Villanova's New Space Reservation and Event Management System
Introducing Villanova's new space reservation and event management system. VenueVU will provide a campus-wide solution for space scheduling, event planning, and a centralized University Events Calendar.
Villanova has partnered with Accruent EMS and LiveWhale Calendar for the software solutions for VenueVU, and with Groves & Company for change management and implementation support.
PROJECT VISION
To improve the user experience by providing one, streamlined space scheduling and event management solution at Villanova, which will maximize campus operations and resources and optimize how we plan meetings and events.
Organizational Benefits:
- Increase efficiency for space reservations and event requests by providing a single unified solution for the campus community.
- Enhance the University Calendar by centralizing the events schedule, increasing promotion and awareness of events and programming on campus.
- Align with the University strategic objective of space usage optimization and sustainability.
- Improve safety, security, and event services by providing comprehensive, real-time reporting for all scheduled rooms and facilities.
PROJECT SCOPE
VenueVU will ultimately centralize all reservable spaces at Villanova into one platform. This includes all academic classrooms, outdoor spaces, event venues, athletic facilities, meeting rooms, performance spaces, and more.
VenueVU will connect to a new, comprehensive University Events Calendar, allowing the community to easily view and promote campus events and activities.
Several systems will integrate with VenueVU, including our Student Information System, Banner, enabling seamless sharing of the academic schedule within VenueVU to assist with classroom reservations. Additonally, VenueVU will connect with Microsoft Exchange, creating a two-way sync with Outlook to simplify scheduling conference rooms and meetings.
Additionally, event service providers will utilize VenueVU to intake and manage orders from community members requesting their services for events. Villanova Catering, UNIT, Facilities Management, and Parking and Public Safety will leverage VenueVU for their service offerings.
The oversight and workflow approval process for spaces will remain the same - the various areas and colleges will continue managing their respective spaces as they currently do. The difference is that everyone will now be using a single, unified system. VenueVU will provide benefits and enhancements across the board - both for those reserving rooms and requesting events, and for those managing spaces and providing services.
PROJECT TIMELINE
The timeline for the VenueVU implementation is designed for a seamless-as-possible transition of existing scheduling and calendar systems, as well as to allow for robust administrator and user testing and training.
Additional timeline details will be communicated as they become available.
January 2023 - June 2024
Multiple vendors were thoroughly evaluated by various campus stakeholders prior to acquiring the Accruent EMS software, a product used by hundreds of universities across the country for space reservation and event management. With the support of Villanova's General Counsel, Risk Management, UNIT, and Information Security departments, the University worked with Accruent to develop a contract and statement of work to meet our needs.
July 2024 - October 2024
The Project Leadership Team, along with Accruent and our Implementation Support Partner, Groves & Company, conducted a Business Process Review by working with the Project Team to gather information from all areas of the University in regard to our processes for space and event management on campus. This information was synthesized and will be used to inform the configuration of the new system.
October 2024 - February 2025
The Project Team will work closely with Accruent EMS to build and configure the system in a way that will meet the many use-cases and needs throughout the University. Groves & Company will provide change management and implementation support to help ensure effective communication and information sharing during the configuration process.
February 2025 - May 2025
During this time, campus administrators who oversee spaces and approve events will be working behind the scenes in VenueVU, becoming familiar with the system, providing feedback for configuration edits, and preparing for the Campus Launch. Both Accruent and Groves & Company will provide extensive training and support to the administrative users of VenueVU as they learn and test the system.
Early Summer 2025
In early Summer 2025, our current processes for reserving spaces and requesting events will transition to VenueVU, and the University Events Calendar will begin reflecting what is entered into that new system. Support, training and tutorials will be made available to students, faculty and staff as we learn and adjust to the new system.
Fall 2025 - Fall 2026
After the initial campus launch, we will be in a "hyper-care" phase with support from Accruent, during which we will continue supporting the adaption of VenueVU for all students, faculty and staff, as well as grow the system by adding event services and remaining spaces not included in the intial launch.
PROJECT TEAM
The VenueVU project is a collaborative effort across the institution, inclusive of the various colleges and divisions who manage or schedule the over 500 reservable classrooms, venues, meeting rooms, and facilities at Villanova.
