Module reallocation problem in the context of multi-campus university course timetabling

Abstract

We propose a new type of problems, namely module reallocation problem given timing, which arises from the field of university course timetabling. A new campus is planned and some modules originally allocated on the original campus were to be reallocated to the new campus. Due to practical reasons, the timing was considered as given. The decisions include the module reallocation decision and the room assignment decision. Optimizing the inter-campus traffic is the main objective. We transform stakeholders? requirements into a mathematical model by conducting data analysis on the real data. We propose an iterative two-stage heuristic to solve this problem. This heuristic combines various methods, such as constructive heuristic, clustering analysis, branch and bound framework, Lagrangian relaxation method, etc., to exploit the problem structure and maintain computational efficiency. We also provide a way to fine-tune the timetable to further improve the inter-campus traffic as an extension.