Title: An application of a generalised assignment problem: assigning recruiters to geographical locations

Authors: Alan McKendall; Wafik Iskander; Sherron McKendall; Ann Chester

Addresses: Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, West Virginia University, 325A Mineral Resources Building, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ' Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, West Virginia University, 325A Mineral Resources Building, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ' Health Science and Technology Academy, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA ' Health Science and Technology Academy, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA

Abstract: In order to increase the number of underrepresented students pursuing college degrees in health sciences fields in the state of West Virginia, the Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA), a pre-college enrichment programme, was established. Due to a limited budget, a limited number of recruiters are available to recruit as many West Virginia High School students who satisfy the programme's selection criteria. As a result, recruiters are assigned to geographical locations (populations of potential HSTA students) such that the total value of the student populations assigned is maximised with respect to the programme selection criteria. This problem is defined as a generalised assignment problem (GAP), since more than one student population can be assigned to a recruiter such that the capacity of the recruiter is not exceeded. In this paper, a mathematical model, a construction algorithm, and a tabu search heuristic are presented for the proposed GAP.

Keywords: generalised assignment problem; GAP; tabu search; metaheuristics; integer programming; adjacency constraints; student recruitment; recruiter allocation; geographical locations; health sciences education; high school students; mathematical modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOR.2015.065938

International Journal of Operational Research, 2015 Vol.22 No.1, pp.31 - 47

Received: 05 Nov 2012
Accepted: 29 Mar 2013
Published online: 09 May 2015 *

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