INTEGER PROGRAMMING APPROACH TO STAFF SCHEDULING OF RESOURCE PERSONS TO A POLYTECHNIC- A CASE STUDY OF NBTE’S ACCREDITATION TEAM

INTEGER PROGRAMMING APPROACH TO STAFF SCHEDULING OF RESOURCE PERSONS TO A POLYTECHNIC- A CASE STUDY OF NBTE’S ACCREDITATION TEAM

ABSTRACT

In this work, we applied an Integer Programming approach to scheduling of resource persons on National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) accreditation team to a Polytechnic. The level of compliance of the institution to national minimum benchmark for academic standards with respect to staff mix was deduced. The use of Integer Programming approach and Lingo software in solving the model developed, resulted in considerable drop in accreditation cost from four million, seven hundred and forty thousand naira only (N4,740,000.00) to two million, eight hundred and seventy three thousand, eight hundred and twenty seven naira only (2,873,827).  The adoption of Integer Linear programming has eliminated the bias and bottlenecks associated with the current spreadsheet approach used by the Board. In view of her inherent advantage, we recommend the use of Integer Linear programming approach using Lingo Software for future scheduling of resource persons on accreditation visits by the NBTE.