VIP Semester Planning Checklist
Window / Date / ActionBefore classes begin / Any day / Ask new faculty to
1) reply with GTID and username, so we can arrange door access and grading system access.
2) forward the request on to any TAs.
Agree on date, time, location and food order for information session.
Finals Week before new semester / Monday / Email Facilities Manager (Zack):
-Ask him to blast the doors at the end of the day on the Friday of finals.
-Send him the names and GTIDs of new instructors (and new TAs if available). Include room numbers, granting TAs access to Klaus 1440 and VL 465 (two regular rooms); TA access to VL 461 if class being held there; and instructors access to all three rooms.
Friday / Zach will blast the doors. Instructors and TAs on his “long term list” will automatically be re-added.
Any day / Post classroom schedule for upcoming semester on VIP doors.
Hang larger print signs for classes that meet in other locations.
Any day / Update online calendars (Zimbra) with team schedules. Include start and end dates, with end date being the Saturday before finals. (Teams don’t meet during finals week.)
Any day / Generate a schedule list for the webpage (alpha by team name), and post it online.
Team name / section / day / time / location
Any day / Confirm ECE lecture for 2nd Friday of class
-Confirm with Randy and Ed that they’d like to do an ECE lecture on the 2nd Friday of class.
-Email Christine Bourgeois to see if she can attend. May want to reschedule if she’s not available.
Four weeks before class / Info session prep: Contact instructors, explain upcoming info session, ask for point of contact for coordinating posters for the info session. Let them know:
-Posters due to Digital Media Lab one week before event
-We’ll let them know if we still have a poster from last time.
Three weeks before class / Info session prep:
-Notify teams who we already have posters for, send copy for them to confirm.
-Distribute templates two weeks before due date (three weeks before event)
Two weeks before class / Generate a course list for use in merging T-square sections, and send to Ed.
Naming convention:
[section number VP_] [section name] – [Semester]
Info session announcement slides
-Design/update info session poster, for display outside the event.
-Design/update ppt slide to use as a graphic in email blasts. Include event date and time in graphics. Use snip to copy a single image for emails.
-Email info session ppt slide to Jackie Nemeth in ECE communications. Provide list of departments that might want copies (depts. with agreements on how credits count).
Week before classes begin / Any day / Email Julia, Randy and Ed reminders for the VIP orientation on the first Friday of class.
Email Christina Bourgeois, Randy and Ed to confirm that we’ll do an ECE lecture on the 2nd Friday of classes. The lecture will cover ECE 3006, which is ECE Professional Communications (Christina’s program).
Tuesday / Info session prep: Posters due to Digital Media Lab.
Friday / Email instructors:
-List of students who were issued permits for their section. (Don’t email full list. Instructors may email wrong students).
-Explain that students may not have enrolled yet.
-Ask instructors to email students and remind them of the class meeting day/time/location. This is especially important for teams that meet in other locations, as VIP rooms are listed as placeholders.
Phase II Registration / Week(s) before classes begin / Issue permits, answer questions, etc.
Post announcement blocks on the webpage, so they’re ready for week I:
-One block announcing the Friday lecture for new students, listing location
-One block explaining some teams don’t meet in the classroom listed on their schedules, with a link to the table of teams, times and locations.
Generate a new email list with reports for the new semester, which will include transfer students and changes of major. (instructions above)
Classes Begin
First Week
Nearly half our students will enroll during Phase II Registration. / All week / Stay up to date on permit requests and email questions, etc.
Monday / Info session prep:
Email blast – day before info session: Send major-specific emails to students by major
-Don’t email directly from your account. OIT will shut it down!
-Load each list into the list-serve list VIP-ANNOUNCEMENTS. Use “quiet add.”
-Send the email from your regular email account to VIP-ANNOUNCEMENTS. Can create an alternative “from” field, to make VIP appear in the “from” instead of your name, which is more official looking.
-After sending the email, remove the recipients from the list-serve using “quiet,” and add the next group.
