April 17

2013

How to Update UCs Appointments

Danielle Ferris, Grace Beihl, Pauline Holthaus
ferrisdr@mail.uc.edu beihlge@mailuc.edu holthapv@mail.uc.edu

Submitted to Stephanie Monsanty, Business Writing

1742 Laurelwood Cir. Cincinnati, OH 45224 April 17, 2013 President Santa Ono Room 625, University Pavillion PO Box 210063 Cincinnati, OH 45221-0063

Dear President Ono,

At the beginning of this assignment we decided to explore the problems University of Cincinnati students have with scheduling appointments with advisors and teachers. The problem we focused on was the lack of consistency in the methods teachers and advisors use to make appointments. Our goal was to identify a more efficient and consistent way of scheduling appointments. We accomplished this by using a combination of primary and secondary research. Our primary research consisted of interviewing students, teachers, and advisors. From the six students interviewed, we learned that many of them would prefer to have a consistent way of scheduling with faculty. They liked having calendars of their advisors day to look at so that they could find a convenient time. Their main concern was being able to explain their situations in the case of an emergency. While interviewing four members of the faculty, we found that many were open to the idea of a consistent method of scheduling, but only if it was user friendly and they did not have to take a course on how to use it. For our secondary research, we looked at some of the methods offered to universities for scheduling purposes. Mainly, we looked at the benefits of Google Calendar, Outlook, and Starfish. Overall, we found that Starfish best fit the needs of both students and faculty because of its calendar function, its user-friendly style, its compatibility with Outlook, and some of its other features. We will be splitting our report into student interviews, faculty interviews, and secondary research in order to present our conclusion that having the campus use Starfish as the consistent method of scheduling will be the best solution. We also propose that some How-to videos are made to be sure that the faculty can utilize the program to its full potential, and that facultys email is displayed prominently in case there are any emergencies. We hope you enjoy our report and find it useful. Danielle Ferris Grace Beihl Pauline Holthaus

Introduction
In this report, we will present a combination of primary and secondary research detailing some of the campus problems with scheduling and what alternative, ideal scheduling would look like for students and faculty. First, we will present our findings from McMicken student and faculty interviews. We believe that the problems present in McMicken are most likely an issue campus-wide and therefore representative of the UC population. Next, we will explain some possible alternatives to our current scheduling systems. In our conclusion, we will recommend using Starfish as a campus-wide scheduling system based on our research, its many features, and the fact that it is already in place at UC. Furthermore, we will suggest making how-to videos for teachers and any advising faculty that is not already using Starfish as their primary scheduling system.

Problem
Our campus does not use one consistent way to schedule appointments with students and each other.

Purpose
The purpose is to identify a more efficient and consistent way of scheduling appointments.

Research Methods
Our primary research consists of 10 interviews: 6 student interviews and 4 faculty interviews. The students were all McMicken Arts and Sciences majors. They were asked how they typically schedule meetings with teachers and advisors, what they like about their scheduling, and what problems they have had with scheduling meetings. The faculty was asked how they currently make appointments with students, what they would like in a scheduling program, and if they had any training on Starfish, UCs current scheduling system. In our primary research body, we summarized the key points of each interview. In our secondary research, we explore the benefits of using Starfish

versus Google Calendar or Outlook based on what students and faculty claim would be useful in a scheduling program. For this, we looked up websites that gave overviews of the program and summarized them for the report.

I like the flexibility of email and being able to see my advisors schedule in Starfish. If those two could be combined, the system would probably improve quite a bit. -Annie Conolly

Student Interviews

Annie Conolly
Annie is a Communication major. According to her interview, she uses Starfish or Email to make appointments with advisors and office hours with teachers. She thinks having one consistent method of scheduling would reduce a lot of the confusion with appointments. Annie prefers to schedule through email because she can explain why she needs to meet with faculty, which gives them the opportunity to be more prepared to meet with her. She thinks Starfish can be a little impersonal but is very easy to use, however, one of the biggest problems with scheduling is finding a convenient time to meet with teachers and advisors. She likes email appointments because her problems are responded to faster, but she also likes being able to see her advisors schedule in Starfish.

Paul Ngyun
Paul is a Pre-Pharmacy major. He meets with advisors through email and teachers through office hours or email. A consistent method of scheduling meetings is something he would be interested in. Paul likes Starfish because it has the outlined grid of times and days and he does not think that students need extra directions to learn Starfish. According to Paul, the biggest problem with scheduling is finding a good time for both people to meet. Overall, he likes the idea of one centralized method of scheduling.

