The Top 5 Reasons Schools Are Leaving Their Legacy Scheduling Systems
Forty percent of scheduling professionals say they rely daily on manual workarounds. For so many colleges and universities, contending with the daily inefficiencies and failures of their legacy scheduling systems has been a way of life for decades, primarily because schedulers and facilities managers have lacked a viable alternative. Poor communication, painfully slow data transfers, lack of automation and integration, cumbersome UI… all outdated processes that have made scheduling conflicts, manual workarounds, wasted time and resources, and overall dissatisfaction a way of life on many campuses. The five most common reasons institutions are leaving their legacy scheduling systems are:
| Poor Real-Time Visibility | Legacy systems fail to provide a central, real-time view of schedules, causing confusion and inefficiency. |
| Poor Communication | These systems lack automated notifications and reporting, leading to miscommunication and scheduling errors. |
| Lack of Automation | Time-consuming manual operations are a major pain point. The reliance on manual entry results in inefficiency and higher error rates. |
| Lack of Integration |
When academic and event scheduling processes and student information systems aren’t integrated, poor data and manual workarounds lead to scheduling errors and redundant efforts. |
| Rigid System Design | One-size-fits-all models offer little flexibility for institutions to adapt the software to their unique needs. |
Solving these challenges has always been top-of-mind for the scheduling experts at CollegeNET. Working closely with higher ed scheduling professionals for decades, they’ve created Series25® integrated academic and events scheduling – technology and service that not only deliver a superior scheduling solution, but also make it so easy to switch.
No Visibility. No Alignment.
Educational institutions face unique challenges in managing complex schedules for courses, events, and resources. However, legacy scheduling systems often exacerbate these challenges due to their lack of real-time visibility and poor communication tools. Marion Brown, Director of University Facilities and Events Scheduling at Montevallo University, vividly illustrates the frustrating reality of these systems.
Poor communication leads to further inefficiencies and errors, particularly when automated notifications of schedule changes are absent. Brown recalls, “All those requests were coming into my office to be manually approved. I would have to send follow-up questions to get all the details we needed. There were so many emails going back forth.” The reliance on manual processes not only increased administrative burden but also heightened the risk of errors and delays.
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Legacy scheduling systems also suffer from a significant lack of automation, leading to time-consuming and error-prone processes. Beverly Roth, Director of Facilities Scheduling and Events at the University of Findlay, paints a vivid picture of the inefficiencies her institution faced.
“We had about 1,200 courses per semester, with thousands of classes and meeting times to schedule,” Roth explains. Despite the sheer volume, none of this data could be automatically imported from their Student Information System (SIS). Instead, staff were forced to run reports, manually input data, and repeatedly make changes—a process that consumed countless hours.
To complicate matters, the customer service provided by their scheduling software vendor was subpar. “To make matters worse, the customer service at EMS was not responsive,” Roth recalls. Such inefficiencies not only waste time but also strain human resources, leaving little room for proactive planning or process improvement.
“The problems inherent in inefficient scheduling ultimately become impediments for students. Many undergraduates discover that they must sit idle for a half hour, 45 minutes or even an hour between classes. On many campuses, as many as 40 percent of classes are ‘off-schedule.’ ”
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Disconnected Tools; Disjointed Campus
Another significant drawback of legacy scheduling systems is their inability to integrate academic and event scheduling processes. This lack of integration forces institutions to rely on manual workarounds, increasing the likelihood of errors. Roth reiterates the challenges her team faced due to these limitations. “We had about 1,200 courses per semester, with thousands of classes and meeting times to schedule,” she recalls. “None of that could be automatically imported from our SIS.”
The absence of integration creates a ripple effect of inefficiencies. When academic and event scheduling operate in silos, staff are required to duplicate efforts, manually reconcile discrepancies, and respond to scheduling conflicts after they occur rather than preventing them. These inefficiencies are not merely operational annoyances; they directly impact the quality of service provided to students, faculty, and campus organizations.
Noel Ponder, Manager of Conferences and Event Services at Carleton College, underscores the importance of integration and modern capabilities in a scheduling system: “We wanted better service; we wanted more efficient reporting and a more modern user interface; we wanted mobile capability and Google Calendar integration,” Ponder says. Unfortunately, their legacy system fell short on all these fronts.
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Rigid Systems, Missed Opportunities
Flexibility is another area where legacy scheduling systems fail to meet the evolving needs of educational institutions. Traditional one-size-fits-all solutions lack the configurability necessary to adapt to the unique requirements of each campus. Institutions are left struggling to bend outdated software to fit their workflows, often at great cost.
Ponder also highlights how the lack of flexibility impacted Carleton College’s efforts to implement academic scheduling: “We were also looking to implement academic scheduling, but EMS’s offering was not very impressive and would have cost us more,” he explains. The inability to configure the system for academic needs not only limits functionality but also imposes financial burdens on institutions already working within tight budgets.
Educational institutions require scheduling solutions that are as dynamic as the environments they serve. Whether it’s configuring workflows, customizing reports, or integrating with existing systems, flexibility is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity.
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Looking Ahead: The Demand for Modern Solutions
The shortcomings of legacy scheduling systems reveal a pressing need for modern, integrated solutions that prioritize automation, communication, and flexibility. Educational institutions are complex ecosystems where efficient scheduling is critical to daily operations.
To succeed in today’s fast-paced environment, institutions need scheduling platforms that offer:
- Real-time visibility
- Robust integration capabilities
- User-friendly interfaces
- Automated reporting and communication
What Switching to an Upgraded System Feels Like
A modern, trouble-free scheduling system is:
- Custom configured to precisely meet your institution’s unique scheduling requirements
- Thoroughly integrated to streamline all your academic and event scheduling and resources management processes
- Equipped with the latest automated communication and reporting tools
- Able to provide lightning-fast data transfers that ensure all stakeholders have up-to-the minute information
This system saves your institution hundreds of hours of administrative time and ensures you’re always making the most efficient use of space and resources.
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