June 17, 2009
UWSP students scheduling NCAA Division III athletics in Wisconsin and beyond
A University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) student-run, nonprofit organization is providing athletic
scheduling expertise for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) and other NCAA Division
III conferences across the country.
The Center for Athletic Scheduling (CAS), located in the Department of Mathematical Sciences in the College
of Letters and Science at UWSP, began as a math class project in 2006. According to the Center’s founder,
Associate Professor of Mathematical Sciences Andy Felt, WIAC commissioner and UWSP alumnus Gary Karner
(1975) was invited to speak to Felt’s class of predominantly math majors in 2006 and the issue of scheduling
sports programs came to the fore.
“The WIAC has utilized the scheduling services provided by the CAS for the past few years for a number of
our team sports with great success,” said Karner. “Consequently, the CAS has lifted the time-consuming
burden of developing schedules from the conference office staff and our coaches. The schedules developed
by the CAS incorporate however many parameters (e.g., travel limitations, balance of home and away contests)
the conference chooses to include. Each schedule is characterized by an unquestionable level of competitive
equity, which is an extremely important factor for a conference such as the WIAC.”
“I had been looking for a class project and the issue of sports teams scheduling fit like a glove with
my background in operations research,” said Felt. “The students loved the project from the start. There is
no limit to where this effort may lead with other athletic conferences showing interest in our scheduling
model.”
According to Felt, the center’s mission is to provide athletic schedules that optimally meet specified
constraints to the many intercollegiate athletic conferences from across the country. Students use
operations research mathematical models to solve large operational problems, such as athletic scheduling.
Each schedule is customized according to each specific athletic conference and their particular
variables.
“Students are learning mathematical modeling language, much like computer programming,” said Felt. “And
as a bonus the students are paid an hourly wage by the center while learning skills that are applicable
for organizations and businesses alike where scheduling is a critical component to their particular
business model.”
Proper scheduling saves athletic conferences much needed money, especially in difficult economic times,
while also being sensitive to environmental concerns by using less gasoline. This past year the center had
a small pool of money available after expenses for a one-time $500 freshman scholarship.
Felt joined the UWSP faculty in 2000. He received his bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison and his Ph.D.
from Washington State University.
