Delivering Conflict-Free Exam Schedule at Penn State University

Penn State’s final exam schedule creation was initially a paper-driven, manually intensive, 11-week process that was based on course meeting times instead of being based on individual student schedules.

This process resulted in over 1,200 conflicting exams each semester, which forced students to visit the registrar’s office late in the semester to file for conflict resolution. The final exam schedule was not available before the 8th week of the 15-week semester, and the conflict exam schedule was not available until the 13th week of the semester. Students and faculty members were not given individualized exam schedules.

Through the implementation of a new software solution for exam scheduling, Penn State University aimed to:

• Modify the final exam production process to focus on students;
• Automate the production process;
• Provide visibility over direct and overload conflicts;
• Identify and resolve direct individual student conflicts before publication;
• Publish the final exam schedule earlier.

The implementation of Infosilem Exam supported a change in the business process, which was necessary to successfully reach the goals set by the University. Despite early apprehension about the dual scope of the project—and the short timeline—it proved to be a very easy implementation with fantastic results.

By putting students at the centre of its final exam scheduling process, the University dramatically reduced the number of direct and overload conflicts, identified and resolved the remaining conflicts, and successfully generated individual student and instructor final exam schedules.

Infosilem Exam also helped the University reduce the number of people hours required to prepare the final exam schedules and successfully publish them three weeks earlier.

Infosilem Exam meets and exceeds all expectations. Using the software, the University is able to:

• Create an exam schedule that results in fewer student issues and concerns;
• Shortens the production time;
• Uses University space in the most appropriate manner;
• Simplifies the complexity of the exam schedule creation and issue resolution processes;

Penn State University is a multi-campus public research university with programs in teaching, research, and service. With over 44,000 students at its University Park campus and an additional 50,000 students at its other 23 campus locations, Penn State is the largest university in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Todd Clouser

Information Technology Manager

“The University has dramatically increased its operational efficiency and is now able to produce a more accurate final exam schedule faster. Students are thrilled to have access to their final exam schedules weeks earlier than they used to.”