Define build scenario preferences

Define build scenario defines the basic structure and settings of the schedule you want to build for next year preferences that you want the system to consider when building the schedule with this scenario.

During the school year, you can view the build scenario preferences for the current master schedule in the School view. Click the Schedule tab, and the Preferences side-tab.

To define build scenario preferences:

1. Log on to the Build view. If your current school has multiple schedule modes, select the mode you want to use.
2. Click the Scenario tab.
3. Select the scenario you want to work with, and click the Preferences side-tab.
4. Use the Category drop-down to make your selection.
5. If you select Scenario-Basic (basic preferences), use the following table to define preferences:

6. Field	Description
   Schedule expression format	Select one of the following to determine how you want your days and periods to appear on the master and student schedules: Period first Day first For example, your schedule contains 7 periods (1-7) in a six-day cycle (A-F), and a section meets period 2 on day A. If you select to display 'period' first, the schedule expression will be 2(A). If you select to display 'day' first, the schedule expression will be A(2). Note: You might want to use one alpha character and one numeric to avoid confusion. For example, the schedule expression for Period 1, Day 1 would be 1(1).
   Use numeric section numbers	Select this checkbox if you want the system to generate numeric section numbers. Note: If you select this option and later add a course section, the system will automatically populate the section number field with the next available number.
   Use study halls	Select this checkbox if you want the system to schedule students in study halls when their schedule permits.
   Use rotation	Select this checkbox if you want the system to consider the schedule rotation when building the master schedule to prevent certain rules from breaking, such as the teacher’s max-in-a-row value. Note: This checkbox does not trigger the rotation to happen.
   Use bell schedule	Select this checkbox if you are going to use one or more bell schedules to create a schedule with this scenario. Rarely used. Note: If you plan to use more than one bell schedule, you need to define bell schedule rules to assign the appropriate bell schedules the appropriate rooms and courses.
   Control inclusion students	Use this drop-down to select one of the following: By ratio (%) to control the ratio of inclusion students in inclusion sections by a specific percentage. Type the percentage in the field. By count to control the ratio of inclusion students in inclusion sections by specifying the exact number of inclusion students the system can schedule in each inclusion section. Type the number in the field. For example, a school can determine that inclusion sections can only contain four inclusion students (By count), or 10% of inclusion students (By ratio %). Notes: If you do not define a number or percentage of inclusion students, you could inadvertently fill a class with all inclusion requests. This works off the actual enrollment, not the enrollment max. For example, if the enrollment max is 30 and the inclusion ratio is 50% and 12 non-inclusion students are enrolled, a maximum of 12 inclusion students will be scheduled in the class.
   Include optional requests	Select this checkbox if optional requests are considered primary requests in this scenario. Optional requests are primary requests that can be ignored under some conditions. Note: This option provides an easy way to remove particular requests without deleting them. For example, you might need to investigate decreasing your current 8-period day down to a 6-period day. You could mark some requests as optional and then deselect this checkbox.
   Use reserve seats	Select this checkbox if you want to enable reserve seating for all course sections. You can set aside a number of seats in a section on the Workspace, which you can fill after the schedule has been built.
   Use content term code	Select this checkbox if you want the system to use the content term codes you define for sections when building this scenario. For example, maybe you want to allow students who fail part of a full-year course to retake that portion of it. Note: This field is related to the Content termcode on the student request. Remember that if a student fails first semester of a full-year course, they can request S1 only. The engine schedules the student in a section, but notes that the student is enrolled for the content term code only. Also, the student appears in the teacher’s gradebook for that term only.   If you do not select this checkbox, the system ignores the Content termcode on the student's request, and schedules the student for the entire duration of the course.
   Show location, Show house, Show team, Show platoon, Show section type	Select these checkboxes if you are going to use these student grouping options when building this scenario. The grouping fields (team, house, etc.) only appear on the Details page for a section on the Workspace tab if you select these checkboxes.
   Use student schedule weight	Select this checkbox if this scenario uses student schedule weights. The system uses student scheduling weights when building and you have determined to close sections at maximum enrollment. By default, students have a schedule weight of 1. You might define a weight of 1.5 or 2 to determine specific students fill more than one seat due to his or her IEP Individualized Education Program requirements. Define student scheduling weights for each student in the student scheduling preferences. Note: You can determine that specific courses do not use schedule weights.
   Elementary lunch section mode	Select one of the following: One section per homeroom: If you want the ability to change lunch times for a single homeroom that shares a lunch time with other homerooms. One section per lunch interval: If you want to change the lunch times for all homerooms in a lunch interval at the same time.

6. If you select Scenario-Advanced, use the following table to define preferences:

7. Field	Description
   Engine processing time (seconds)	Type the number of seconds you want the system to use to look ahead to teachers and rooms when trying to schedule a course. Use these fields when you are building the workspace and the scheduling engine is stopping repeatedly when it attempts to schedule courses because of teachers or rooms. Defining seconds in these fields allows the scheduling engine to look for unassigned teachers or rooms for the number of seconds you identify, instead of immediately presenting you with a conflict. Note: Entering a half-second adds significant processing time, and should help the system find the appropriate teachers or rooms.
   Max count for same validation	Type the maximum number of times you want to view the same validation error when you validate your workspace. The default value for this field is 20.
   Use shared attributes: course room staff student time structure	If you select any of these checkboxes, the current scenario uses the same attributes shared by other scenarios of the same context year. The system applies any changes you make to these attributes to the other scenarios. If you do not select this checkbox, the current scenario has its own set of attributes. Any change made to the these attributes belongs to the current scenario only. Note: For example, if you share staff attributes and delete a staff member from one scenario, that person will automatically be deleted from any shared scenarios. Therefore, to minimize confusion and possible errors, it is recommended that you do not select these checkboxes.
   Relaxed room constraint, Order to relax room constraints, Relaxed room capacity reduction threshold	Select the Relaxed room constraint checkbox if certain room constraints can be relaxed during the build process. For example, maybe you want to let teachers teach in their preferred room. However, after analyzing the schedule the system built, you realize you want to try letting the system relax this constraint and see the results. Below the Order to relax room constraints box, click Add to select from all types of room constraints you define, such as Capacity and Teacher’s preferred room. Select each constraint and click Up and Down to order the constraints from top to bottom; the scheduling engine relaxes the top constraint on the list first. If you select Room Capacity in the Order to relax room constraints box, in the Relaxed room capacity reduction threshold field, type the maximum percentage for rooms with less than desired capacity that can be used during the build process when necessary. Note: These options are usually used for adjusting the schedule later on in the process.
   Note: If a scenario does not use shared schedule attributes, appears next to each of the schedule attributes to indicate they are privately owned by the current scenario.

7. If you select School, Basic tab, click here for instructions on defining preferences. If you select the Advanced tab, use the following table to define preferences:

8. Field	Description
   Miscellaneous
   Pattern day IDs	Type the default day for school patterns. The system default value is A-L.
   Pattern period IDs	Type the default period IDs for school patterns. The system default value is 1-20.
   Number of sections deleted with warning	Type the minimum number of sections being deleted that will prompt a system warning upon deletion.
   Commit
   Map of user defined fields for master	Type the name of any user-defined field you want copied from the BuildMasterSchedule table to the MasterSchedule table when you commit. The format is the build field name, colon, master schedule field name. For example, BLM_fieldB003:MST_fieldB003. Separate mapped pairs using a comma and a space.
   Initialize Sections
   Initialize Sections Procedure	Click to use a customized procedure that replaces or augments the functionality of Options > Initialize Sections on the Workspace tab.

8. Click Save.