Solving a University Course Timetabling Problem Based on AACSB Policies

Nancy M Arratia-Martinez,Juana C Trujillo-Reyes,Paulina A Avila-Torres

doi:10.3390/math9192500

Nancy M Arratia-Martinez, Juana C Trujillo-Reyes + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/math9192500

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Journal: Mathematics	Publication Date: Oct 6, 2021
Citations: 4	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Universidad de las Américas Puebla

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to solve the university course timetabling problem (UCTP) that consists of designing a schedule of the courses to be offered in one academic period based on students’ demand, faculty composition and institutional constraints considering the policies established in the standards of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation. These standards involve faculty assignment with high level credentials that have to be fulfilled for business schools on the road to seek recognition and differentiation while providing exceptional learning. A new mathematical model for UCTP is proposed. The model allows the course-section-professor-time slot to be assigned for an academic department strategically using the faculty workload, course overload, and the fulfillment of the AACSB criteria. Further, the courses that will require new hires are classified according to the faculty qualifications stablished by AACSB. A real-world case is described and solved to show the efficiency of the proposed model. An analysis of different strategies derived from institutional policies that impacts the resulting timetabling is also presented. The results show the course overload could be a valuable strategy for helping mitigate the total of new hires needed. The proposed model allows to create the course at the same time the AACSB standards are met.

Highlights

Timetabling is the process of building a timetable while satisfying several constraints
This paper proposes an integer programming model to create the timetable of an academic department considering basic workload and course overload, as well as the profile and area of knowledge of each professor
The novelty in this paper is the incorporation of necessary requirements to fulfill the standards of Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the most important accrediting association for business schools

Summary

Introduction

Timetabling is the process of building a timetable while satisfying several constraints. The University Course Timetabling Problem (UCTP) consists of supplying a schedule of the courses to be offered in one academic period based on students enrolled and constraints established by the university. A course timetabling usually involves the allocation of resources (teachers, students, classrooms, etc.) and time slots to each given meeting (lectures, seminars, etc.) while satisfying constraints [3]. The UCTP has three stages: (i) faculty course assignment optimization, (ii) faculty course scheduling optimizations and (iii) faculty room assignment optimization [4], there are many constraints to be considered and they are usually divided into two categories: (i) hard constraints, these constraints must be satisfied in order to produce a feasible timetable and (ii) soft constraints, these constraints are desirable but not absolutely essential [2]

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