Jon Bandsetter
Jon is a Neurobiology major. He calls or emails advisors and teachers to make appointments, but would prefer one consistent method to make appointments. He likes email because it is easier to keep track of, but has not used Starfish. He feels that the biggest problem with making appointments is availability on the facultys part. His suggestion for updating appointment methods is preference for people who are closer to 4

finishing their major hours, like we have for scheduling classes.

Katie Bauer
Katie is an English- creative writing, fiction major. She emails to ask a question or uses starfish to meet with advisors and visits during office hours or emails to meet with teachers. Overall, she thinks that teachers have their own methods to make appointments and should do what is convenient for them. Katie prefers to schedule through email because it is easier to just email to ask when they can meet. Some things she likes about Starfish is how easy it is to use, however, she likes the simplicity and speed of emailing. She thinks that making everyone available on Starfish could improve scheduling problems.

AnnMarie Condit
AnnMarie is an English- RPW major. She uses Starfish and email to meet with advisors and office hours for teachers, but would prefer to have everyone available on Starfish. She likes Starfish because the calendar shows when faculty is available to meet and believes Starfish is user friendly. She likes office hours because you can just go whenever and it feels a lot more relaxed. All in all, AnnMarie thinks having everyone available on Starfish would make appointments easier.

Jordan Ramos
Jordan is a Neuroscience major. He uses Starfish for advisors and office hours for teachers. He thinks Starfish is very easy to use and the calendar function is useful. Overall, Jordan believes the biggest problem with making meetings is trying to find a time that works for both people.

Findings
Many Students use email to schedule appointments because all teachers and advisors have email, they receive and respond to emails quickly, and students can explain their problems thoroughly on email. In general all the students were most displeased with their teacher/advisors amount of available time, but 4 of 6 of the students agree that the calendar feature on Starfish would be helpful. Of the 6 students interviewed, all 5 that have previously used Starfish found it easy to use.

Faculty Interviews
Stephanie Monsanty
Stephanie schedules appointments via email. She would like Starfish if students use it and is willing to load her calendar. One of biggest issues with making appointments is

students ignoring her designated office hours. She didnt know if she had Starfish access at the time of the interview, but confirmed later she does. She feels that expectations and social protocol are inconsistent when it comes to scheduling meetings. She would like a series of how-to training videos for Starfish.

Lora Adruser
Lora is a professional writing professor/advisor, and general English advisor. She frequently schedules meetings with students via email, but scheduling via email has a lot of back and forth. She thinks it would be helpful if the student and teacher had an online calendar, and suggested doodle. Lora has never used Starfish or been trained on it but feels that how-to videos would be more helpful than big training sessions because faculty are too busy for large mandatory training meetings. One aspect of a scheduling program she would like is an alert or a master calendar to help keep track of appointments. According to Lora, Blackboard is a good place to have Starfish because she uses it with all of her students.

Lisa Meloncon
Lisa advises and teaches graduate and undergraduate professional writing students. She generally sets up meeting via email, but according to her, it is a pain because it can take 5-10 emails to set up 1 appointment and by the time some students get back, time slots have been filled and she is no longer available. She has heard of Starfish but has not been trained on it. She thinks Starfish is mostly for A&S Advising, and is not aware she has access to it. She doesnt really use blackboard but would consider using it for Starfish. She needs a program that is changeable because her schedule is inconsistent.

Robert Johnson

No [I have not been trained on Robert advises and teaches Starfish], but Id like to be! - Robert Jonason Journalism. He arranges most student appointments (about 80 percent) by email. The remainder are arranged in person (after class, in the hallway, or in my office). He would find it easier if the whole campus used one program for scheduling appointments. He does feel he has sufficient time to meet with all of his students. He does not use Starfish and has not been trained on it, but would like to be.

Findings
Most faculty use email to schedule appointments, even though they think email is a hassle because they are scheduling appointments with so many people. A big problem is how much their schedules fill up and by the time students respond they are no longer available. They would find the calendar aspect of Starfish useful to help with scheduling. Of the 4 faculty members, none had been trained 6

on Starfish and half were not aware they had access to it, but they are interested in using it or another scheduling program.

Secondary Research

Table 1: Method Comparison for Scheduling

Google Calendar Comments Phone reminders Compatible with Outlook Alerts Works without account Share Calendar with outside users Already in place at UC Outlook Starfish

The three most widely used methods for scheduling appointments on University campuses are Google Calendar, Outlook, and Starfish, so we compared the three with features that our interviewees found important, and that the programs advertized as being useful to anyone.

