A three phased approach to final exam scheduling

A multi-phase examination scheduling process applicable to large university settings in general and SUNY at Buffalo (SUNYAB) in particular is proposed. Each scheduling phase is considered an integral part of the overall scheduling process and solved independently. Phase one of scheduling process is with the assignment of examinations to exam blocks (each containing one or more exams). The objective of this phase is to minimize the number of students taking more than one examin in the same exam block. The problem is solved using a variation of the quadratic assignment problem. Phase two of the scheduling process uses the results from phase one as input. The exam blocks are assigned to exam days in such a way that some measure of student’s confort is maintained. Phase two of the scheduling process is formulated as a set covering problem with an extra constraint. Phase three of the scheduling process which is involved with the assignment of exam blocks to exam periods in each day and optimal ordering of exam days is solved heuristically using a traveling salesman problem as part of solution procedure. The performance of the algorithms devised for the multi-phase scheduling process are tested both in terms of quality of the solutions obtained and the computer time to generate these solutions.