University of Manchester, 1st November 2024
By James Lemin
On the 1st of November, Tony, and I, plus a small herd of sixty Chippo’s had the pleasure of attending the highly anticipated ARC Timetabling Community Conference in Manchester. As a former timetabler myself, these conferences have always been a highlight. The HE timetabling community is a close-knit, dynamic group, and this gathering presented a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with friends and colleagues while diving into the latest innovations and techniques. The excitement was palpable, especially with the conference’s revival, made possible largely through the efforts of our host, Paul Brierly, from the University of Manchester.
In today’s climate, universities face relentless pressure to maximise resources and elevate student experience amid budget constraints. This challenge is magnified by evolving student expectations and demands, requiring timetablers to accommodate increasingly diverse needs (See our Generation Z and Micro Content) within a fixed or shrinking estate. The conference sessions resonated with these themes, emphasising strategies to enhance student experience, adopt cutting-edge software, adapt to estate changes, and leverage robust reporting mechanisms.
One particularly interesting trend was the merging of Timetabling and Student Engagement and Attendance Monitoring (SEAM) roles, which used to be separate in my previous institution. This integration streamlines feedback loops between scheduling and student outcomes, a development that mirrors my work with Simac and Presto, where we deeply leverage timetabling, VLE and online session data. The pandemic underscored the need to monitor student engagement closely, asking critical questions: Where are our students? How can we support them? Are they truly engaged? This need to understand better and act on student engagement is now pivotal, and Presto is stepping in to bridge this gap.
Presto addresses the growing complexity of timetable delivery, blending digital and face-to-face sessions, and providing universities with an aggregated view of student engagement. By drawing data from multiple channels, Presto gives timetablers insight into how their scheduling decisions affect student outcomes. Managing a shrinking or static estate while maintaining high-quality teaching is a major challenge, and Presto Space offers tools to optimise space usage. It can highlight where bottlenecks exist or reveal underused areas, helping to rearrange sessions efficiently. For instance, if only 20 of 30 expected students show up, PrestoSpace can suggest relocating that session to a smaller room, thereby enhancing the student experience and freeing up valuable space.
The discussions around attendance monitoring were equally engaging. Many attendees highlighted flaws in current methods, from unreliable beacons to students misusing room scanners. That’s where Chippo comes in. Chippo offers a game-changing, low-cost, and user-friendly solution, eliminating the headaches associated with other systems. By linking attendance to a student’s phone, Chippo minimises the risk of cheating and doesn’t require expensive or battery-powered hardware. And, of course, Chippo the Hippo, our lovable mascot, charmed everyone at the Timetabling Community Conference. We can’t wait to spot some of those 60 Chippo’s out in the wild!
A massive thank you to the University of Manchester for organising this fantastic event. It was an inspiring day full of meaningful conversations, fresh ideas, and renewed connections with fellow education professionals.
