News Archive 2007

November 2007
Salford College Awards

Congratulations to all involved in the Salford College Awards Evening on 8th October 2007. CELCAT were proud to sponsor a special award won this year by Andrew Bell. Pictures are here.

November 2007
Discounted Training

During December 2007, all CELCAT training courses at our Coventry centre are discounted by over 40%. Included in course fees is accommodation and B&B at a luxury local hotel, which allows you to relax in the evenings with a gym, a swimming pool, leisure club and many other facilities! To book online go to www.celcat.com/reservations.

November 2007
Case Studies

A new Case Studies brochure is now available. Three case studies illustrate how customers have benefited from implementing CELCAT software site-wide.

October 2007
Autumn Seminar Series

CELCAT Autumn seminars have the theme of "The Timetable - The Key to Effective Planning and Management Decision Making"

In recent years, technology has done much to increase efficiency in UK Higher and Further Education. However the benefits it can bring to the teaching timetable are not always well understood. The Autumn 2007 seminar series is directed at senior managers within HE and FE. You'll gain an insight into the current state of computerised timetabling, and examine offerings in the field of course planning and resource management.

Sign up here.

September 2007
CELCAT at the Scottish Learning Festival 2007

It was a lively show for us up in Scotland this year. We’d like to thank all those who called by our stand to see the latest products. There was interest from HE and FE organisations and significant curiosity from a number of schools with special timetabling requirements - something that had not been evident in previous shows.

The next exhibition for us will be BETT in January 2008 at Olympia, London. If you weren't able to attend The Scottish Learning Festival why not come along and see us then? We'll be demonstrating our latest software releases and be able to answer any questions you might have about CELCAT products and services.

July 2007
CELCAT at the SCUP 42 annual Conference 2007

Vernon Chapman, International Business Development Manager for CELCAT attended the 42nd annual meeting of the Society for College and University Planning at the Chicago Hotel and Towers in Chicago Illinois from July 7th - 11th.

SCUP as an organisation accepts members from post secondary educational institutions and associated organisations globally. Established in 1965, SCUP is a collegial community dedicated to sharing, learning, and teaching best practices in planning for colleges and universities. SCUP declares that it takes a holistic view of planning; as its name implies, it embraces the full spectrum of planning functions at a postsecondary institution, including, but not limited to: academic, campus or master facilities, budgeting and financial resources, infrastructure, and strategic.

The theme for this year's meeting was ‘Shaping the Academic Landscape - Integrated Solutions’. The event was attended by over 1500 delegates from around the world.

Braving temperatures in excess of 36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit), the conference concentrated on the role of IT in education. Contributors from UK universities delivered discourses on ‘Planning and Enrolment Management’ and ‘Optimising Space, Macro and Micro Planning and Timetabling’. Mr Chapman said “this was a very good forum for CELCAT, as many features of the Timetabler software are ideally suited to meet the needs of institutions in the area of resource planning and management”.

With pressure on to ensure institutions get the best use out of teaching resources Timetabler provides exactly what curriculum managers need to deliver results. CELCAT is committed to servicing the needs of the North American market, deepening Timetabler’s worldwide appeal. With users in over 30 countries around the globe we recognise that the USA and Canada provide an important market for our products.

28th June 2007
Site Licence Day

This year's event was set in the majestic grounds of Coombe Abbey, a 12th century Cistercian abbey on the outskirts of Coventry, UK. Now a luxury hotel, the venue played host to 60+ delegates from around England and Wales (see the following article for details of the Scottish event).

The function room has a conservation order!

First on the agenda was a presentation of new features, with the additional functions in Timetabler Advisers receiving deserved attention.

Lunch was held in the Abbey Gate Banquet Hall. it usually caters for medieval societies and made no concessions for a more contemporary clientele! All enjoyed the warm and happy atmosphere.

After lunch the audience was involved in a light-hearted quiz, and Janice Cowan scooped the prize - a bottle of champagne.

Room Booker software was described in depth and was well-received by those in attendance. Finally, the day concluded with a question and answer session.

