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{{Paper
|id=Vol-3646/Paper_9.pdf
|storemode=property
|title=Information System "Workload Assignment at a University Department"
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3646/Paper_9.pdf
|volume=Vol-3646
|authors=Mariia Pleskach,Oksana Karpenko,Olha Kravchenko,Iryna Tarnovska
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/iti2/PleskachKKT23
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==Information System "Workload Assignment at a University Department"==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3646/Paper_9.pdf
Information System "Workload Assignment at a University
Department"
Mariia Pleskach 1, Oksana Karpenko 2, Olha Kravchenko 3 and Iryna Tarnovska 3
1
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University SaulΔtekio al. 11, Vilnius, LT-10223, Lithuania
2
Higher Educational Institution Academician Yuriy Bugay International Scientific & Technical University,
Kyiv, Ukraine
3
State University of Infrastructure and Technologies, Kyiv, Ukraine
Abstract
Information technology is an indispensable element of the modernization of education in all
countries. The quality of education directly depends on the satisfaction of the university
teaching staff with its academic (educational, methodological, scientific, and organizational)
workloads. The paper presents an approach to the creation of an information system for the
department's workflow focused on storing information in one place, and on obtaining
reporting documentation in the required format. The authors propose the modeling of the
department's document management information system as a finite state machine. Also, the
article presents the models of assignment of educational, methodological, scientific, and
organizational workload of the department teaching staff. The practical implementation of the
proposed approach is presented on the example of the Department of Management and Public
Administration of the State University of Infrastructure and Technologies (Kyiv, Ukraine).
The authors have developed recommendations for integrating the information system of the
department into the corporate system of the university.
Keywords 1
Department's workflow, department's document management information system, academic
workload, modelling of information system, department teaching staff.
1. Introduction
Modern education is characterized by increasing complexity associated with all aspects of
management, both from the perspective of students and the university [1, 2 and others]. This
necessitates the introduction of information technology for more efficient management of university
resources.
The activities of a university require constant paperwork (search and creation of many documents),
which, in turn, leads to a significant amount of time processing information of the same type and
performing routine processes. A lot of resources, both human and time, are always spent for searching
and obtaining the necessary information, developing training, and working training programs,
counting the necessary elements (the number of hours of individual work of students and classes,
etc.). At the same time, fast and high-quality management of all business processes is one of the
conditions for the development of a modern university. This necessitates the introduction of an
information system that would cover all structural units, including departments.
Consider the implementation of the department's electronic document management using the
example of the Department of Management and Public Administration of the State University of
Infrastructure and Technology. The main purpose of creating a system should be not only the storage
of information in one place, but also the receipt of reporting documentation in the required format.
The system must contain a database, its population system, and a system of formation reports and
Information Technology and Implementation (IT&I-2023), November 20-21, 2023, Kyiv, Ukraine
EMAIL: pleskachmarija@gmail.com (A. 1); O.karpenko@istu.edu.ua (A. 2); kravch.olha@gmail.com (A. 3); irusia.tarnovska@gmail.com
(A. 4) ORCID: 0000-0003-3296-5475 (A. 1), 0000-0003-2943-1982 (A. 2); 0000-0002-2258-2828 (A. 3); 0000-0003-2027-946X (A. 4)
Β©οΈ 2023 Copyright for this paper by its authors.
Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
CEUR Workshop Proceedings (CEUR-WS.org)
CEUR
ceur-ws.org
Workshop ISSN 1613-0073
Proceedings
86
curricular documents. According to the content, such a system should implement the following
functions.
1. Reflect all the tasks through which the main and supporting scientific, educational and
management processes are fully implemented.
2. Create a documentation system and ensure its transparency and accessibility for employees.
3. Create convenient and full-scale channels for the delivery, storage, and safety of information.
This will significantly reduce the time spent on the preparation of documents and reduce the
possibility of errors. Thus, the introduction of electronic document management systems allows us to
solve three problems: (i) improve the efficiency of the department; (ii) optimize business processes;
(iii) ensure compliance with the requirements of legislation in the field of circulation.
