Pacific Room. Although it is set up properly in Astra, when Jill prints out the event confirmation, Astra prints the collection, then prints out every piece of equipment contained in the collection, then charges the customer the collection price for each entry - not good! That has slowed down the entry of events which require the use of a collection. Jill has moved forward on other events, and has started to book events into Astra!
One other area of events that is moving forward as soon as I get on it is adding in Rice and Smith. That one is waiting on me to work on the room setup and do an install of Astra Schedule. That will be done probably tomorrow.
The class schedulers (sections) group is going great guns and are working on the Fall, 2008 term right now. One thing that came up there, is we need to add in some classrooms that will become available next Fall in the OPA building - classrooms that don't even exist yet! Fortunately, Astra doesn't really know if a classroom actually exists or not... How's that for a little pre-planning?
Posted by rossm at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)
March 5, 2008
Astra Weekly Update
This week Astra has taken a back seat to the database upgrade, but still things are moving forward. We imported and activated the Fall 2008 term from Banner into Astra, and the class schedulers are busy working out the class schedule for that term. Astra did it's thing beautifully. The events side has moved forward, and we have two open requests with Astra support to help Jill get her event confirmation form into an acceptable state. Also, the confirmation form is printing out a lot more equipment reservation items than Jill wants, so we're trying to figure out a way to fix that annoyance, too. We did manage to get the logo switched, so now our event confirmation doesn't look like it came from Astra - this is good. Configuration of the WUC rooms, equipment, customer types, and so forth is nearly complete. Also, Jill was able to meet with Jerry Lee and help get her started on the Library's configuration.
Once again, the system itself has worked really well. Oh yeah, in a weak moment I upped the number of allowed Astra sessions on the database from 3 to 8, but nobody called to say how much faster it is working yet. Once we move to the new 10g database I'll increase it even more.
Posted by rossm at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)
February 28, 2008
Astra Behaves Itself, Much Work Is Done
This has been a really good week for the Astra project. It appears that we have now managed to shake out all the system bugs that plagued us last week, and that has allowed us to move forward with events configuration. Jill and I met and began work on form and report modifications. We are adding such things as our logo instead of the Astra logo, and customizing the data displayed. Jill and Jerrie Lee have gotten together to put the finishing touches on "resources" - the items that are checked out by the WUC and the Library. Yesterday I made a modification to the web to require a telephone number when an event request is made. I also did some research on installation and use of Crystal Reports to create our own set of custom reports. Jill has begun entering events so that she can further refine our configuration into a usable state. And that's just events.
Rose Ann and the class scheduler group are just about ready to load Fall 2008 term from Banner into Astra for scheduling. They have just done an awesome job of getting that part of Astra working for them.
On the horizon, I see some web customization that needs to be done, and the notification system still needs to be configured. Once Jill gets her events side ready, then we will shift focus to the Library and work on bringing them online, too.
Posted by rossm at 8:28 AM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2008
Astra Weekly Upgrade
This week in the Astra world was a bit frustrating - until today. Jill's problems I reported about last week culminated in a "bug" report, and required a programming fix from Astra. The bug occurred when attempting to modify how a customer type was charged (full price, half price, waived) for various components. Astra would accept the changes, but when you went back none of them were saved. Yesterday, Astra support called me and they had the bug fix done, then we applied the fix to our application. Today it appears to be working correctly.
Since the bug bottleneck is behind us, Jill has been able to complete some more setup and now has the customer types set up with their correct charging information. Her work looks very good. Next, we have some report modifications to make so that such things as event confirmation forms and routine reports have the necessary information in them. This should not slow us down, though, this is just one of the next steps we need to take.
The class schedulers are rapidly becoming savvy, experienced Astra users. They have begun working on Fall 2008 term, but had some difficulties with "rolling over" the Banner data. The rollover worked, but required a lot of tweaking to make individual items correct. We will be loading the Fall 2008 Banner term data into Astra pretty soon.
As you know, I was very impressed with Astra during the implementation phase. It is a complex application with many different components that must all work together. The implementation was as painless as any I've been involved with - by far. Their halo has slipped a bit, though, with two "bugs" we discovered as we work through our setup phase. The first problem was a programming error that prevented us from putting our practice term into production. The second was Jill's bug, which is really amazing to me that this slipped by so long with Astra in production - surely someone else must have had this problem??? Anyway, the support people and the implementation people at Astra are really great to work with. Problems are bound to come up, and it is a real plus to know there is a "real person" you can contact for help, and that person will actually provide assistance.
Posted by rossm at 8:57 AM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2008
This Week With Astra
Let me be honest, it's been a tough week for Astra. Dale and I have spent too many hours trying to load events already scheduled in Scheduler Plus into Astra. The problem is that none of the data matches up (rooms, customer, customer types, and so on) are all different between the two systems. Astra can not recognize a regular Oracle date format for import, only a mmddyyyy format. Also, once the events are imported, they can not be modified, nor can they be canceled or deleted. So, although we have loaded over 400 events into Astra, they are only of value in that they will show which rooms have been scheduled - acting as placeholders. Also, Jill continues to run into errors as she is trying to configure Astra - that doesn't help, either. We have a meeting Friday morning to work on getting Astra configured better, so we can start actually using it for creating events. The database errors are frustrating in that they prevent Jill from adding necessary elements into Astra, such as customer types and equipment.
The library is patiently waiting in the wings while we work on the Astra configuration for the WUC. Once we can get Astra configured to allow for event creation, we should be able to bring the library on board pretty quickly. Let's hope we can make some headway on Friday.