19th June 2007
Site Licence Day - Scotland

Ian Grimes (Account Manager, CELCAT North) was joined in Scotland by Tim Dix, Jeff Thompson and Adrian Gough, to host this annual event north of the border.

Presentations included an overview of new features in Timetabler 6.3 with special emphasis on the Room Booker application - Tim and Jeff demonstrated both Windows and Web based offerings.

Guest speaker this year was Paul McCullan from EventMAP who presented the Optime Exam Scheduling software.

Ian concluded the afternoon session with a reminder of the various ways Timetabler can be integrated into MIS and other software systems.

Dunblane Hydro Hotel catered well for the needs of the delegates who all agreed the event was a success.

p.s. Congratulations to Ms Hesley from Forth Valley College - winner of the quiz and recipient of a bottle of champagne!

6th June 2007
Chinese Edition

Following several meetings in Beijing over the last few months, CELCAT has secured a new partnership with Chinese company Beijing Heer Info Tech. The deal will facilitate the distribution of the Chinese language edition of CELCAT Timetabler products.

16th May 2007
Timetabler 6.3 released today!

The latest version of the Timetabler software suite is now available to registered users for download.

14th May 2007
2007 Site Licence Days

Every year we host a special event for our site licence customers in the UK (similar events are held by our agents overseas). The 'Site Licence Day' provides an opportunity to learn about new software developments and to discuss timetabling issues with colleagues from other institutions - all in an informal and relaxing setting.

The event is free but by invitation only.

Dates/locations:

Scotland, 19th June, Dunblane Hydro Hotel
Northern Ireland, 13th June, Clarion Hotel Carrickfergus
England, 28th June, Coombe Abbey Coventry

Please contact your CELCAT Coordinator if you wish to attend or contact us (tel 024 7646 9930) for more information.

1st May 2007
CELCAT Seminars - extra date

Were you disappointed when you found out the free half day seminar on
Reporting with Timetabler was fully booked?

Due to the demand for our Reporting Seminar, CELCAT is running a
second date on Monday, 21 May 2007. Places are limited and are booking
up fast, so if you would like to reserve a space call now on 024 7646
9930 or email info@celcat.com

29th April – 2nd May 2007
CELCAT at EDUCAUSE Melbourne Australia

For professionals working in higher education, managing information technologies to advance scholarship, learning, teaching and research, this is the premier event in Australia for 2007. With the theme of "Advancing Knowledge Pushing Boundaries", the programme will not only feature interesting, relevant and up-to-date content but will provide you with excellent opportunities to interact with colleagues from other institutions and other industries.

So come along and join us at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, visit us at booth number 1. Our partner company in Australia, CDS (Australasia) will be available to look after you.

Click here for more information

28th February – 3rd March 2007
CELCAT at the AACRAO Annual Meeting Boston

The mission of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) is to provide professional development, guidelines and voluntary standards to be used by those involved in post-secondary education regarding the best practices in records management, admissions, enrolment management, administrative information technology and student services. It also provides a forum for discussion regarding policy initiation and development, interpretation and implementation at the institutional level and in the global educational community.

As Corporate Partners we are proud to announce that CELCAT is attending this year’s Annual Meeting in Boston Massachusetts. The venue for this event is the Hynes Convention Center, and the conference theme is:

Leading the Higher Education Revolution: Your Call to Action
When change is not enough, you need a revolution

So if you are an AACRAO member and are visiting this year’s annual meeting, come along and see us on stand 808.

Info here

Wednesday 24th January 2007

CELCAT and Netviewer one2one*

CELCAT has acquired licences to use Netviewer one2one software. Netviewer one2one enables two people to work together interactively by sharing their screens and even granting remote-control rights to each other.

Mr Chris Watkins at CELCAT Technical Support said, ‘ Having these licenses will revolutionise the way we offer technical support to users, it can sometimes be difficult to diagnose problems over the telephone and then resolve it. Having Netviewer one2one will enable us to view the users desktop, and see the problem for ourselves; we will even be able to take steps to resolve the issue for the user.’

