Academic Scheduling (Coursedog)

Overview

 

The Office of the Registrar's priority is to support academic departments in building accurate, student-centered course schedules. Coursedog is Villanova’s new academic and room-scheduling system, designed to replace a manual, spreadsheet-based process with a centralized, more reliable approach.

Instead of managing schedules in Excel files and through lengthy email exchanges, departments will work within a single platform that supports the scheduling process from start to finish. Coursedog provides real-time insight into classroom availability, enrollment patterns, instructor assignments, and common course combinations, helping departments make informed decisions and identify issues earlier.

This initiative modernizes a critical academic workflow, strengthens collaboration between departments and the Registrar’s Office, and prepares the university for continued enrollment growth and multi-campus operations. Coursedog supports Villanova’s Rooted. Restless. strategic plan and TechNova 2026 priorities by enabling more effective digital processes, greater use of data in decision-making, and an improved student experience.

What is Coursedog?

Coursedog is a centralized academic and room scheduling platform that allows departments to build, review, and update course offerings directly within the system.

Key features and benefits include:

  • A single platform for creating academic and room schedules
  • Real-time conflict detection for instructors, rooms, and student course patterns
  • Data-informed reporting, including enrollment trends and room utilization
  • Workflow-based approvals that streamline coordination with the Registrar’s Office
  • Real-time classroom availability and room-feature matching
  • Built-in validation to reduce errors and missing information
  • Extended scheduling timelines that support more thoughtful planning
  • An intuitive interface designed for department chairs and schedulers

Why the Change is Needed

For many years, academic scheduling has relied on emailed Excel spreadsheets and manual updates. While familiar, this approach increases the risk of errors, duplicated work, delays, and limits the ability to analyze course demand or optimize classroom use.

As Villanova enters a period of academic and campus expansion, departments need more time, flexibility, and insight to create schedules that meet student needs and support long-term program goals. Adopting Coursedog now ensures the scheduling process is scalable, data-informed, and better aligned with the growing complexity of the university’s academic operations.

Without this change, the university would continue to rely on processes that are time-intensive, prone to miscommunication, and less able to support strategic growth.

What Is and Is Not Impacted

Coursedog will be used for academic and room scheduling workflows managed by departments in collaboration with the Registrar’s Office. It integrates with Banner, which remains the system of record.

This project does not change how students view the course catalog, register for courses, or access the master schedule. It also does not replace VenueVU for event management or alter catalog maintenance processes.

Timeline

To minimize ongoing maintenance, the project timeline is organized by phase and month ranges:

  • January–June 2026: System configuration, data integration, and setup of scheduling rules and room attributes
  • June–November 2026: Department engagement, training, and onboarding
  • September–November 2026: Soft launch scheduling cycle for the Summer 2027 term 
  • November 2026: Fall 2027 scheduling cycle launch for all academic departments

Project Team

Executive Sponsor

  • Cathy Conner, Vice Dean of Enrollment Management
  • Tim Hoffman, Vice Provost, Finance and Administration
  • Jason Hughes, Assistant Vice President of Enterprise Systems and Data Solutions

Project Management 

  • PJ Moriarty, Senior Enterprise Project Manager Analyst

Project steering and operational teams include members of the Registrar’s Office and University Technology Services. Academic departments will also participate as partners through training, user testing, and phased adoption.

Frequently Asked Questions

Academic Scheduling will work with each department to identify appropriate schedulers and ensure they receive the required training before access is granted.

Scheduling guidelines related to room optimization and course distribution remain in place. Coursedog provides better visibility into these patterns but does not change established academic policies.

Yes. The Registrar’s Office is configuring the system to account for different departmental scenarios through structured rules and permissions.

Training opportunities will include in-person sessions, live online workshops, instructional videos, quick-reference guides, and scheduled office hours with the Registrar’s Academic Scheduling team. Additional resources will be added as the project progresses.

Contact

Questions, comments, or feedback about the Coursedog project can be directed to the Registrar’s Academic Scheduling team at coursedog@villanova.edu.