Large-scale classroom scheduling

Classroom scheduling is an important part of course scheduling at Purdue University. The objective is to choose meeting rooms and times for each class that maximize student and instructor preferences without creating student, room or instructor schedule conflicts. An approach for solving classroom scheduling problems of practical size has been developed and implemented in CHRONOS, a scheduling support system developed at Purdue and described in this paper. Requirements for CHRONOS derive from the course scheduling process at Purdue and are specified in a mathematical model of the classroom scheduling problem. Database, preprocessing, and search components provide computerized support to decision-makers. Results obtained from preliminary tests and ongoing use scheduling 500 course sections in a set of 31 large lecture rooms are positive. Work is currently under way to implement the system in a client-server environment and improve the qualitative aspects of generated schedules.