This guides provides an overview and comparison of both Quercus Calendar Scheduler and Microsoft Bookings tools.
Quercus Calendar Scheduler and Microsoft Bookings are online booking and calendar tools that can be used to create and schedule appointments. Both tools are available to the U of T community as a part of the Academic Toolbox. Depending on your course structure and goals, you can choose one or another tool to create office hours, coordinate course presentation times and exams, schedule TA sessions, or host other types of appointments.
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1. Overview of Quercus Calendar Scheduler
Quercus Calendar Scheduler tool is integrated into Quercus Calendar and allows instructors to create Appointment Groups with blocks of time that are available to students in their Quercus course to sign up for.
1.1. Scheduler Features:
- Scheduler is only available within the Quercus Calendar and specific to courses.
- Only students (no other roles in Quercus) can sign up for appointment blocks in Scheduler.
- Appointments can be set up as individual or group appointments.
- Instructor can view, edit and delete appointment groups.
- Instructor can cancel appointments booked by students.
- Instructor sees booked Appointments in their calendar after a student or group has reserved a time block.
- Students access appointment time slots in their own Quercus Calendar.
1.2. Scheduler is Best for:
- Scheduling appointments for student groups in a Quercus Course
2. Overview of Microsoft Bookings
Microsoft Bookings is a scheduling tool for appointments, office hours, or other services that is available to U of T faculty, staff and students as part on their Microsoft 365 license. It simplifies appointment scheduling and allows customizing appointment details and booking requirements.
2.1. Microsoft Bookings Features:
- Any U of T faculty member, staff and student who are logged into their Microsoft 365 account can book an appointment on your booking page.
- Once an appointment is booked, the person making the appointment will receive an automatic confirmation email and calendar invitation.
- You can create appointments for students and others by simply entering the appointment details in Bookings and all confirmations and reminders will be sent.
- You or the person who booked an appointment can reschedule or cancel the appointment.
- You can set up Bookings calendar for virtual and in-person appointments
2.2. Microsoft Bookings is Best for:
- Scheduling appointments for U of T students (regardless of course enrollment), faculty, and staff
- Virtual appointments
Read more about Microsoft Bookings features and setup:
- Microsoft Bookings Knowledge Base (see list of articles on the left-hand side menu)
Quercus Calendar Scheduler vs. Microsoft Bookings Comparison Table
| Quercus Calendar Scheduler | Microsoft Bookings | |
|---|---|---|
| Use Cases |
|
|
| Part of UofT Academic Toolbox | Yes, via Quercus |
Yes, via Microsoft 365 |
| Integrated into Quercus | Yes |
No |
| Allows scheduling virtual meetings |
No* * However, you can include a link to an existing Teams or Zoom meeting in the Appointment Details section |
Yes, via Teams; You can also include a link to a Zoom meeting in the meeting Details section |
| Audience | Limited to students within your Quercus course |
U of T faculty members, staff, and students (regardless of their enrollment in your course) |
| Appointment Types | Individual and group |
Individual and group |
| Access and Setup |
|
|
| Appointment management |
Instructor can view, edit, and delete an appointment group. Once student books an appointment, Instructor can:
Instructor cannot:
|
Instructor can view, edit and delete MS Bookings calendar and setvices Once student, faculty member or staff books an appointment, Instructor can:
|
| Student Access |
See How do I sign up for a Scheduler appointment in the Calendar?
|
|
For scheduling presentations or oral exams in smaller classes, you can consider using sign-up sheets (e.g. a sheet created in Microsoft Excel and shared with students in Quercus)