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

Author

Listed:
  • 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)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Scott E. Sampson & Elliott N. Weiss, 1995. "Increasing Service Levels in Conference and Educational Scheduling: A Heuristic Approach," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 41(11), pages 1816-1825, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:41:y:1995:i:11:p:1816-1825
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.41.11.1816
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Vangerven, Bart & Ficker, Annette M.C. & Goossens, Dries R. & Passchyn, Ward & Spieksma, Frits C.R. & Woeginger, Gerhard J., 2018. "Conference scheduling — A personalized approach," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 38-47.
    2. Gerardo Gonzalez & Christopher Richards & Alexandra Newman, 2018. "Optimal Course Scheduling for United States Air Force Academy Cadets," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 48(3), pages 217-234, June.
    3. Akkan, Can & Erdem Külünk, M. & Koçaş, Cenk, 2016. "Finding robust timetables for project presentations of student teams," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(2), pages 560-576.
    4. Scott E. Sampson, 2008. "OR PRACTICE---Optimization of Vacation Timeshare Scheduling," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 56(5), pages 1079-1088, October.
    5. Bulhões, Teobaldo & Correia, Rubens & Subramanian, Anand, 2022. "Conference scheduling: A clustering-based approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 297(1), pages 15-26.
    6. Tomáš Müller & Keith Murray, 2010. "Comprehensive approach to student sectioning," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 181(1), pages 249-269, December.
    7. Aparupa Das Gupta & Uday S. Karmarkar & Guillaume Roels, 2016. "The Design of Experiential Services with Acclimation and Memory Decay: Optimal Sequence and Duration," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(5), pages 1278-1296, May.

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