Interactive Preference Optimization for University Adminstrators

In this presentation, a long-range planning procedure is described for administrators in private universities to avoid their considering only short-run financial considerations rather than academic considerations. The system operates by generating a sequence of alternative future configurations of this university that will satisfy several financial constraints and by furnishing aid to an administrator in assessing his preferences concerning them. A mathematical programming algorithm is used to structure the interactive identification/search procedure. This algorithm incorporates the strategy of restriction and linear programming methods in the generation of a new configuration, and it relies on the interactively assessed preferences of the administrator to guide the search process, rather than relying on a standard objective function. The procedure addressed was developed at Stanford University.