Chrissy Quisenberry, Assistant Vice President, Presidential Events and University Initiatives
Nick Tumolo, Director, University Events and Initiatives
Caroline Levine, Coordinator, University Events and Initiatives
Katherine (Kasia) David, Senior Enterprise Project Manager
REGISTRAR
- Erin Spina, Associate Registrar
- Carolyn Bruce, Sr. Assistant Registrar
VILLANOVA ATHLETICS
- Chuck Young, Associate Director, Facilities and Operations
FALVEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY
- Millicent Gaskall, University Librarian
AUXILARY SERVICES
- Suzanne Superka, Director of Finance and Administration
- McKenzie Baldorossi, Director of Strategic Initiatives
CONNELLY CENTER
- John Purcell, Connelly Center Director
VILLANOVA DINING & CATERING
- Mike McGuckin, Director of Dining Services
- Michelle Capobianchi, Associate Director of Catering
MULLEN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
- Parris Bradley, Director, Mullen Center
CONFERENCE SERVICES
- Kathleen Sinnott, Director of Conference Services
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
- Alyson Hersker, Event Planner
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES
- Antionette Donovan, Facilities Manager for CLAS
VILLANOVA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
- Denine Super, Sr. Administrative Assistant
- Lindsay Dengler, Event Planner
FITZPATRICK COLLEGE OF NURSING
- Theresa Hoffman-Lare, Dean's Office Administrator
RESIDENCE LIFE
- Skylor Morton, Director of Housing
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
- Dottie Scholnick, CMMS Administrator
GRAD CENTER
- Joyce Harden, Assistant Director, Grad Student Experience
CAREER CENTER
- Maura Jackman, Employer Recruiting Manager
INSTITUTE FOR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENUERSHIP (IDEA LAB)
- Stephen Green, Assistant Director, Idea Lab
PUBLIC SAFETY AND PARKING
- George Christake, Lieutenant
- Linda Lindley, Director of Parking and Transportation
UNIT (Implementation)
- Jonathan Hardy, Executive Sponsor
- Martin Fox, Sr. Business Process Analyst
- Kevin Dietzler, Manager, Application Development & Identity Management
UNIT (IT/AV Event Services)
- Ashish Desai, Assistant Director, Multimedia Technologies
MISSION AND MINISTRY
- Mat Verghese, Director of Liturgy
- Maureen Fitton, Sr. Administrative Assistant
ADVANCEMENT
- Karen Straube, Manager, Office of the VP for Advancement
- Gabby Southworth, Admministrative Assistant
HEALTH PROMOTION
- Joyce Minogue, Administrative Assistant
STUDENT INVOLVEMENT
- JJ Brown, Director of Student Involvement
Change Ambassadors are colleagues who play a key role in making sure questions, concerns, and ideas are heard during times of change. As representatives from each area, they bridge the gap between the project team and the rest of Villanova, sharing updates, gathering feedback, and helping everyone understand why the changes are happening. By supporting and guiding their colleagues, Change Ambassadors help ensure that the transition is smoother, more inclusive, and aligned with University's needs.
- Gina Palermo, Villanova Athletics
- Erin Spina, Registrar
- McKenzie Baldorossi, Auxiliary Services
- Elaine Lamberto, CLAS
- Alyson Hersker, COE
- Theresa Hoffman-Lare, FCN
- Kathleen Sinnott, Conference Services
- Ammy Rodriguez-Quizi, Connelly Center
- John Purcell, Connelly Center
- Michelle Capobianci, Villanova Catering
- Mike McGuckin, Villanova Dining Services
- Regina Duffy, Falvey Library
- John McGonigle, Facilities Management
- Elizabeth Feimster, Facilities Management
- Dottie Scholnick, Facilities Management
- Joyce Harden, Grad Center
- Stephen Green, Institute for Innovation and Entreprenuership
- Brian Baker, UNIT
- Ashish Desai, UNIT
- Tina Lynch, Mullen Center
- George Christake, Public Safety
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why the change?
Many resulting organizational benefits necessiate the need for VenueVU, most notably, the need to improve the user experience for reserving spaces and requesting events; the need to provide a more comprehensive and accurate University Events Calendar; the need to enhance safety, security, and space utilization reporting; and the need to increase efficiencies for our campus event service providers, among many other results that will benefit the entire campus community.
What systems will be replaced or go offline?