The information system is based on the department's document management system as an integral
part of the university's corporate management system. The document management system includes
methodological documentation, reporting documentation for lecturers, scientific reports, curricula,
work plans, and other documentation related to the educational process, as well as assignment of the
workload between lecturers. Assigning the workload and forming an individual lecturer's plans are
some of the most important tasks. On the one hand, both the quality of teaching students and the
moral climate at the department depend on their decision. On the other hand, interaction with other
departments and structural units of the university is carried out.
Since the departments that academic disciplines and provide the information necessary for the
formation of the academic workload can be assigned among the autonomous structural units of the
university, it is convenient to use network technologies and Internet resources to simplify and
accelerate the process of data exchange between the departments and the directorate [3]. The system
provides for the formation of academic workload assignment between teaching staff in the form of
standardized document templates β academic workload. The automated system includes two modes of
operation (user mode and administrator mode) and performs the mutually coordinated management of
system processes.
2. Related Work
Publications by researchers were devoted to various aspects of the organization of electronic
control systems, including those at universities. So, in [4] the authors noted that institutions need
information systems to facilitate document management during business processes. At the same time,
based on empirical research, it is shown that when implementing an electronic document management
system, it is necessary to consider the factors influencing the implementation and use of EDMS in a
particular university, namely the expected productivity and social impact.
One of the characteristic features of the functioning of both academia and business in modern
conditions is the generation of large volumes of information, which for effective use must be
structured, analyzed and presented [5]. At the same time, the strategic value of information
technology, information management capabilities, the effectiveness of decisions made, and the
productivity of business processes in institutions are determined by available resources, primarily
infrastructure, human resources and administrative functions [6].
The research presented in [7] is devoted to the development of the mathematical apparatus for
structural-parametric synthesis of the optimal electronic document management system for
educational and scientific institutions. When developing information systems, the emphasis is on the
peculiarities of document flow in universities, as well as meeting the needs of various categories of
users.
In [8], the authors emphasize the need for digital transformation of modern universities. Structural
characteristics of universities and used information management systems were investigated based on
samples of small and large universities. The authors proposed a roadmap for implementing the
process of digital transformation of universities.
The authors in [9] have shown that information systems are one of the main resources for the
development of a progressive university, playing a significant role for all stakeholders
(administration, heads of departments, teaching staff, students). The authors focus on the specifics of
developing information systems for universities.
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In [10], the authors considered various aspects of the use of document management systems in
higher educational institutions (regulatory, organizational, technical, financial, cultural, and
psychological). The article substantiates that the introduction of an electronic document management
system will improve not only the efficiency of university management, but also the level of its
competitiveness in the markets of educational, scientific, and technical services.
Analysis of publications allows us to conclude that the information management system of the
department as a structural unit of the university should consider the peculiarities of the organization of
educational, methodological, scientific, organizational, and educational activities at the university.
3. Results of the Research
3.1. Modelling of Information System
The formalization of the department's document management should include the allocation of sets
of key objects and subjects, as well as the relationships between them. Then the document
management process (π·π ) can be described as follows:
π·π = {πΏ, π΄, π}, (1)
where πΏ β the set of the department employees who taking part in the document management
(department head, teaching staff, laboratory head, engineer, laboratory assistant);
π΄ β the set of actions on documents, the implementation of which is permissible in the
department's document management system (formatting curriculum, adjusting them, assigning the
academic workload, creating reports for the department and lecturers, monitoring the implementation
of curriculum, etc.);
π = {ππ : π = Μ
Μ
Μ
Μ
Μ
1, πΎ} β the set of document states that they can accept after actions from the set A by
the participant from the set L (the original version, the final version).
The relationship between the sets πΏ, π΄, π can be represented as follows: a document can change its
state depending on the action that was performed on it by a certain employee of the department at
time π‘, i.e.
π(π‘) = {π π (π‘): πΏ(π‘) Γ π΄(π‘)}, (2)
where π π β the state of document π at π‘;
πΌ (π = Μ
Μ
Μ
Μ
1, πΌ ) β the set of documents generated at the department.
