An Integer Linear Programming Model for a Case Study in Classroom Assignment Problem

Abstract

The management of human and physical resources of a university is a complex additive activity because in many cases the number of variables to be considered are many, which produces errors of the decision maker. Deciding in which classrooms the courses should be taught seems a simple task but in reality, it is complicated by a large number of courses that occur during a period in the university, the availability of personnel and the limited physical infrastructure. In this paper, we propose an integer programming model that avoids the problems of overlapping courses, beside sensuring that courses can be given in the appropriate classrooms. The model shown here was used for the planning of the 2019 courses at the Faculty of Engineering of the Autonomous University of Queretaro. An improvement in the planning time was obtained, which went from approximately 20 days manually to only a half hour as mentioned by the authorities of the University. The decision maker reports that even with the last minute changes the whole process takes no more than two days.