Affiliations: [1] Department of Mathematics, College of Science, Kuwait University, P.O. Box: 5969, Safat 13060, State of Kuwait. E-mail: [email protected] | [2] Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (0118), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author.
Abstract: This paper presents a column generation-based modelling and solution approach for a teaching assistant workload scheduling problem that arises at academic institutions. A typical weekly workload schedule involves teaching deficiency classes, instructing problem-solving tutorial sessions, and allocating help-hours for students. For this purpose, a mixed-integer programming model that selects valid combinations of weekly schedules from the set of all feasible schedules is formulated. Due to the overwhelming number of variables in this model, an effective column generation procedure is developed. To illustrate the proof-of-concept along with modelling and algorithmic constructs, a case study related to the Department of Mathematics at Kuwait University is addressed. Computational results based on real data indicate that the generated schedules using the proposed model and solution procedure yield improved weekly workloads for teaching assistants in terms of fairness, and achieve enhanced satisfaction levels among assistants, as compared to schedules obtained using ad-hoc manual approaches.
