Automating-Classroom-Check

Overview

This project assigns Carleton College student workers to check classrooms across campus. It uses Python scripts to generate room-check schedules that respect the following constraints:

• Student work shift availability
• Classroom availability (based on scheduled classes)
• Room priority (1 = highest priority)
• Zone restrictions (only one zone per shift)
• Time limits within each shift
• Optional two-week scheduling to spread room coverage

The goal is to assign as many high-priority rooms as possible each week in a fair and efficient way, while ensuring no overlap with scheduled class times.

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Scripts

1. Classroom_shift_assignment_script.py

One-week full-shift assignment

This version assigns students to check as many rooms as possible within their shift duration using:

• A fixed 10-minute check time per room
• No artificial cap on number of rooms (other than available shift time)
• One zone per shift
• Each room may only be assigned once per week
• Rooms are only assigned if they are not occupied during the shift

Output:

• Output/student_room_assignments.csv: Room assignments per student
• Output/unchecked_classrooms.csv: Rooms that were not assigned to any student

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2. Two_Week_assignment.py

Two-week assignment with halved room check time

This version is optimized to simulate faster room checks and spreads room assignments over two weeks:

• Uses a 5-minute room check time
• Each shift is still used to its full duration (minus optional buffer)
• Each student is assigned rooms from only one zone per shift
• Room assignments are split evenly into:
  • Week 1: first half (e.g., “Monday 1”)
  • Week 2: second half (e.g., “Monday 2”)
• No room is checked more than once over the two-week period
• Only rooms without class conflicts are eligible

Output:

• Output/two_weeks_assignments.csv: Split assignments across two weeks
• Output/unchecked_classrooms.csv: Rooms not assigned in either week

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Required Input Files (place in the Input/ folder)

File Name	Description
scheduling classroom checks - classScheduleData.csv	Class schedule with confirmed sessions, start/end times, and room names
scheduling classroom checks - studentWorkers.csv	Student names, days available, and shift times
rooms to check - rooms.csv	Room metadata including 25Live name, zone, building, type, and priority
scheduling classroom checks - LatLong.csv	Building coordinate reference (used in one-week version only)

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Output Files

File Name	Description
student_room_assignments.csv	One-week assignments per student (one zone per shift)
two_weeks_assignments.csv	Two-week assignments split into Week 1 and Week 2
unchecked_classrooms.csv	All unassigned rooms sorted by priority and location

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Configuration (Script Constants)

You can modify the following values at the top of each script:

ROOM_CHECK_TIME = 10                 # Minutes per room (used in full-shift version)
HALF_TIME_FACTOR = 0.5              # Applies in the two-week version to simulate faster checks
EFFECTIVE_ROOM_CHECK_TIME = 5       # Final per-room time in two-week version after applying HALF_TIME_FACTOR
SHIFT_START_END_BUFFER = 0          # Optional buffer removed from each shift

Step 3: Install Required Python Packages

Type the following command into your terminal and press Enter:

python Classroom_shift_assignment_script.py
python Assignment_student_Time_Limit.py 

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How to Run the Scripts

Step 1: Install Python

• Go to https://www.python.org/downloads/
• Download and install Python
• IMPORTANT: During installation, make sure to check the box that says "Add Python to PATH"

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Step 2: Open a Terminal or Command Prompt

• On Windows: Press Win + R, type cmd, and press Enter
• On Mac: Open the Terminal app
• On Linux: Open your preferred terminal application

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Step 3: Install Required Python Packages

Type the following command into your terminal and press Enter:

pip install pandas geopy
python Classroom_shift_assignment_script.py
python Assignment_student_Time_Limit.py 

Step 4: How to Run in VS Code

• Go to the .py file that you want to run
• Click the Play button on the top right