@Annie Matula Had to reformat the stacktrace so I could read it:

C:\Users\matu0016\SVN_TheBook\grails-app\services\thebook\ScheduleUpdateService.groovy: 219: Unexpected input: '{
               def newInstPidm = params.instAutoComplete_id.toInteger()
           def personIsInstructor = Sibinst.createCriteria().list(max: 1, sort: "instTermCode", order: "desc") {
                   and {
                       eq("instPidm", newInstPidm)
                   le("instTermCode", params.termCode)
               }
           }

           //is the instructor active for the course section term?
           if (personIsInstructor.instStatusCode[0] == 'AC') {
                   //does this instructor assignment already exist?
               def checkInst = Sirasgn.get(new Sirasgn(termCode: params.termCode, crn: params.crn, facultyPidm: newInstPidm, category: '01'))
               if (checkInst) {
                       return 'This instructor already exists.'
               } else {

                 // SB-741 for verification
                 }
                 
                   println("instPidm: ${newInstPidm}, termCode: ${params.termCode}, CRN: ${params.crn}")  
                   println("instrApprvdTchGradCrs: ${personIsInstructor.instrApprvdTchGradCrs[0]}")
                   
                   def canInstructorBeAssignedCourse(' @ line 219, column 54.
    canInstructorBeAssignedCourse(params) {

Looks like the error is before you get to the code you pasted and should probably be:

def personIsInstructor = Sibinst.createCriteria() {
                   and {
                       eq("instPidm", newInstPidm)
                   le("instTermCode", params.termCode)
               }
           }.list(max: 1, sort: "instTermCode", order: "desc")

I would definitely recommend downloading Intellij and using the community edition minimum or if you can get your employer to buy am ultimate license. I actually bought my own license years ago, because IntelliJ helps a lot. Although there are times I wish it was more intelligent. https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/download