Support for common start times

Now and then, we add a feature that we can't believe we didn't add years earlier. This recent update certainly qualifies. Fact is, it is a little stunning that we've been making schedules for more than a decade without it. But that is water under the bridge, or as we say around here, courses from terms' past.

There is a lot of debate around how vital it is to have all classes share common starting lines. The first and most significant counterargument is that when all classes are not the same length, like in high school, forcing this structure creates obvious inefficiencies. Namely, if you have a 9:00 a.m. start time, you might need to fit a 55 or 85-minute class in there. The next class, allowing for a ten-minute break, cannot start until 10:35. This is fine IF you have an 85-minute class there, but if you place a 55-minute class at that 9:00 a.m. start, you leave a 30-minute hole in the schedule. Schedule enough of those, and you have some spotty use of your school's space, literally.

So that is all true, BUT there is an inherent cleanliness and readability to a "striped" course schedule where all courses share standard start times. AND if you have the space in your schedule to absorb some holes throughout the day, then there is little to no reason not to organize things this way.

And now, in ofCourse you can.

As I once heard a talking head say, we are not obsessed with being right; we are just trying to get it right. And this update fully demonstrates the spirit of that tenet.