How Stockton University Broke the "Always Done This Way" Scheduling Cycle

When Dr. Michael Palladino joined Stockton University as Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs in May 2024, he encountered a common refrain in higher education: "We've always done it this way." This was particularly true for how the university created the course schedule, relying on manual processes that included flat Excel files and emails—a method that often replicated past errors and prioritized faculty preference over student necessity. With more than 4,200 sections a year, Palladino recognized that the existing approach was no longer sustainable for an institution of Stockton's size and complexity.

Palladino shared his philosophy with AcOps on the importance of an effective course schedule, where they’ve made changes, and other pilot initiatives they’ve launched along the way. At the heart of these initiatives, Palladino emphasizes that providing his team with the right tools is essential to meeting the university's strategic plan goals. To equip his team with the tools needed to tackle this transformation, Stockton recently implemented the Coursedog academic operations platform. For him, “fundamentally, it's about using modern tools to build a student data-informed schedule as a student success priority.”

Prioritizing Student Success Through Informed Scheduling

Modern academic operations require a fundamental shift in how institutions view the course schedule. For Palladino, the course schedule is not just another administrative task, it is essential to student success. When schedules are built without data, students often find themselves unable to register for the courses they need, which increases the likelihood of them leaving or transferring. For example, scheduling block overlaps and conflicts are a direct obstacle to degree completion.

Simultaneously, bloated course schedules with a high number of underenrolled sections can have unintended consequences for students. Palladino explains that “as the semester approaches and you have to consolidate or cancel those sections, it's very disruptive to students to find replacements.” At the same time “faculty are unhappy because now they're told at the 11th hour that a section they were planning on is no longer going to be offered.”

Maximizing Resources via Lean Academic Scheduling

Efficiency in academic operations directly impacts the bottom line and the ability to reinvest in the institution's future. Stockton’s approach involves building a "lean" schedule based on actual student need. For example, a department should create their schedule around the specific requirements of its student cohort and only add sections as demand and waitlists warrant. This prevents the "bloat" that often leads to under-enrolled sections and wasted institutional spend.

By streamlining these processes, the university anticipates significant financial benefits that can be diverted to other critical areas. Palladino points out that even conservative savings on section offerings can lead to a major impact on the budget. He explains the scale of this opportunity: “It is not unreasonable for us to save a couple of million dollars, quite honestly, when we look at the inefficiencies across how we schedule.”

Addressing Faculty Equity and Section Balance

Beyond financial metrics, data-informed scheduling serves as a vital tool for ensuring faculty equity. In a traditional model, some faculty may find themselves teaching sections that are only a third full, while others manage overcrowded classrooms. This disparity creates an uneven distribution of labor that can lead to burnout and friction. By using data to balance sections, the university can create a more equitable environment that aligns with the interests of campus unions and instructors alike.

Framing the schedule as an equity issue allowed the administration to gain support for necessary changes. By showing the data on student contact hours and enrollment disparities, the need for a more balanced approach became undeniable. Palladino recalls his conversations with union leadership: “I said to the union, ‘You know, you have an equity issue because you have some faculty who are teaching classes half full or a third full. And that's their load. And then you have other faculty who are teaching classes with 30, 40, 50 students’.” Armed with this data, the union responded positively to proposed balancing changes.

Launching a Winter J Term Pilot on Just a Few Months Notice

As a trained scientist, Dr. Palladino encourages his team to run experiments and “ask the right types of questions, supported by the right types of information.” When Palladino first arrived at Stockton, he proposed launching a pilot "J term.” Despite initial skepticism about whether such a pilot could be launched so quickly, the results proved that students were hungry for opportunities to either catch up or get ahead.

“I heard all these reasons why it wouldn't work. The first pilot was very successful. The second pilot, we're going to enroll more than 450 students. It's going to generate $900,000 in net revenue.”

Rather than waiting over a year to begin and spending time oversurveying students on the proposed pilot, the administration used a blend of qualitative student feedback and proven models from other institutions to launch J term.

The results of the pilot were a win-win for both the institution and the students, showing higher average grades and high levels of student satisfaction. 90% of students reported they would take a J term class again and the second year saw an increase from 12 to 21 courses. Reflecting on the pilot’s financial and academic success, Palladino notes: “It's win-win. Students catch up, get ahead, and it's generating new net tuition revenue for the university.”

The New Strategic Plan: One Page Anyone Can Articulate

To operate successfully in today’s environment, Palladino argues that lengthy, decade-long strategic plans must be replaced in favor of shorter, more agile frameworks. Palladino explains that “a fundamental shift is being able to develop a plan that you can communicate on one page. Not a foreign idea to outside of higher ed, but in higher ed, gone are the days of these 10, 20, 30, 40 page plans.”

At Stockton, their strategic plan will last no longer than three years and focuses on three to five high-level priorities. The strategic plan is written in plain language that every member of the campus community can understand and articulate. This shift allows the university to remain responsive to the rapidly changing dynamics of the higher education landscape while ensuring that strategy remains distinct from daily operations.

“When you looked at old plans, they were very operational. We had to spend a lot of time helping the campus understand the difference between strategy, tactics, and operations. This is not an operational plan,” Palladino explains. Rather than detailing dozens of priorities in the strategic plan, division leaders and their teams are tasked with operationalizing how they will achieve results.

By involving the entire campus in the strategic planning process and focusing on transparency through data-first platforms, Stockton is creating a culture where data informs every decision—from how many sections to offer to faculty line allocations. For Palladino, a scientist by training, this evidence-based approach is the only way forward. As he often tells his team, "let's do the experiment," ensuring that every move the university makes is supported by the right information.