Space Utilisation and Timetabling Unit

A Quick Guide to Reserving University Accommodation.

There are three basic categories of accommodation available in the University:

A (Faculty, School or) Department’s own rooms,
Centrally allocated meeting rooms and event spaces,
Centrally allocated classrooms.

Where possible the first of these should be used. How these are shared within the department is a matter for the department. The following relates to shared centrally allocated accommodation, available if department rooms do not suit or are unavailable.

ad hoc Meeting Rooms

There are a small number of centrally controlled and allocated rooms or spaces available at each campus. The nature of the accommodation varies from a large assembly hall to a nominal space in a foyer. If no suitable accommodation for a meeting or event is available within a department’s own rooms, as above, allocation of one or more of these may be possible to staff members.

ALL current year booking requests are made online by Department/School staff.

Meeting rooms may be reserved up to fourteen months in advance (depending on the point of time reached in University calendar) using the Web Room Booking (WRB) system. All ad hoc meetings should be requested in good time in this way.

All reserved accommodation is visible on the University’s web pages, accessible through the WRB front page (below). These pages are instantaneously updated with changes and are the definitive guide to all room reservations.

NOTE THAT Meeting Rooms are reserved for meetings. NO TEACHING AT ANY LEVEL is permitted in meeting rooms, other than in exceptional circumstances when specifically permitted in writing by a Timetabling Officer. Any classes otherwise scheduled into meeting rooms are liable to be cancelled without notice.

Regular Bookings:

If a series of meetings or (part-time/postgraduate) teaching sessions at effectively the same day/time is required on an annual basis:

the accommodation may either be booked singly using WRB each Semester, or
a regular pattern may be established and incorporated under a definitive heading – for example, Campus Coordinating, or Examinations, or Step-Up. An entry may be made in relevant databases and used to prompt for confirmation that the same allocations are required again each year, reducing the bookers’ need for repetitive input.

Please discuss such requirements with the Space Utilisation and Timetabling Unit (SUTU): e-mail RoomBookings@ulster.ac.uk .

Classrooms

Priority is given to teaching in Teaching Rooms. For twenty-eight weeks of the year, discounting days when the University is closed, any reasonable use may be made of classrooms – for example, conferences, meetings, or special events of an approved nature. Only the core business of the University, however, will be scheduled in advance during the other twenty-four weeks. Non-teaching events will not be scheduled during regular timetable hours (or beyond), until teaching needs have been satisfied. The Academic Year running from late September to the following September is divided into two main Semesters for timetabling purposes. These reserved twenty-four weeks are the two sets of twelve teaching weeks at the beginning of each Semester.

All regular (undergraduate, post graduate, full and part- time) requirements are assessed, over several months each time, in a process performed twice annually, for each main Semester. Allocation of rooms is made for all teaching weeks in each of Semester One and Semester Two of each Academic Year.

Teachers’ requirements are funnelled through Course Directors and Faculty Timetabling Coordinators to SUTU, who allocate the best available accommodation to classes as the process of liaison proceeds. There are, necessarily, strict deadlines. Staff should consult with their FTCs to ensure all requirements are established in good time.

Guide to Timetabling: to follow

When a timetable is substantially complete it will be possible to view it on the Campus Timetables web pages. Prints rapidly become out of date, but this automatically links to the Timetabling database to provide the most up-to-date timetable information. See:

Campus Timetables Front Page: http://www.ulster.ac.uk/timetabling/

The main purpose of teaching rooms is teaching. However, if available, they may also be reserved during the twelve current teaching weeks, subsequently to the completion of the timetabling process (usually around the third week of each Semester), for other events, in the absence of something suitable from the other two categories above. Note that teaching room set ups cannot be altered during term. From around week three of the Semester the remaining unallocated classroom accommodation is made available for online viewing and requests.

J.Coates

Space Utilisation and Timetabling Officer.

JT.Coates@ulster.ac.uk (ext. 68207)