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Standard meeting patterns are pre-defined blocks of time when classes are expected to meet. When these time slots are standardized, you can more efficiently swap sections in and out of rooms.
Series25 provides several ways for you to interact with standard meeting patterns. This page explains all the places you can configure them. Set them up now, at the beginning of your academic cycle implementation, and you'll reap the rewards later on.
Location Availability by Meeting Pattern Report
The Location Availability by Meeting Pattern (LAMP) report is very useful to run when you are spot-checking places where a single class could be placed. Given a set of locations and a span of time, it tells you which locations have no conflicts and are thus safe to assign. This availability is listed according to a set of standardized meeting patterns.
To configure the report, take the provided MeetingPatterns.xml (right-click link to save XML) file open it in Notepad, Wordpad, or another plain text editor. Do not use Excel or a similar spreadsheet program as it may change the formatting of the template.
The report contains many lines like this:
<r25:meeting_pattern><r25:mp_days>MWF</r25:mp_days><r25:mp_start_time>08:00</r25:mp_start_time><r25:mp_end_time>08:50</r25:mp_end_time></r25:meeting_pattern><r25:meeting_pattern><r25:mp_days>MWF</r25:mp_days><r25:mp_start_time>09:00</r25:mp_start_time><r25:mp_end_time>09:50</r25:mp_end_time></r25:meeting_pattern><r25:meeting_pattern><r25:mp_days>MWF</r25:mp_days><r25:mp_start_time>10:00</r25:mp_start_time><r25:mp_end_time>10:50</r25:mp_end_time></r25:meeting_pattern><r25:meeting_pattern><r25:mp_days>MWF</r25:mp_days><r25:mp_start_time>11:00</r25:mp_start_time><r25:mp_end_time>11:50</r25:mp_end_time></r25:meeting_pattern><r25:meeting_pattern><r25:mp_days>MWF</r25:mp_days><r25:mp_start_time>12:00</r25:mp_start_time><r25:mp_end_time>12:50</r25:mp_end_time></r25:meeting_pattern><r25:meeting_pattern><r25:mp_days>MWF</r25:mp_days><r25:mp_start_time>13:00</r25:mp_start_time><r25:mp_end_time>13:50</r25:mp_end_time></r25:meeting_pattern><r25:meeting_pattern><r25:mp_days>MWF</r25:mp_days><r25:mp_start_time>14:00</r25:mp_start_time><r25:mp_end_time>14:50</r25:mp_end_time></r25:meeting_pattern>
Each separate line represents a different meeting pattern. By default the file is filled with a set of suggested meeting patterns–you should replace them with ones that are appropriate for your institution. Do not alter any other parts of the file.
There are three important parts to each line:
- Days of week
- Start time
- End time
Indicate which days the meeting pattern meets using a single letter to represent each day. M = Monday, T = Tuesday, W = Wednesday, R = Thursday, F = Friday, S = Saturday, U = Sunday.
Enter the start and end time for each line in 24-hour format. Use two digits for each hour (09:00 instead of 9:00).
You can put the lines in any order you want, and the breaks between lines are just for convenience. (It's not necessary to have any blank spaces between meeting patterns like the examples above have, but it will help you organize the lines as you are writing them.)
When you are finished editing the file, email support@collegenet.com to help you configure a custom LAMP report which uses these times.
Multiple files
If you have multiple campuses with different schedules, your meeting patterns are different throughout the year, or you have some other reason to support multiple sets of meeting patterns, you can create separate files and configure a different LAMP report for each one.
25Live Dashboard Availability Search
The LAMP report is good for seeing availability for a large number of locations at once, but it's only as current as the last time it was printed. You also have the option of searching for available locations directly in 25Live. The meeting patterns in this search are configured separately.
Use the "I know WHEN" link in the Find Available Locations widgetThis option is found on the 25Live dashboard under the "I know WHEN" search box. See Academic Availability Checking Using Find Available Locations for instructions on how to use this search and how to add standard meeting patterns as templates.
Note
You must have the Academic 1.1 permission enabled (Manage Meeting Patterns) in Series25 Group Administration to perform this configuration.
X25 Analytics Standard Schedules
Even if you don't have a full license for X25 Analytics, you can use the free version to see basic metrics and reports. One of these is the Schedule Distribution Report which gives you a color-coded summary of your classes, broken down by which ones conform to a standard schedule and which do not.
Schedule Distribution Report in X25 Analytics
To use this report, you will need to configure your standard meeting patterns in X25's standard schedules area. To do this, see the article on Defining Standard Schedules.
It's easiest to perform this process using a term that's already been imported into 25Live, because you can create a list by picking and choosing from the meeting patterns already present. If you want to wait to set this up later, you can revisit this step after you've completed your first successful import from LYNX. However, if you want to get a head start then you can enter the meeting patterns manually.