This study is based on the presentation of the department's document management as a finite state
machine. Then work with an individual document can be represented by a tuple of the following
form:
β²
π·π,π (π‘) = {ππ,π , π΄π,π , πΏ, π π0 , ππ,π , π‘}, (3)
where ππ,π β the set of states in which document π can be at π‘;
π΄π,π β the finite set of input characters for document π, that is, the set of data that is entered into the
document;
πΏ β the transition function, the arguments of which are the current state of the document and the set
of input parameters, and the value is the new state, i.e.
ππ,π (π‘) Γ π΄π,π (π‘) β ππ,π (π‘ + 1); (4)
where π π0 β the initial state of document π such that π π0 β ππ,π ;
β² β²
ππ,π β the set of final states of document π such that ππ,π β ππ,π ; π‘ is the time parameter.
The finite state machine π·π,π as a system will possess the internal logic of the process of creating
and updating a document, i.e.
β©πΆππππ‘πππβͺ β β©π΄πππ’π π‘ππππ‘ 1βͺ β. . . β β©π΄πππ’π π‘ππππ‘ πβͺ β (5)
β β©π΄πππππ£ππβͺ β β©ππ πππβͺ.
The diagram of department's document management assigning the workload is shown in Fig. 1.
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Figure 1: Diagram of department's document management assigning the workload
The automated assignment of the academic workload is based on the implementation of the model
of the automated system (1)β(5) to meet the requirements of the Bologna process concerning
compulsory considering of the student's free choice of academic disciplines.
The workload of the teaching staff at the State University of Infrastructure and Technology
includes three components (scientific work, methodological work, and organizational work) and
depends on the amount of teaching workload determined by the head of the department.
The problem of assigning the workload by components is an important task, in solving which the
head of the department should consider both the qualifications of each lecturer, as well as his desire
and ability to engage in various activities. Then the lecturer's workload should correspond to this
formula:
π΄π,π + π΄π ,π + π΄π,π ο£1540, (6)
where π΄π,π , π΄π ,π , π΄π,π are the methodological, scientific, and organizational workloads of the
lecturer.
3.2. Modelling the methodological workload of teaching staff
The automated assignment of the academic workload is based on the implementation of the model
of the automated system (1)β(5) to meet the requirements of the Bologna process concerning
compulsory considering of the student's free choice of academic disciplines [11].
The user mode support module implements the method of automated generation of the
department's academic workload, providing compliance with the requirements put forward to the
creation the final form of academic workload. The workload assignment between the teaching staff is
engaged the head of the department's laboratory. He, as a participant in the department activities (Ll ),
has the right to work with 4 sets of documents:
Ll (t) = {Dk,1 , Dk,2 , Dk,3 , Dk,4 , t}, (7)
where Dk,1 , Dk,2 , Dk,3 , Dk,4 β "General information", "Lecturers", "Filling the academic workload"
and "Academic workload assignment", respectively.
These sets of documents are presented in the main menu of the department's document
management system. Consider the formation of the teaching staff's academic workload. It will include
such data sets:
Ξ£k,i = [Sub, Lect, Gr, Res], (8)
where Sub β the set of academic disciplines related to the department;
Lect β the number of lecturers; Gr is the set of student groups;
Res β the set of restrictions formed for each lecturer.
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These sets have different dimensions. So, the Department of Management and Public
Administration of the State University of Infrastructure and Technologies has 10 lecturers, who teach
75 academic disciplines for 34 student groups.
The set of restrictions should include 2 groups of indicators.
1. General, which characterize the "possibilities" of the lecturer to teach, namely his
qualifications, scientific interests, work experience.
2. Specific, which characterize the quality of teaching in terms of students. They can be formed
according to the results of anonymous questioning of students. It should also consider how often
students chose the lecturer's academic discipline in previous years.
