Multi-criterion models for higher education administration

During the past two and a half decades, there has been a steady growth in the number of methods for assisting decision making with multiple objectives. These methods, generally known as multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) methods, have found their applications in a number of areas. Specifically, this paper provides a survey of the reported applications of MCDM methods in higher education administration. Articles appearing since 1972 are analysed and classified according to the primary purpose of the application. It is observed that resource allocation has been the most significant reason for MCDM applications in higher education administration, followed by planning, evaluation and other purposes. Further, this review shows that future research can be focused on the area of scheduling (particularly timetabling) development. The other research possibility is the usage of MCDM models at the federal and state government administration levels. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd