Our Action Plan

Announcing scheduling changes is the point at which an improvement effort becomes visible to the people it affects. Faculty and staff who contributed feedback will look for evidence that their input shaped the decisions, and those who did not participate will form their first impression of the work here. A clear, specific plan demonstrates that the institution listened.

Specificity also reduces resistance. Distinguishing near-term pilots from longer-term structural changes, naming what faculty and staff can expect to feel different, and identifying concrete ways to participate gives people a realistic picture of the work and a role within it.

The resources included here draw on best practices from the AASCU Student-Centered Course Scheduling initiative to help institutional leaders communicate their scheduling priorities and planned actions, connecting the changes ahead to the input and data that informed them.

What’s Included

This resource includes a customizable slide deck along with a companion email and social media content to help institutions share their scheduling action plan with faculty, staff, and students.

• Deck: A presentation template for communicating priority focus areas, short-term actions, and longer-term improvements to faculty, staff, and institutional leadership. Slides include a structure for defining what success looks like across both time horizons, a summary of what will change in day-to-day practice for faculty and staff, and specific ways for colleagues to contribute.
• Email Copy: A ready-to-customize message for deans, faculty, and staff that connects the plan to earlier feedback, summarizes priorities and upcoming shifts, and explains what the changes mean for their work.
• Social Media Copy and Graphics: Posts tailored for two audiences: colleagues on LinkedIn and students on institutional channels.

Before You Begin

Four resources from the initiative precede this one, and the priorities presented in this deck should follow from what they surface.

• Introducing the Work: Establishes the case for student-centered course scheduling and sets the expectation that the institution will return with what it learns.
• Feedback Toolkit: Surveys, focus group guides, in-class polls, and event activities that surface the barriers your priority focus areas should address.
• Course Scheduling Data Guide: Definitions and framing for the metrics used to select priorities on slide 3 and to define success on slide 6.
• Sharing Insights: Reports findings from feedback and data back to the campus community. Presenting an action plan is most effective once that groundwork is in place, so the reasoning behind each priority is already familiar.