These indicators in total will determine the maximum allowable academic workload for each
lecturer, considering the standards of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the
university's limitations, and the desires of the lecturer himself. Then the data set of basic information
(input characters) in accordance with (8) will be formed in accordance with the following formula:
Sub Γ Lect Γ Gr Γ Res β Ξ£k,i . (9)
Planning the academic workload is, on the one hand, the basis for the formation of the
methodological workload of teaching staff, and, on the other hand, it is included in the
methodological workload, i.e.
Ξ£m,i = f(Ξ£k,i ). (10)
3.3. Modelling the scientific workload of teaching staff
Research work is one of the priority directions of the formation of a single educational space of a
modern university, based on ensuring a close relationship between fundamental science, education,
and the professional environment of future specialists. At the State University of Infrastructure and
Technology, the research work of lecturers includes: the implementation of department research work,
scientific publishing activities, scientific and representative activities, competition and grant activities,
leadership of the research work of students, etc. At the Department of Management and Public
Administration, the planning of the scientific workload is carried out by teaching staff independently,
considering their scientific interests, inclination to engage in scientific activities, as well as whether he
is preparing for the defense of a candidate's or doctoral dissertation. Then the planning of the
lecturer's scientific activity will include the following data sets:
π΄π ,π = [πΏπππ‘, π
πΈππ , π
πΈππΏ , ππΏ , ππ ], (11)
where π
πΈππ β the set of scientific interests of the teaching staff;
π
πΈππΏ β the set of scientific achievements of the department teaching staff, which, among others,
should contain information about the level of its scientific qualifications;
ππΏ β the binary matrix of size 1 Γ πΏπππ‘, which reflects the lecturer 's inclination to engage in
scientific activities (1 β if the lecturer is inclined to engage in scientific activities, 0 β if the lecturer
does not have such a propensity);
ππ β the matrix of size 3 Γ πΏπππ‘, which reflects information about whether the lecturer is
preparing to defend a dissertation (2 β the lecturer is preparing to defend a dissertation for the degree
of Doctor of Science; 1 β the lecturer is preparing to defend a thesis for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy; 0 β the lecturer is not preparing to defend his thesis).
These datasets will have the same size, which will be equal to 10 (the number of lecturers in the
department). Formula (11) must be supplemented with the following restriction: the head of the
department, based on the development strategy of the university and the department, can also put
forward requirements for the volume and quality of scientific work of lecturers, the place of their
presentation, etc. Then the formation of the teaching staff's scientific workload in accordance with
(11) will be carried out in accordance with the following formula:
πΏπππ‘ Γ π
πΈππ Γ π
πΈππΏ Γ ππΏ Γ ππ Γ π
πΈπΊπ» β π΄π ,π , (12)
where π
πΈπΊπ» β the set of requirements of the head of the department to the scientific work of
lecturers.
At the State University of Infrastructure and Technology, the research work of teaching staff
includes the implementation of department research work, research and publishing activities,
90
scientific and representative activities, competition and grants activities, leadership of the research
work of students, etc.
3.4. Modeling the organizational work of the teaching staff
The organizational work of teaching staff includes work with students (performing the duties of a
group curator, managing student circles), work in scientific and methodological councils and
commissions within and outside the University, editorial boards, participation in career guidance
work, exhibition events, etc., and execution of administrative.
At the Department of Management and Public Administration, the planning of organizational work
is carried out in accordance with the duties of teaching staff to work with students, as well as his
involvement in other types of work both within and outside the University. Then the planning of the
lecturer's organizational work will include the following data sets:
Ξ£o,i = [Lect, Mk , MUI , MUO , ], (13)
where Mk β the binary matrix of size 1 Γ Lect, which indicates whether the lecturer is a curator (1
β if the lecturer is a curator of a student group, 0 β if not);
MUI , MUO β the matrices reflecting the lecturer's involvement in other organizational activities
within and outside the University, respectively.
