Date of Award

8-2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Legacy Department

Mathematical Science

Committee Chair/Advisor

Jarvis, James P

Committee Member

Adams , Warren P

Committee Member

Cawood , Mark E

Committee Member

Senter , Herman F

Abstract

Methods and procedures for modeling university student populations, predicting course enrollment, allocating course seats, and timetabling final examinations are studied and proposed. The university enrollment model presented uses a multi-dimensional state space based on student demographics and the Markov property, rather than longitudinal data to model student movement. The procedure for creating adaptive course prediction models uses student characteristics to identify groups of undergraduates whose specific course enrollment rates are significantly different than the rest of the university population. Historical enrollment rates and current semester information complete the model for predicting enrollment for the coming semester. The course prediction model aids in the system for reserving course seats for new students during summer registration sessions. The seat release model addresses how to estimate seat need each session, how to release seats among multiple course sections, and how to predict seat shortages and surpluses. Finally, procedures for creating reusable university final examination timetables are developed and compared. Course times, rather than individual courses, are used as the assignment elements because the demand for course times remains relatively constant despite changes in course schedules. Our heuristic procedures split the problem into two phases: a clustering phase--to minimize conflicts--and a sequencing phase--to distribute exams throughout finals week while minimizing the occurrence of consecutive exams. Results for all methods are compared using enrollment data from Clemson University.

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