It's not all doom and gloom, though. Don't forget that Astra now schedules every class on our campus, and does it really well. Also, if you care to look at Astra on the web, you will see why we are excited to have it working on our campus - room information is available to anyone who wants to look. You can request a room reservation right from the web, and you can see which rooms are available and which are already scheduled. Right now, we are experiencing some growth pains (and pain is the right word this week!), but we must not lose sight of the big picture. Some day we'll look back and say it was all worth it!
Posted by rossm at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)
February 8, 2008
Astra - Weekly Update
It has been a more than busy week with the Astra project. After experiencing some system problems, we have now scheduled Spring and Summer term classes using Astra. It has really helped in scheduling classrooms.
I spent most of the week working on exporting scheduled events from Scheduler Plus into Astra events. That was really a challenge. Finally, this afternoon, with some help from Dale, the events were imported (about 450 events). If you go to the Astra web (link), log in as guest - no password, select Schedules from the left hand menu, then apply the filter, you will see a number of events listed. Unfortunately, these events can only be displayed in Astra, they can not be modified or have information such as customers added to them. So, Jill will be having to redo a lot of them, but at least the events and rooms that have been scheduled are displayed. By the way, you will be able to request event space for your event from the web in the near future (It works now, but is not entirely functional yet)! Stay tuned.
It is really neat that Astra is now able to handle the scheduling of all classrooms on our campus. You have no idea how much work was involved in setting this up to work correctly. Rose Ann Riester, Kathy Hill, and Tiffany Smith have really worked hard to get the configuration such that Astra could perform our class scheduling.
The "big picture" plan now is to get the WUC events scheduled, and also to get the Hamersly Library events into Astra, too. The final piece will be to get Nathan's equipment entered.
Astra is a very powerful application. It really works! The entire campus will benefit right now with more efficient classroom scheduling, and more visible displays for all events. Eventually Astra will also provide improved communication for event scheduling as well.
Posted by rossm at 3:58 PM | Comments (0)
February 6, 2008
Astra Scheduling Moves Forward
This week, Astra has been causing it's first trouble. I've spent some time with Astra support, and they have been very helpful, but the Banner interface has been acting up and we have not been able to get it under control yet. The sections folks have been scheduling campus classes for Spring term, and Summer 08 term, and Astra is doing a very nice job of scheduling all of the classes on campus. Of course, we're still fine tuning our system setup to maximize the usefulness of Astra. Jill Summers has been creating charging plans, resources, and other required events items. I've spent the last couple days trying to move about 500 events from Scheduler Plus into Astra. That has been quite a good refresher on sql loader. I have the import file all ready to go as of about 5 minutes ago. I'll try that import in the morning.
Right now we are experiencing some real growth pains as we begin to work Astra harder. We have made some real gains, and will continue to develop the application until virtually all classes and events on campus will be scheduled through Astra.
Posted by rossm at 3:04 PM | Comments (0)
January 30, 2008
What is this "Astra" Anyway?
Many of you have heard the term "Astra" being tossed about campus. What is this, anyway? Well, in a nutshell, Astra is the name of a new application that is responsible for scheduling classes, events, and equipment for the entire campus. Astra is the brand name of the product, which was purchased from Ad Astra. The expectations for Astra are to centralize scheduling, make scheduling information more readily available to the campus community, better utilize our existing classroom space, minimize or eliminate "double booking", and improve notification to interested persons (such as the Physical Plant and Public Safety) when events are scheduled.
As you might guess, the installation, implementation, configuration, and I'm sure a few more "tion" ending words, is a pretty big undertaking. There are about ten main users of Astra, and five persons from campus went to Kansas City for user training. The class scheduling portion will be used the first time for this coming Spring term. The classroom scheduling team has been working hard to get the information entered into Astra that will permit us to run the "optimizer" for scheduling those class sections. The "events" schedulers are also busy entering their data to allow us to switch to Astra next month. The equipment for the Hamersly Library and the Werner University Center will also be in Astra by next month. Nathan's equipment will continue to be scheduled using the WOU website until these other areas are up and running.
One thing you will be interested in is the Astra "web interface". This interface will display scheduled classes and events, and show you what rooms are available for you to reserve. You will be able to request a room for an event from the web. To get to the web interface, go here. If it asks for a login, use "guest" with no password.
From a technical standpoint, I have been very impressed with Astra. It resides on it's own server, connects to our Oracle database, and has a mostly live interface with Banner. The implementation of all of the pieces went very well, and it all works! If you've ever set up Banner interfaces, you can appreciate how nice it is to get one going with very minimal problems.
The problem of scheduling is an NP Complete problem, which means there is no solution that can be solved by a computer in finite time. However, it is possible to approach a solution in finite time, and it is fun to run the "optimizer" in Astra. First, you put in all your class section information (times, instructor, class size....), all of your preferences (which rooms are best for which classes), and your "hard requirements" (the science class must be in the science lab, for example). Then you run the optimizer and it will schedule more than 90% of your classes for you. It also has a tool that shows you all sections which weren't able to be scheduled, why not, and gives you a list of all possible substitute rooms. If there is an available room that's appropriate for that section on the list, you can select it, press OK, and it's done.
There's lots more to Astra, and I'll be writing more blog entries in the future. A huge amount of work has been done entering the initial campus information into Astra, and people all across campus are doing just that, even now, and have been doing it for over a month. I'd like to thank everyone involved for their hard work in getting Astra off the ground. The benefits to WOU will be worth the effort. I'd also like to thank Bill Kernan for trusting me with this project.
Posted by rossm at 9:06 AM | Comments (0)