These datasets will also have the same dimension, which will be equal to 10 (the number of
lecturers in the department). Formula (13) should be supplemented with the following restriction: the
management of the State University of Infrastructure and Technologies and the head of the
Department can put forward requirements for the volume of organizational work of teaching staff and
its involvement in career guidance work. Then the formation of the lecturer's organizational work in
accordance with (13) will be carried out in accordance with the following formula:
Lect Γ Mk Γ MUI Γ MUO Γ REGU β Ξ£o,i , (14)
where REGU β the set of university requirements for the organizational work of teaching staff.
4. Functioning of the information system "Planning the teaching staff
workload"
The workload planning process usually has a standard set of inputs and outputs, as well as a
minimum set of control actions based on the mechanisms available. The context model of the system
for planning the workload of the department teaching staff in the IDEF0 notation is shown in Fig. 2.
Normative documents regulating the
work of the Department
Lecturers
Plans
Subjects
Groups Lecturer workload
planning system Reports
Requirements
Support Soft
staff ware
Figure 2: Context diagram of the model of planning the teaching staff workload
In accordance with the presented model and considering formula (1)β(14), an information system
for planning the teaching staff workload of the Department of Management and Public Administration
91
was developed. Login is carried out by opening a browser and entering the address of the web
application "http://masters" in the address bar β the main page of the system will be displayed on the
screen. The main functions are in the main menu, which consists of four items presented in the form
of buttons: "Main", "Scientific work", "Methodical", "Organizational" and "Output forms". Opening
the corresponding menu, the lecturer is planning the workload (Fig. 3β5).
Figure 3: The interface of the methodological workload of teaching staff of the Department of
Management and Public Administration
Figure 4: The interface of the scientific workload of teaching staff of the Department of
Management and Public Administration
92
Figure 5: The interface of the organizational work of teaching staff of the Department of
Management and Public Administration
As a result of the workload planning, a lecturer's work plan for the academic year is formed
(Fig. 6). The head of the Department of Management and Public Administration forms a general plan
of work for the department (Fig. 7). This allows to monitor the implementation of individual plans
and generate a report for the department in pdf format (Fig. 8).
Figure 6: Individual plan of a lecturer
Practical testing of the software module "Plans" on the example of the Department of Management
and Public Administration of the State University of Infrastructure and Technologies made it possible
to determine the main consequences of its application.
1. Significant simplification of the work of the teaching staff responsible for the assignment of
academic workload.
2. Save time when performing repetitive operations,
93
3. Reduce the possibility of errors in automated document generation,
4. The ability to access data and create reports quickly and conveniently.
5. Provide remote access to the system and the simultaneous operation of several users,
6. Prevention of a subjective approach in the assignment of academic workload.
Figure 7: General plan of the Department of Management and Public Administration
Figure 8: Report of the Department of Management and Public Administration
5. Conclusions
The role of information systems in the management of modern universities has changed
dramatically in recent years. Now information systems should include modules responsible for almost
all activities of university departments, including the assignment of academic load. To automate the
process of assigning the academic load, a model of the department's document management
information system was developed as a finite automaton. This model considers the relationship
between teaching staff, the status of individual documents and possible actions with them. Models
94
have also been developed for the assignment of educational, methodological, scientific, and
organizational workload of the department teaching staff, based on the specifics of the organization of
the educational process in Ukrainian universities. The introduction of such an information system
makes it possible to increase not only the degree of lecturers' satisfaction with their workload, but also
to ensure the required quality of teaching. This is achieved by considering both the wishes of each
lecturer and his capabilities. In addition, the automation of the assignment of the teaching staff
workload significantly speeds up this process, reduces both the workload on employees and the
likelihood of errors. Increasing the efficiency of the department's information system will result from
its further integration into the university's corporate information system. This should be done in the
following directions.
1. Communication with the dean's office and the schedule department to obtain operational
information about changes in the educational process, to monitor the conduct of classes by lecturers,
as well as student attendance. In addition, this will allow the head of the department to quickly receive
the results of student questionnaires.
2. Communication with the scientific and methodological departments to control the timeliness of
the lecturers' fulfillment of their load. This will also allow you to receive timely information about
conferences, seminars, student competitions, etc.
3. Communication with other departments to timely change in training programs, and working
training programs, etc.
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