To the 144,000 or so Arizona State University students who will start planning their spring semester when the schedule of classes becomes available on Sept. 19, they are invisible.
Nameless. Faceless. The picture of anonymity, working in a cubicle, a computer staring back at them.
Kim Marrone Beckert knows better.
Beckert is an assistant vice provost on the Undergraduate Education Team in the Office of the University Provost. Ask Beckert about the people who work tirelessly to put together the schedules for ASU’s 17 colleges and she says, “They’re hidden heroes.”
“That is 100% true,” said Julia Himberg, associate chair of curriculum in the Department of English. “The work of scheduling is complicated, and a lot of people are involved. It’s a true group effort.”
How are class schedules put together at ASU?
Let’s start here: It’s a complicated process that takes at least a year. Beckert said class schedules for the 2024–25 school year will be due in November, just three months after the kickoff of the 2023–24 school year.
Himberg said the Department of English works on its schedules two years in advance in order to try to best serve its more than 6,600 students.
“Schedules are an enormous part of the student experience,” Himberg said. “It’s not just about having the chance to take a variety of classes. I think it also affects their day-to-day quality of life.”
Here’s how the process works: As the schedulers for each college begin to map out the schedule for the following school year, they have to consider several factors.
Skip past news feed