-Mention the major in the salutation (“Calling All ME Students,” or “VIP looking for ME students,” etc.)
-If applicable, include a link to the filtered team list, filtered for their major
-The Thunderbird email client can send/receive messages from a regular university email account, and it has a template function. Very useful!
Send emails to student organizations, with personalized salutations (“Greetings Society of Physics Students”). To minimize copy/past, use mailmerge to generate content or use templates in Thunderbird.
Tuesday / Host information session. Phase II attendance will be high (90+ for pizza).
Wednesday / Collect information from last semester’s grad students:
-Email graduate students who participated as students last semester. Ask students to reply to confirm whether they are still involved so we can arrange door access.
-Clean up instructor/graduate student list as students reply. Add new students who confirmed and remove students who are not continuing (move to “removed graduate student” tab, so we still have their info). Suggestion: add a column to track updates as they come in, so you can see who didn’t reply.
Friday / Collect information from new graduate students, who will have decided by Friday if they’ll participate:
-Email graduate students who applied online for this semester. Ask students to reply to confirm whether they’ll be involved, and to provide their GTID and username.
Add to instructor/grad student list as students reply, noting the current semester.
Phase II registration will close at 4:00 PM on Friday.
First lecture will be held at 3:00 on Friday. Bring laptop and be available to help students having permit/enrollment problems. Be prepared to interrupt the instructor for special-case problems.
Second Week / Monday / Prep/send door access list to Zach:
-Create door access list from class rolls (reports.gatech.edu, filter by major (ECE) and by section number (VP*).
-Fields wanted/needed:
GTID / First / Last / email / section# / Room# / Room# / Room#
Zach only needs the GTID and room numbers, but the name and email help us when doing follow up with students who have problems. The section allows us to filter by team.
-Add graduate students to the list, including section number.
-List the two regular rooms for all students. Include VL 461 for students who’s teams will use that room.
Monday / Confirm with VIP group that sections have been merged into teams in T-square.
Email instructors. Let them know their final class rolls are available in T-square.
Monday / Recruiting for ECE 3006:
-Send a class list to Christina Bourgeois, filtered for EE and CMPE students. She’ll check the list and remove students who are earlier along in the program, who need to find out about ECE 3006 at the Friday lecture.
Tuesday / ECE Rush (fall only?): programs set up tables and hold an info fair.
Tuesday / Announce Friday lecture
-Email all VIP students an announcement for the ECE lecture. Explain that it’s only for ECE students, why they need to attend, and include the day/location/time.
-Email a follow-up message to the students on the list from Christina Bourgeois, explaining that the Friday lecture will be especially useful for them.
Friday / ECE lecture
Any time / Reserve Klaus for information session for Phase I registration.
Early in semester / Reserve rooms for info sessions
-Agree on date, time, location and food order for information sessions for Phase I and Phase II. Typical:
Phase I: Week before Phase I or 1st Tuesday of Phase I (~100 students for poster-session coffee event)
Phase II: 1st Tuesday of class (higher attendance, students under pressure to finalize schedules)
-Reserve rooms (Klaus atrium for poster-style event).
Online application rolls over to the new semester.
Week 5 / Monday / Remind/confirm with VIP database group (Randy and co.) that peer reviews are scheduled to open on Friday of next week.
Notify faculty:
-Midterms due for sophomores Friday of next week (we enter S by default).
-Peer reviews open Friday of next week.
-Collect design notebooks this next week.
-Design notebook grades – return to students by deadline for dropping with a W (provide actual date).
Some time before info session / Info session prep: Create spreadsheets for email lists:
-Discuss with team whether we’ll target all majors, or just majors that have credit-use agreements with VIP.
-Download student lists from reports.gatech.edu
-Generate email lists by target subgroup (by major, filter by credits earned, group by credit-use policy, etc.). Emails addressed to smaller sub-groups seem to get a better response from students. Ex: “Dear CS Students, VIP is looking for students from your major…”
-Look into ways of accessing email addresses for newly admitted transfer students.