Google Calendar
Google Calendar has a simple layout, which allows users with an account to view either personal or public calendars. It has a block-out option in which users can drag and click to schedule a meeting. After blocking-out time, users can add comments to fill in the details of the appointment. It does send alerts via phone and email to remind users when their meetings are, and it is compatible with Outlook for those users who already use Outlook.1

Starfish
Google Calendars interface makes it a great program for the general public, or even small businesses.2 Starfish, on the other hand, is geared specifically toward universities. It has options for public or private universities, along with 2 or 4-year universities. It allows teachers and advisors to access student folders and, if they have any concerns
1

Jonathan Strickland. "How Google Calendar Works." HowSuffWorks.com http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/google-calendar.htm. 30 May 2008. Web. 31 March 2013. 2 Jonathan Strickland

for the student, recommend them for help. The interface allows access for teachers, advisors, tutoring staff, financial aid advisors, disability offices, and counselors along with students. The calendar is easy to use and the purpose of the meeting can be displayed in the comment box. Furthermore, once the meeting is scheduled, either by the student or another teacher, faculty can easily access a file with coursework, grades, concerns, and student tutoring attendance.3 Starfish includes both phone and email alerts for upcoming appointments, which is important for faculty and students busy lives. It also includes a way to show whether or not the student showed up to their appointment. Overall, it is tailored to work with university scheduling and is made to keep students involved with their own progress. 4

Outlook
Outlook is a computer software program that provides a number of services including email management, an address book, notebook, web browser and a calendar, which allows you to plan meetings and organize your schedule. It works on phone and has other web apps so that it is easily accessible. It is geared toward both college students and professionals in the workplace. It uses templates to accommodate the needs of its varying client base.5 The incorporated search function allows you to easily find whatever you are looking for and can be used in any of the Outlook programs, which include Calendar, Task Manager and Contact Manager. Outlooks biggest coup is that it is compatible with many other scheduling programs. For example, when a user schedules on starfish, they can receive an email on their Outlook account as well as phone and other email programs.6

Findings
Many programs exist that would help the University have an easy consistent way of scheduling appointments, and they come with other benefits like cell phone/email alerts. However, despite the fact that the programs are largely similar to each other, Starfish seems to be the best option because it is already in place at UC and is most geared toward college campuses. It works best though when the whole campus is using it, not just a few advisors.7

Starfish Retention Solutions. Starfish Retention Solutions Inc. http://www.starfishsolutions.com/. 19982013. Web. 17 April 2013. 4 Starfish Retention Solutions. 5 Baptist Johnson. The Advantages of Microsoft Outlook. eHow. http://www.ehow.com/list_6471961_advantages-microsoft-outlook.html. 16 April 2012. Web. 16 April 2013. 6 Baptist Johnson 7 Starfish Retention Solutions

Recommendations:
What Program to Use
We recommend that the University use Starfish as its primary way of scheduling appointments. Starfish allows professors to keep their calendars up to date and tracks changes. It allows students to easily see when they can come in, book that time and explain their problem. We believe that once students can easily access office hour times, they will find that teacher availability is less of a problem than it currently seems. However, the focus of our report is to find a program that unites the campus in a single scheduling method, but we believe Starfish could be the solution to both problems. Also, Starfish is integrated with Blackboard and Outlook email accounts. It sends alerts to students cell phones and email accounts. At the beginning of every semeste r the University will connect each student to their advisors and professors just like they currently do for Blackboard.

Fixing Current Starfish Problems

Currently the teachers are unaware they even have access to Starfish. We recommend the University promotes the existence of Starfish through email and announcements on the website. We also recommend they offer a few non-mandatory training sessions on how to use Starfish. Most importantly though we recommend they post a series of HowTo videos on the website for both students and teachers to reference.

Conclusion
Starfish is the best option for the University because students already know how to use it and makes scheduling easy. It is also already integrated to our blackboard and outlook email accounts. It currently is not being utilized because faculty lack awareness of how to use it or that it even exists. If we promote the training and use of Starfish it will greatly simplify how scheduling appointments is done on this campus.

Works Cited

Johnson, Baptist. The Advantages of Microsoft Outlook. eHow. April 16, 2012. http://www.ehow.com/list_6471961_advantages-microsoft-outlook.html. Starfish Retention Solutions. Starfish Retention Solutions Inc. http://www.starfishsolutions.com/. 1998-2013. Web. 17 April 2013. Strickland, Jonathan. "How Google Calendar Works." HowSuffWorks.com http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/google-calendar.htm. 30 May 2008. Web. 31 March 2013.

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