Case study: Rules based advising system

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Setting: In 2003-2006, College of Business at Savannah State University was trying to achieve initial (and prestigious) AACSB accreditation.

Problem: Too many students were in courses for which they had not met the prerequisites.

The following data was made available.

All classes offered and schedules
All student transcripts
All student schedules

Note: Registrar could not provide via database queries so permission was given to scrape the needed information from web browser automation.

All data was stored in XML format for processing.

Rules were added for about 70 COBA courses. Each was quite involved.

( [ hours 60.0 or ( hours 42.0 and ([ ACCT2101 or ACC211 ] with "C" since "2005C" ) and ([ ACCT2102 or ACC212 ] with "C" since "2005C" ) and [ ([ BUSA1105 or BAD105 ] with "C" since "2005C" ) or ( (BUSA1101 with "C" since "2005C" ) and (BUSA2101 with "C" since "2005C" ) ) ] and [ (BUSA2105 with "C" since "2005C" ) or (BUSA2106 with "C" since "2005C" ) ] and ([ ECON2105 or ECO201 ] with "C" since "2005C" ) and ([ ECON2106 or ECO202 ] with "C" since "2005C" ) ) ] and (CISM3140 with "C" ) )

The same information needed for solving the prerequisite problem could be used to solve the advising problem.

Needed: Rules for each major. Then hook into the prerequisite system.

Showed:

Which courses were completed for the major and which were needed.
Prerequisite sequences.
Upcoming schedule of classes for those that the student needed.

System for managing faculty committee memberships, etc. (as a member of the elected faculty senate, I was made chair of the committee on committees to solve this problem).
Web system to show all committees, the rules, who was on what committee, and each faculty member's official schedule for meeting scheduling purposes.