UK to Host Kentucky Ad Astra Summit

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 16, 2015) — The University of Kentucky has been selected as the host of the 2015 Kentucky Ad Astra Summit sponsored by Ad Astra Information Systems. This event will be held in the Hilary J. Boone Center April 21 and 22, 2015. 

Ad Astra Information Systems is a software company that specializes in scheduling for higher education institutions. The goal of Ad Astra is to provide universities and colleges with a higher quality of scheduling strategies that better fit the needs of students. Over 800 campuses rely on their partnerships with Ad Astra to aid with scheduling, event management, academic resource allocation and more.

The University of Kentucky Registrar's Office uses Ad Astra's scheduling software to schedule all academic related events in all of the centrally located classrooms on campus. While creating the class schedule for a semester, this program is also used to assign classrooms to class sections. On average, the Registrar's Office uses Ad Astra to assign between 6,000 to 6,500 class-room assignments for the fall and spring semesters.

This year’s summit will be the fifth Kentucky Ad Astra Summit, and the first time that it’s been hosted by  the University of Kentucky. The summit will consist of 13 informational sessions that cover a variety of topics catered to beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. The summit will also leave time for participants to network and learn from each other.

"We're excited because we've already received a variety of different topics to be discussed and presented at the summit, and we've also planned for roundtable discussions that will cover different Ad Astra topics" said David Timoney, associate registrar for communications. "In addition, we're going to have some open lab time for attendees to bring their laptops and work on issues with other attendees and Ad Astra representatives.”

The event is open to anyone interested in learning more about Ad Astra Information Systems and how it is used. In addition to UK staff, representatives from several institutions in Kentucky and surrounding states are expected to  take part. Ad Astra representatives will also be present to help answer any questions and help with presenting particular sessions.

"In my opinion, the 2015 Kentucky Ad Astra Summit will show that UK is a leader in innovation and efficiency when it comes to classroom scheduling," Timoney said.

Registration is open through April 8 and is $35 per person. For more information on how to register as well as session content and hotel accommodations, visit http://www.uky.edu/registrar/content/astrasummit