Week 6 / Early week / Email students: Peer evals will open Friday (or revised date)
Friday / Announce that peer-evaluations are open (cc faculty)
5 weeks before Phase I / Info session prep:
Contact instructors, explain upcoming info session, ask for point of contact for coordinating posters for the info session. Let them know:
-Posters due to Digital Media Lab one week before event
We’ll let them know if we still have a poster from last time.
Week 7 / 4 weeks before Phase 1 / Info session prep:
-Notify teams who we already have posters for, send copy for them to confirm.
Distribute templates two weeks before due date (three weeks before event)
Week 8 / 3 weeks before Phase I / Confirm section day/time/locations for next sem ester with instructors.
-Send personalized emails to instructors that include only their section’s information, and request replies. (Can use Access to generate reports)
Week 9 / Any day / Email updates to Doug Williams, highlighting changes in color. He’ll update the registration system, ensuring students see the correct info.
Webpage:
-make sure all new teams are listed on the team listing page online
-double check time listings
Application databse
-make sure all new teams are in the application database
2 weeks before Phase I / Info Session Poster & Slides
-Design/update info session poster, for display outside the event.
-Design/update ppt slide to use as a graphic in email blasts. Include event date and time in graphics. Use snip to copy a single image for emails.
Email info session ppt slide to Jackie Nemeth in ECE communications. Provide list of departments that might want copies (depts. with agreements on how credits count).
Tuesday / Info session: Posters due to digital media lab
Week 10 / Monday / Email blast – day before info session: Send major-specific emails to students by major
-Don’t email directly from your account. OIT will shut it down!
-Load each list into the list-serve list VIP-ANNOUNCEMENTS. Use “quiet add.”
-Send the email from your regular email account to VIP-ANNOUNCEMENTS. Can create an alternative “from” field, to make VIP appear in the “from” instead of your name, which is more official looking.
-After sending the email, remove the recipients from the list-serve using “quiet,” and add the next group.
-Mention the major in the salutation (“Calling All ME Students,” or “VIP looking for ME students,” etc.)
-If applicable, include a link to the filtered team list, filtered for their major
-The Thunderbird email client can send/receive messages from a regular university email account, and it has a template function. Very useful!
Send emails to student organizations, with personalized salutations (“Greetings Society of Physics Students”). To minimize copy/past, use mailmerge to generate content or use templates in Thunderbird.
Week before phase 1 / Host info session
Any time after info session / Update dates in syllabus
-Post template version online under “current faculty.”
-Email faculty to let them know the new syllabus has been posted.
-Post student version (no blanks for faculty info) under “current students.”
-Cross-list templates in left menu under “academics.”
Before final
peer-evals open / Remind/confirm with VIP database group (Randy and co.) when peer reviews are scheduled to open for the end of the semester.
Monday before peer evaluations / Notify students:
-Peer evals will open Friday (or revised date)
-Turn design notebooks at final presentation.
Finals Week before new semester / Monday / Email Facilities Manager (Zack):
-Ask him to blast the doors at the end of the day on the Friday of finals.
-Send him the names and GTIDs of new instructors (and new TAs if available). Include room numbers, granting TAs access to Klaus 1440 and VL 465 (two regular rooms); TA access to VL 461 if class being held there; and instructors access to all three rooms.
Friday / Zach will blast the doors. Instructors and TAs on his “long term list” will automatically be re-added.
Any day / Post classroom schedule for upcoming semester on VIP doors.
Hang larger print signs for classes that meet in other locations.
Any day / Update online calendars (Zimbra) with team schedules. Include start and end dates, with end date being the Saturday before finals. (Teams don’t meet during finals week.)
Any day / Generate a schedule list for the webpage (alpha by team name), and post it online.
Team name / section / day / time / location
Any day / Confirm ECE lecture for 2nd Friday of class
-Confirm with Randy and Ed that they’d like to do an ECE lecture on the 2nd Friday of class.
-Email Christine Bourgeois to see if she can attend. May want to reschedule if she’s not available.