2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Optimal Faculty Staffing Using Depth-First Search

Presented at COED Modulus Topics

The scheduling of academic departments is a challenging issue as it involves assigning courses to faculty based on their availability and qualifications while avoiding double allocation of classrooms and lectures.

In the paper, we tackle the problem of allocating faculty to courses for an academic year across multiple terms. The aim is to assign instructors to courses in an efficient and effective manner, considering all constraints, and giving priority to highly qualified and interested instructors. We use a Depth First Search algorithm that considers factors such as faculty availability, subject matter expertise, and class modality.

Optimal staffing problem is not only prevalent in academia but is also faced in various other industries where limited resources must be matched to available time slots. Automating the process of scheduling nurses in a hospital, for instance, can improve resource utilization significantly. Thus, the course staffing optimization solution presented in the paper can also be applied to other industries in critical situations such as the recent Covid-19 pandemic, allowing for effective and efficient utilization of resources like doctors, nurses, and lab technicians.

Authors

Dr. Mudasser Fraz Wyne National University [biography]

Dr. Mudasser Wyne holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science, an M.Sc. in Engineering, and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering. He currently serves as a Professor of Computer Science at the National University in San Diego, USA, where he has also held the position of Chair for the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems in the School of Engineering and Computing. In addition, he serves as the Academic Program Director for the MS in Computer Science program.

Dr. Wyne has extensive experience in academic leadership, having served as Chair of the University Research Council, Chair of the Council of Chairs, Chair of the Undergraduate Council Program review committee, Chair of the Graduate Council Program review committee, and Chair of the School of Academic Affairs committee.

He has been associated with ABET USA since 2001 and has served as the Commissioner for the Computer Accreditation Commission (CAC), ABET Visit Team Chair, and Program Evaluator for BSc in Computer Science and BSc in Information Systems.

Dr. Wyne has secured several grants, including Full Bright, and has served on numerous international Ph.D. thesis committees. He is also a member of the editorial boards for 8 international journals, has served as Chair and Co-Chair for 20 international conferences, and has served on more than 240 international conference program committees. He has been invited to a number of international conferences as an Invited Speaker and has chaired panel discussions and numerous international conference sessions. Dr. Wyne is a member of ACM, ASEE, ASEE/PSW, and CSAB.

He has also served as ASEE-CIT Division Chair and Program Chair in the past and is currently serving as Program Chair again.
Dr. Alireza Farahani [biography]

Dr. Farahani earned his B.Sc. (1985) from university of Buffalo and subsequently received his M.Sc. (1988) and Ph.D. (1993) from the University of Rhode Island. He completed his PhD thesis in optimal control of drug administration in cancer chemotherapy. Dr. Farahani's research interests are in dynamical systems, optimization and Algorithm design.
Dr. Esmaeil Atashpaz-Gargari
Dr. Lu Zhang National University [biography]

Dr. Lu Zhang is an Associate Professor at National University in the School of Engineering and Computing at 3678 Aero Court, San Diego, CA, 92123, USA. His main research interests include science and engineering education, database technologies, data sci

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