UMass Boston

25Live is a comprehensive event management system acquired from CollegeNET, Inc.  (UMass Amherst, Dartmouth and Lowell also use 25Live, as do over 1300 other institutions.)  It maintains information on all events occurring on-campus (and off-) of interest to the campus community.  In addition to centralizing this information, it manages the use of locations (all indoor and outdoor spaces) and resources (all staff, equipment and services) in support of events.

At present, the Event Services office handles the majority of events on campus.  In addition the Athletics and Marine Operations departments schedule their activities in 25Live.  Classes scheduled through the Registrar using Wiser are also imported into the system for a comprehensive view of activities on campus.  Using 25Live event managers are able to locate and assign everything needed for an event, without conflict and within availability.

For example:

• 25Live prevents the accidental assignment of a room to more than one event, unless the event manager specifically overrides that and intends double booking.
• 25Live will only allow as many folding tables as we have available at a given date and time to be assigned to events.
• 25Live will allow an event manager to assign Public Safety officers for traffic control to an event, if they are available.

As an interactive system, 25Live will then notify all appropriate departments and staff about events and what's needed.

The Registrar also uses a special module called Optimizer for classroom scheduling.  For any given term, Optimizer will assign rooms to classes in a non-conflicting, best-fit manner by interfacing with the PeopleSoft Student Administration system to read the term schedule, class sizes and any special room preferences or requests.  For final exams, Optimizer also assigns rooms in a non-conflicting, best-fit manner, finding large enough rooms for those exams that are administered together.

As we continue to implement 25Live, the goal is to have all facilities, all resources, all events and all departments included.  The Event Services office would handle everything that occurs on campus (and those off-campus events as well) in the most efficient, professional and consistent manner.  Just as the university's One Stop Student Service Center provides quick and complete services to students, Event Services will provide quick and complete service to anyone wanting to hold an event at UMass Boston.

One of the most significant benefits of centralizing event management is that it provides a universal calendar.  Another module from CollegeNET called the Publisher allows general and specific lists of university events to be placed throughout the UMass Boston website with varying levels of detail.

At various locations around campus you may see small video screens mounted outside popular meeting spaces that display the scheduled usage of those spaces.  These also are powered by Publisher, drawing real-time data from the 25Live database.

As we continue to implement 25Live, requesters will be able to log in 25Live to submit event requests, and track them as well.  The added benefit of this will be an even faster turnaround.  In addition, event attendees will be able to RSVP or even register and pay for events online.