Increasing Service Levels in Conference and Educational Scheduling: A Heuristic Approach

Scott E. Sampson and Elliott N. Weiss
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Scott E. Sampson: College of Business, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-1042
Elliott N. Weiss: The Darden School, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22906-6550

Management Science, 1995, vol. 41, issue 11, 1816-1825

Abstract: This paper explores a technique for developing a conference (or class) schedule that maximizes the servicing of participant requests for sessions. Data regarding participant interests are collected before the time the schedule is generated. The problem contains two principal parts: (1) to feasibly assign session offerings to time periods and rooms, and (2) to assign participants to sections of multiple-offering sessions. A heuristic procedure that simultaneously solves both parts is described and tested. The procedure considers not only the participants' requests for sessions, but also the relative importance of the various requests. Benefits of request prioritization are described. Results show that this approach can result in significantly improved participant satisfaction and equity when compared with traditional conference- and class-scheduling approaches.

Keywords: timetabling; scheduling; heuristics; services management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1995
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