Using AI and "monitor reports" to create a departmental class schedule for outlook
In the Department of English, we maintain a departmental calendar to help people find the best time for public events, departmental meetings, and so on.
This is saved as a group calendar and begins each semester with the classes we are teaching: course level, title, instructor, and room number (this calendar is private to department members). Knowing when everybody is teaching is helpful because it lets us know who is available or not if we are planning an event.
The problem is that creating this calendar is time-consuming. Somebody—i.e., the chair or, more likely, the admin assistant—has to find the details of every class and create a recurring event for each. This can take well over an hour even in a medium-sized department such as ours. It is also very boring to do and, hence, easy to make mistakes in.
Boring tasks are perfect for AI, however, and building `.ics` files is something all the major consumer chatbots can do. So this year, we built ours using Copilot (the service the U of L subscribes to).
What you need
In order to build the schedule this way, you need the following:
1. Access to the department’s monitor reports (for reasons best known to themselves, our administration does not allow chairs direct access to this essential data, so the admin assistant has to get that).
2. Copilot.
3. A group calendar (to upload the entries to).
How to use Copilot to make the calendar
1. Download the monitor report for the entire department for the semester you want to build a calendar for.
Your report can come in various formats, but it ultimately looks like this:
2. Copy the rows containing classes (i.e., in this case, rows 3–12, including the header).
3. Open and prompt Copilot (or any other AI bot).
Give Copilot the following prompt:
Please generate an `.ics` file from the following tab-separated course schedule data. Each event should have a title formatted as:
ENGL 1900A – Pommeroy – Introduction to Language and LiteratureInclude the instructor name in the description, but do not include invitee or attendee information.
The calendar should include recurring events based on the day and time, and span from the start to the end date listed.
I will manually add invitees later.
Here is the data you are to use:
Faculty/School Meet Type CRN Subject Number Section Title Supplemental Data Schedule Type Instructional Method Campus Room (Capacity) Registration Limit Actual Remaining Day and Time (* = makeup class) Instructors Special Approval Part of Term Start Date End Date RegRes Timetabling Note WIL/EL Attribute WIL/EL Category Gradable Credit Hours Billing Hours Link Identifier Link Connector Published to Timetable Voice Response and Self-Service Prereq Method Prerequisite Ind Corequisite Ind
Arts and Science CLAS 10494 ENGL 1900 A Introduction to Language and Literature R Lecture IN Lethbridge W731 (84) 50 0 50 T R 1330-1445 Mr. Pommeroy 1 07-JAN-2026 13-APR-2026 Y 3 3 Y Y Banner Basic N N
Arts and Science CLAS 10495 ENGL 2000 A Survey of Canadian Literature R Lecture IN Lethbridge C610 (99) 50 0 50 M W 0900-1015 Mr. Winterbottom 1 07-JAN-2026 13-APR-2026 Y 3 3 Y Y Banner Basic N N
Arts and Science CLAS 10496 ENGL 2500 A Survey of American Literature I R Lecture IN Lethbridge W731 (84) 50 0 50 M W 1030-1145 Admiral von Schneider 1 07-JAN-2026 13-APR-2026 Y 3 3 Y Y Banner Basic N N
Arts and Science CLAS 10497 ENGL 2720 A Reading Popular Culture R Lecture IN Lethbridge AH176 (60) 50 0 50 T R 1030-1145 Sir Toby 1 07-JAN-2026 13-APR-2026 Y 3 3 Y Y Banner Basic N N
Arts and Science CLAS 10498 ENGL 3605 CL Indigenous Literature – Advanced/INDG 3605 R Lecture IN Lethbridge W731 (84) 60 0 60 T R 0900-1015 Rose Ouimet 1 07-JAN-2026 13-APR-2026 Y 3 3 Y Y CAPP Y N
Arts and Science CLAS 10499 ENGL 3700 A Narrative Theory R Lecture IN Lethbridge B650 (95) 60 0 60 M W 1330-1445 Lisette de Courval 1 07-JAN-2026 13-APR-2026 Y 3 3 Y Y CAPP Y N
Arts and Science CLAS 10500 ENGL 3700 N Black Art and Thought S Lecture IN Lethbridge B660 (99) 60 0 60 M W 1330-1445 Rhéauna Bibeau 1 07-JAN-2026 13-APR-2026 Y 3 3 Y Y CAPP Y N
Arts and Science CLAS 10501 ENGL 2810 A Grammar R Lecture IN Lethbridge C610 (99) 60 0 60 M W 1500-1615 Angéline Sauvé 1 07-JAN-2026 13-APR-2026 Y 3 3 Y Y CAPP Y N
Arts and Science CLAS 10502 ENGL 3500 A Victorian Literature R Lecture IN Lethbridge D631 (41) 40 0 40 T 1200-1445 Olivine Dubuc 1 07-JAN-2026 13-APR-2026 Y 3 3 Y Y CAPP Y N
4. The bot will give you an `.ics` file you can then upload to your group calendar (using Outlook or Office 365).
Here is the one I received from the above prompt. You are welcome to use it as a test in your calendar!