VenueVU will utlimately replace all existing platforms, portals, or forms used to request or reserve spaces. This includes the current EvM event request system and the InfoSilem portal operated by the Registrar for classroom reservations. Multiple other platforms or request forms used by various areas and departments to schedule spaces will also be replaced by VenueVU.
Rooms that are currently scheduled using Microsoft Outlook will retain that capability, as VenueVU will include a robust integration with Microsoft Exchange.
The current University Events Calendar website will also be replaced by a more dynamic, upgraded site, which will feed from the events submitted and approved in VenueVU.
Which spaces and departments are included in the project scope?
VenueVU will become the new reservation and scheduling platform for all scheduled spaces, including academic classrooms, event venues, athletic facilities, performance spaces, outdoor areas, and conference and study rooms. The majority of these spaces will be included in the Initial Campus Launch of VenueVU; however, some smaller department meeting rooms or other one-off spaces will be incorporated at a later time. All departments and undergraduate colleges that manage or oversee scheduled spaces are in scope, as well as all departments that provide event resources or services. The Charles Widger School of Law spaces within Scarpa Hall are not included in the Initial Campus Launch, but will be at a time to be determined in the future.
Will the rules, restrictions, or approvals needed for reserving specific spaces or requesting events stay the same?
In general, yes. The same rules, restrictions and approvals for each space will, for the most part, remain the same. Dependent on feedback gathered during the Business Process Review, however, there may be opportunity for process changes for the sake of improving efficiency, user experience, and space utilization. All in all, the various colleges and departments will continue to manage and schedule the spaces within their purview, and the rules, restrictions, and approvals will remain dependent on the space. By bringing all of this into one platform, VenueVU will provide the end-user with much greater transparency of the various rules, restrictions and approvals applicable for each space, improving the overall user experience.
What support and training will be available for users?
A priority of this project is to provide robust support and training resources for all users of VenueVU. Campus administrators who manage and oversee spaces will benefit from extensive, live, on-going training to support their use of the system. All faculty, staff and students who use VenueVU to request or reserve spaces will have access to training tutorials, materials, and live support to assist their use of the platform. Villanova has partnered with a Change Management Firm, Groves & Company, to assist with the development of thorough and effective training resources.
How will the integrations with Banner and Microsoft Outlook work?
Villanova's student information system, Banner, will dynamically upload the academic schedule of classroom assignments into VenueVU, allowing space requestors to view when classrooms are available for meetings or events outside of when they are being used for academic classes.
The Microsoft Exchange integration includes the ability for space requesters to reserve specific rooms within Outlook and have that reservation automatically sync between both Outlook and VenueVU. Users will also be able to see meeting attendees free/busy Outlook availability within VenueVU when selecting a time and space to book a meeting.
Will VenueVU work for future spaces and new buildings?
Yes. The VenueVU platform was chosen for it's ability to scale-up, and will be configured to accomodate growth. Future spaces such as the new library building and the Cabrini Campus will be managed in VenueVU and will be added to the system at the appropriate time.
How will we access VenueVU and related information and resources?
VenueVU and all related training materials and information will be housed in a new website, accessed using your Villanova log-in credentials. Once logged-in, VenueVU will recognize your role at the University (i.e faculty, staff, or student), and grant you permissions that allow you to reserve or request specific spaces based on your role. The new VenueVU site will be found within the University website and in MyNova.
What will happen to the existing space reservations and events already on the University Events Calendar or booked in other systems?
Prior to the Initial Campus Launch, existing space reservations and events for future dates will be exported from the existing systems and imported into VenueVU. Campus administrators who oversee spaces will work to double-check accuracy, and space requestors may be asked to re-confirm their requests. After this export/import takes place, in Summer 2025, the new University Events Calendar website will be published, and space requestors will stop using existing systems and begin using VenueVU for any new space reservations or event requests.
Will the University Events Calendar website and corresponding web links change?
Yes. The VenueVU project includes a new, upgraded University Events Calendar Website, which means the existing events calendar and links will no longer function after Summer 2025. The new calendar website will operate in very similar ways, with many enhancements, and support will be provided to any departments who may need to update their websites with new calendar links.
When does VenueVU go live?
Campus administrators who manage or oversee spaces will begin using VenueVU during Spring 2025 in order to learn and test the system. Students, Faculty and Staff will start using the system to request or reserve spaces beginning Summer 2025.
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