“But I need that class to graduate.”

“But I need that class to graduate.”

Background Owen Nicholas Skriloff

• 20 + years of software development• Masters degree in Systems Engineering• Java and Microsoft Certified• Senior Developer for Registrar product for 10 years• Here is my Family

Agenda

Introductions The Problem set History of enrolling student in classes Comparison of different MBA school

solutions History of Darden Solutions and Clients Demo

Introductions Darden School of Business at UVa

• Offers MBA, EMBA, GEMBA (2 Year programs)• Have about 330 MBA, 50 EMBA students per class year

Please ask questions

The Problem You have mostly type-A personality students across

multiple programs in your MBA school. They are all paying between 40K-60K/year to be at the school. There are important classes and teachers that they all want. About 20% of those classes will have more demand than capacity. You need to reserve certain seats for certain students and allow some students precedence over others, all while making the whole process as fair as you can make it.

How do you do it? How do you reduce randomness? How do you rival Ebay?

What kind of work would be created by the type of solution you choose?

History

Take a number?

What letter does your name start with?

Are you first year or second year?

You get to choose two?

Order your classes for us?

History

History Continued

Students are used to doing things online

Expectation of fast, fair and easy

We need something better http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8g4Ztf7hIM#t=0m31s

People want high tech

Bidding Each student is given a set of bid points Bid points allow for a student show their

interest in a course and priority across all courses

Bid points allow the registrar to gauge demand

In some cases the previous year’s clearing price is shown to students

In some cases student’s set the clearing price

Bidding Philosophy

• Reduce randomness• Allow students access

to last year’s clearing prices

.

Schools surveyed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_business_school_rankings

Phases Phase is a period of time in which a

student can take action on a course of interest

Those possible actions for a course are bidding, swapping, dropping, wait-listing and/or adding.

High Level ComparisonMBA School Number of

students that use system

Programs of students

Percentage of high demand

Number of phases for enrollment

Chicago Booth

2900 Regular550 EMBA

Full Time, Evening, Weekend

22% 6 phases per semester

UVADarden

600 MBA120 MBAE, 80 dual degree

Full Time, EMBA, GEMBA

22% 6 phases all year (additional 12)

MITSloan

Alternate 500/1000

Full Time, MIT only

32% 4 phases per semester

NorthwesternKellogg

300 EMBA300 Full time

International, EMBA, MBA

10% 2 phases per year

PennWharton

835 MBA and EMBA

MBA <30% 8 phases Q110 phases Q2

New YorkColumbia

EMBA 400MBA 1400

Full Time, EMBA

EMBA 10%MBA 35%

Per program 5 phases / term

Academic Year From Sept 2011 to May of 2012

Fall Spring

Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4

Background before we cover each individually

• Most full time MBA students are pre-enrolled into their first year courses• Most of the schools allow their second year students to bid for their courses (electives)• Degree requirements can usually be satisfied by more than one particular course• All of them rarely have a situation where any student “needs a class to graduate”• All integrate with the central university system by automated processes• Not looking to say any one way is better than another

Sometime before the beginning of the quarter or semester there will be 3-10 phases of different types (e.g. bidding,

add/drop, waitlists, swapping)

Chicago Booth School MBA School Number of

studentsPrograms of students

Percentage of high demand

Number of phases for enrollment

Chicago Booth

2900 Regular550 EMBA

Full Time, Evening, Weekend

22% 6 phases per semester

Four quarters per year they have phases going 37 weeks/y

For each quarter, there are 6 Phases with usually 4 before the start of the quarter

Phase 1 = Bidding, home-program sections only

Phase 2 = Bidding with dropping, home-program sections only, 100% point refunds for drops

Phase 3= Bidding with dropping, all sections, 100% point refunds for drops

Phase 4= Bidding with dropping, all sections, 100% point refunds for drops

Phase 5= Bidding with dropping, all sections, 0% point refunds for drops; generate waitlist

Phase 6= Add/Drop, 0% point refunds for drops; auto-waitlist promotion

Darden School MBA School Number of

studentsPrograms of students

Percentage of high demand

Number of phases for enrollment

UVADarden

600 MBA Full Time, EMBA, GEMBA

22% 6 phases all year (additional 12)

Second Year have 4 quarters per year ( FY have 7 terms) (GEMBA Modules)

When a first year student reaches their 4th quarter they begin their bidding

Phase 1 = Bidding with 100% refund

Phase 2 = Bidding with 100% refund

Phase 3, 4, 5, 6 = Add/Drop in Quarters 1, 2, 3, & 4

MIT Sloan MBA School Number of

studentsPrograms of students

Percentage of high demand

Number of phases for enrollment

MITSloan

Alternate 500/1000

Full Time, MIT only

32% 4 phases per semester

They have 2 semesters per year

When a first year student reaches their 4th quarter they begin their bidding

SIP bidding for Fall and Spring with two bidding phases and an add/drop round.

Regular Fall and Spring bidding for two bidding rounds, waitlist round, and section swap round

Northwestern KelloggMBA School Number of

studentsPrograms of students

Percentage of high demand

Number of phases for enrollment

NorthwesternKellogg

300 EMBA300 Full time

International, EMBA, MBA

10% 2 phases per year

In the Executive MBA program, our students only “bid” on their elective courses for their second year.

Most cases capacity is not an issue

They have a single round of bidding and then add/drop.

WhartonMBA School Number of

studentsPrograms of students

Percentage of high demand

Number of phases for enrollment

PennWharton

835 MBA MBA <30% 8 phasesQ110 phasesQ2

Student name the price they want to sell the course for

No one runs out of points completely

Bid for only elective courses

ColumbiaMBA School Number of

studentsPrograms of students

Percentage of high demand

Number of phases for enrollment

New YorkColumbia

EMBA 400MBA 1400

Full Time, EMBA

EMBA 10%MBA 35%

Per program 5 phases / term

Four terms per year

For each term, there 5 phases

Phase 1,2,3 = Bidding,

Phase 4 = Waitlist Round

Phase 5= Add/Drop, auto-waitlist promotion

Summary No one way is better than another Informative how different schools have

chosen to answer “What is fair course allocation?”

History of Darden Solutions and Clients

1997 Consortium and Bake-off MBA students require a concierge level of

service Started a business but the apps were not

enterprise ready Rewrote all – started in ColdFusion, then

converted to Java Registrar being used by some schools

History of Darden Solutions and Clients Previous clients Present clients Website Moving forward, there are opportunities

for partners to join the Registrar consortium of schools and continue to improve the application and share its costs

Important Entity Relationships Course Offering overview Available are ERD of OLR and

ERD of Evaluations

Demo What is fair? Reducing randomness. Bidding Demo (Course Offering

Period, Courses, Program Versions, Programs, Phases)

Concentrate on Phases Add/drop

Conclusions We started with the problem and have

seen how different business schools have answered the question

Would you feel more in control of your destiny with bidding or the line?

Where would this fit in at your school?