Having this capability will accelerate our internal and external support and save our customers time and money.

Netviewer is totally secure and you maintain control throughout the whole session. All that is required to benefit from the facility is an Internet connection and access to a telephone. Our Technical Support team will give step-by-step instructions on using the service. Call them on 024 7646 3489 for further information.

Its features also make Netviewer one2one ideally suited to for marketing CELCAT software. Mr Vernon Chapman, International Business Development Manager, said, ‘It gives us the flexibility to demonstrate the software live to anyone wishing to evaluate its features, wherever they may be located around the world.’ To experience an online Web Demonstration of Timetabler 6 and its components, just email us and we will contact you to arrange a suitable time. Alternatively call us on 024 7646 9930.

*Netviewer one2one is a registered trademark of the Netviewer group of companies

Monday 22nd January 2007

CELCAT at BETT

BETT 2007 turned out to be another roaring success for CELCAT and we enjoyed meeting and chatting with so many of you. BETT 2008 is promising to be bigger and better - see you there!

Spring Training Dates

CELCAT is pleased to announce new training courses for the Spring term.

We have a full programme of courses available at our Coventry Training Centre, dates are available here, including:

Timetabler Foundation Training Course: a basic overview of the CELCAT timetabling system designed to give users a solid grounding in CELCAT software.

Timetabler Coordinator Training Course: managing CELCAT software for those responsible for running and administering the Timetabler system in institutions.

Timetabler Migration and Refresher Training Course: a comprehensive overview of Timetabler 6 for people already familiar with CELCAT Timetabler.

For more details, or to book, call us on 024 7646 9930

Wednesday 20th December 2006

CELCAT Review

The latest CELCAT newsletter will be dropping through our users' letterboxes soon. For those who aren't subscribed (or simply cant wait!) it can be downloaded in PDF format from here. If you'd like to be added to our mailing list please call us on 024 7646 9930 or email us.

CELCAT Seminars 2007

Are you interested in exploring some of the less well-known
aspects of CELCAT software?

We are presenting a series of free half-day seminars during the first
half of 2007 that will provide an in-depth examination of elements of Timetabler and SAT. Seminars will be held at our Coventry offices, and places are strictly limited.

If you are interested in attending call us on 024 7646 9930 for more information or to book.

21 February 2007 SAT - electronic registers and student tracking
21 March 2007 Integrating with other software
19 April 2007 CELCAT Timetabler COM Library
16 May 2007 Reporting on your data using Timetabler

Wednesday 23rd August 2006

CELCAT Timetabler 6.2

CELCAT is pleased to announce the release of Timetabler 6.2, which brings you the powerful and reliable features of Timetabler together with a host of new features that allow Timetabler to adapt perfectly to your institution.

Main features include:

Web Publisher
Extensive enhancements have been made to Web Publisher including:

Html output means you can now choose to publish timetables in html, PDF or both. This makes publishing and viewing timetables faster and easier and since the html timetable links to the same timetable in PDF format, timetables are both easy to view online and easy to print.

You can now, via a redirector, link to published timetables from outside the Web Publisher ‘site’, making timetables available for student portals.

Use css stylesheets to match timetables to your house style.

Automated web publishing via a service ensures you can be confident that the most up-to-date timetable is shown on the web - with no extra work for you.

SAT
SAT functionality has been improved with an extended range of reports and two new methods for marking registers:
SAT Palm means you can now mark registers on a PDA running the Palm OS

SAT Card Reader allows students to mark themselves present via a swipe card reader.

Also an enhanced range of reports.

COM Library
CELCAT Timetabler 6 COM Library is a programming interface, providing read/write access to timetable data.

This means you can easily write reports, integration tools and bespoke software to customise Timetabler so it provides all the features you need for your institution.

General
A range of improvements to features including:
Enhancements to import/export routines, printing, general functionality, event printing, print event store

You can now update your Outlook Calendar appointments directly from Timetabler Client

• Usage Chart printing
• Enhancements to LDAP support
• Improvements to Web Server
• A full change history is available here