UNMC has launched its Central Scheduling Office, which assists in the scheduling of all reservable space at UNMC’s Omaha campus, including the scheduling of courses, events and meetings.
In conjunction with colleagues across the University of Nebraska system, UNMC stakeholders have been working to implement the EMS scheduling software system for nearly two years. The system allows users to view reservable spaces throughout campus, as well as provides enhanced scheduling options for courses and events.
“While we know that change of this magnitude can be uncomfortable, we are excited about all the benefits that the centralized scheduling solution will provide to the UNMC community, including space usage efficiency, facilities master planning, campus safety, and ease of use for reserving space on campus through a single platform,” said Philip Covington, Ed.D., UNMC’s assistant vice chancellor for student success. “We appreciate the collaborative spirit of partners across the institution who continue to share ideas that will enable us to improve all facets of the scheduling experience.”
EMS is now used by all institutions in the University of Nebraska and Nebraska State College systems. Using EMS as a tool, UNMC Central Scheduling provides a single office dedicated to UNMC’s space scheduling needs. Central Scheduling operations are driven by the Space Scheduling and Fundraising policy, which was adapted with significant input from each of the colleges and other key administrative units.
Central Scheduling serves multiple roles. First, Central Scheduling assists in the scheduling of events and meetings throughout UNMC. The Central Scheduling homepage directs users to the Room Scheduling website allowing UNMC employees and students to see and request available spaces on campus. Nebraska Medicine employees and those outside of UNMC will follow a different process explained on the homepage. There also is information on who to contact to reserve the small number of spaces managed outside of Central Scheduling.
Central Scheduling also works with UNMC colleges to schedule courses. Ongoing construction and space limitations make this a complex process. Members of UNMC’s Academic Records, Central Scheduling, and Information Technology teams work with course schedulers throughout the year to set course schedules.
An additional role of the Central Scheduling Office is to provide usage data to multiple UNMC stakeholders. This information will assist UNMC staff in determining if rooms are effectively being used to promote UNMC’s academic mission. To provide meaningful, accurate information, it is crucial that all rooms be listed in and reserved through EMS, including rooms with privilege restrictions that are not available to all for scheduling. The EMS to Outlook transition is one of Central Scheduling’s current projects, but officials hope to have these identified and transitioned into EMS in early 2020.
Moving forward, Central Scheduling will work to enhance the event reservation and course scheduling processes. This will require gathering input from the entire UNMC community to further improve the Central Scheduling homepage, EMS training materials and internal processes.