Skip to navigation | Skip to main content | Skip to footer
Menu
Search the Staffnet siteSearch StaffNet

Collaborative Timetabling

Timetable Change Requests

Principles of the Timetable Change Request Process 

  • Changes to activities within the timetabling system after the timetable has been made available to students must be approved by the Vice Dean for Teaching, Learning and Students or their designated representative(s). 
  • Changes that affect another Faculty also require the agreement of that Faculty’s Vice Dean or their designated representative(s). 

The managed timetable change request process has been established according to the following principles: 

  • To provide accurate, personal timetables for students and staff 
  • To ensure spaces are available for others if no longer needed 
  • To inform improvements to future timetable data submissions 
  • To identify problematic trends causing timetable changes, allowing Schools to react to, for example, GTA recruitment, provision of specialist equipment, lack of specific location resource (continuous improvement) 
  • To provide students with notice so they can plan for part-time work, volunteering, sporting or other extracurricular activities. 
  • To provide an accurate record of building use in the event of an emergency on campus 
  • To consolidate out of hours activities into the smallest number of buildings/spaces required 
  • To ensure timetable changes are prioritised and considered fairly according to their nature and impact

FAQs

What is a Timetable Change Request? 

Any member of staff requiring a change to the published timetable must request this via an email to the relevant School/PGR Services team. This includes requests for: 

  • an additional session 
  • a change to an existing session, e.g. day/time/week pattern/duration/location 
  • a cancellation or removal of a session 

This allows change requests to be prioritised and managed fairly and consistently and for personal online student and staff timetables to be accurate and up to date. 

You must read Section 6 ‘Changes to the published timetable’ in the University Timetabling Policy:

  • 6.1 Changes to activities within the timetabling system after the timetable has been made available to students must be approved by the Vice Dean for Teaching, Learning and Students or their designated representative(s). Changes that affect another Faculty also require the agreement of that Faculty’s Vice Dean or their designated representative(s). 
  • 6.2 Changes arising from health and safety concerns (e.g. room capacity) or relating to technical restrictions (e.g. laboratory equipment availability) can be requested or actioned by the Faculty Scheduling Teams or University Scheduling Team without the Vice Dean’s approval – for example, if a building has flooded or a class now has more students enrolled than its currently allocated room(s) can accommodate.  
  • 6.3 Requests for timetabled activities that are received after the published deadline for timetable data submissions will be accommodated as far as possible where they do not disrupt existing arrangements.

How do academic/technical colleagues make a change to the timetable after the draft has been released and before the formal change request process comes into effect? 

Contact your School Programme and Curriculum team/PGR Services team with the change request and the reason. 

How do academic/technical staff request a change to the timetable after it has been published? 

Academic and technical colleagues seeking a change to the timetable must email their School Programme and Curriculum team or PGR Services colleagues with the change request and a reason for the change. 

Schools/PGR Services will transmit the request to the relevant Faculty Scheduling team if the request is to: 

  1. Change the day/time/week pattern/duration/location of an activity 
  2. Cancel an activity 
  3. Add a new activity 

School Programme and Curriculum teams can be contacted as follows: 

PGR Services teams can be contacted as follows: 

Why do we need a formal and managed change request process? 

The managed timetable change request process has been established according to the following principles: 

  • To provide accurate, personal timetables for students and staff 
  • To ensure spaces are available for others if no longer needed 
  • To inform improvements to future timetable data submissions 
  • To identify problematic trends causing timetable changes, allowing Schools to react to, for example, GTA recruitment, provision of specialist equipment, lack of specific location resource (continuous improvement) 
  • To provide students with notice so they can plan for part-time work, volunteering, sporting or other extracurricular activities. 
  • To provide an accurate record of building use in the event of an emergency on campus 
  • To consolidate out of hours activities into the smallest number of buildings/spaces required 
  • To ensure timetable changes are prioritised and considered fairly according to their nature and impact 

What happens after an academic/technical colleague submits a change request? 

Your School/PGR Services colleagues will transmit the request to the relevant Faculty Scheduling team. 

Change requests are categorised as follows: 

  1. School/Faculty rejected and returned to sender 
  2. Pending Faculty assessment of whether change is logistically possible 
  3. Pending Faculty assessment of impact 
  4. Pending does not need approval 
  5. Pending and needs approval by Vice Dean for Teaching, Learning and Student Experience or nominated delegate 
  6. Rejected by VDTLSE 
  7. Approved and Faculty Scheduling team to action 
  8. Approved Central Teaching Spaces to action 
  9. Approved and no longer logistically possible 
  10. Requestor retracts change request 

The Faculty Scheduling team will assess all change requests to ascertain if they are logistically possible and to summarise the potential impact before requesting approval (if required) from the VDTLSE. 

If a change request requires VDTLSE approval, the VDTLSE or their nominated delegate will receive an email notification alerting them that a change request requires approval.

The requestor will receive an email notification if additional information is required, initiated by either the Faculty Scheduling team or the VDTLSE. 

The requestor will receive an email notification when approved changes have been made, manually sent by the Faculty Scheduling team. 

The requestor will receive an email notification if their change request is rejected. This will be sent manually from the Faculty Scheduling team. 

Who will make the change to the timetable? 

  • Faculty Scheduling teams will make change to activities in School-owed spaces. 
  • Central Teaching Spaces colleagues will make changes to activities in centrally owned spaces.
  • Schools/PGR Services colleagues can make simple changes to the timetable such as adding/removing/amending staff or re-allocating students to group activities.

How will urgent changes to the timetable (i.e., for something happening the same or next day) be actioned in time?

The Faculty Scheduling team will use an element of pragmatism for short term requests and exercise their best judgement according to the scenario to ensure the student and staff experience is not compromised. 

Change requests will be indexed according to the proximity of the date that the change is required. 

Contact the Faculty Scheduling team at the earliest opportunity for next day or same day changes. 

Faculty Scheduling team contact details are below: 

  • HUMS-timetabling@manchester.ac.uk (Faculty of Humanities) 
  • FBMH-timetabling@manchester.ac.uk (Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health) 
  • FSE-timetabling@manchester.ac.uk (Faculty of Science and Engineering)