Partner Article

Advanced Learning wins £425K contract to supply timetabling software to the University of Westminster

Advanced Learning wins £425K contract to supply timetabling software to the University of Westminster CMIS applications to transform timetabling of 22,000 students and more than 1,000 staff across the university’s four campuses

25 November 2013 – Leading software provider, Advanced Learning (Advanced) has been awarded a £425K contract to supply timetabling software solutions to the University of Westminster. The University will go live with the solutions, CMIS and CMISGo in August 2014. Advanced won the five year contract after a thorough tendering process, which involved four other software providers.

CMIS is a timetabling and resource management solution and is widely used by universities across the globe. CMISGo is a recent innovation which enables staff and students to publish timetable information and updates via mobile devices using web and SMS technology.

The university will use CMIS and CMISGo to provide timetables for over 22,000 students and 1,000 staff and manage resources across four main campuses, each of which accommodate lecture theatres and seminar space alongside laboratories, studios and corporate accommodation.

To date, the university’s timetabling team have relied on largely manual processes and the student record data-base to prepare timetables and schedule teaching. The new timetabling solutions will draw upon different data sets and consolidate all student, staff and resource information and enable staff and students to create timetables and allocate resources in a fraction of the time it would take to do manually. This will dramatically improve efficiencies across the University’s real estate.

The solutions will also enable staff to manage and communicate changes in circumstances (such as changes to room or building availability) to staff and students as they occur, using real-time technology. Martin Stevens, Timetabling Project Manager, University of Westminster says: “We are impressed with the Advanced Learning team and the software and are confident it will generate many benefits for our students, academic staff and support teams.

“CMIS and CMISGo will enable us to automate numerous timetabling and resource planning processes including the preparation of timetables prior to the beginning of each academic year. This is currently a major challenge and we believe that the new system will enable us to significantly reduce the time it takes to carry out key processes.

“We plan to use the solutions to introduce self-servicing to students and staff. In the future, students will be able to book study and studio space online from their mobile devices or PCs and academic staff will be able to book lecture and other space with specific facilities.”

CMIS will also improve the university’s ability to map resources to the requirements of its commercial partners, to whom the organisation provides professional development courses.

Stevens adds: “We provide tailored professional development courses to many public and private sector partners. CMIS will enable our staff to analyse and book resources which are most appropriate to a particular course, therefore enhancing our ability to fulfil our clients’ requirements.”

Steve Dashwood Managing Director Advanced Learning comments “We are very pleased to be working in partnership with the University of Westminster. Our dedicated project team brings a significant collective experience of working with CMIS in our growing education client base and we will work closely with the University to support their strategic goals and roadmap for the future.”

The University of Westminster was founded as Britain’s first polytechnic in 1838. Since then it has developed into a university that combines both metropolitan and cosmopolitan dimensions, and which is closely involved in business, professional and academic life within London, as well as overseas. It has been providing world-leading research, pioneering teaching, and education for all for 175 years. Advanced Learning forms part of Advanced Business Solutions, an Advanced Computer Software Group company. -ENDS- About Advanced Learning www.progressomis.com

Advanced Learning provides innovative technology solutions to more than 2,000 educational institutions throughout the UK and across the world. The company is strongly committed to sustained investment in the education market, continuously developing its product portfolio to meet the changing needs of schools and academies. Advanced Learning is also focused on delivering facilities management solutions to the local government and enterprise sectors. Advanced Learning forms part of Advanced Business Solutions (Public Sector & Enterprise Division), an Advanced Computer Software Group plc company.

Angela Mycock and Nick Hardy, Advanced Computer Software Group pr@advancedcomputersoftware.com +44(0)1625 856 513

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Advanced Computer Software Group .