There are several types of ranks to use in Automatic Assignment batches. The rank that is set depends on the criteria defined for the batch and also the candidates and facilities in the batch. CBORD Support can assist institutions with setting ranks and configuring criteria to achieve the best possible results for assignments. Note that any minimum rank settings are ignored if the Assign Requested Roommates Above All Criteria Except Restrictions option is enabled.
The institutional rank for criteria and preferences in an Automatic Assignment batch determines the importance of the item in the assignment run. For example: If an item is of higher importance when evaluating assignments, the rank should be set high. Other criteria of lesser importance and a lower rank can be used to break ties. The institutional ranking is evaluated exponentially as follows:
•Rank 5 is twice as important as rank 4. Thus, two criteria of rank 4 equals one criteria of rank 5.
•Rank 6 is four times as important as rank 4
•Rank 20 is 32768 times more important than rank 4.
Administrators may set the rank in any range from -40 to +40. A negative value deducts from the total score while the positive value adds to the total score. Administrators may also set the rank so that the item must occur or must not occur. Move the rank’s slider bar to the extreme right for a Must Occur setting or to the extreme left for a Must Not Occur setting.
Each patron can be ranked by their preferences. The patron preference rank is weighted in an assignment batch as a percentage from 0.0 to 1.0. The percentage is based on the preference’s Max Rank, set in the Setup module on the Setup > Global > Preferences page. A Max Rank of 1 is the highest rank, while a rank of maximum value set in the Setup module is the lowest rank.
For example, if the highest Max Rank in the Setup module is 3, the valid preference rank weights are:
•Rank 1 = 1.0
•Rank 2 = 0.666
•Rank 3 = 0.333
When using both an institutional rank and patron preference rank, the following rules apply:
•The institutional rank sets the maximum score for the criteria for a given patron.
•The match score is calculated (against an occupant or a facility) by multiplying the maximum score by the patron’s preference percentage.
•All criteria and preference match scores are added together to form the total match score for an occupant or facility.
•Patron preference rank has no effect on scoring for non-preference criteria.
•If a patron does not specify a preference rank, the preference’s default rank is as entered in the Setup module (in Odyssey HMS) is used.
Note: If using patron preference rank, CBORD recommends grouping related preferences together with the same institutional rank. Then the patron rank determines the degree to which each preference influences the generated assignment.
The Ghost Roommate Rank simulates a roommate already assigned to the room. It is the rank used for the candidate-occupant match score when there are no occupants in the room.
For example: If the Minimum Roommate Rank is set to 4 and the Ghost Roommate Rank is set to 0, the Assignments module never assigns anyone to empty rooms because empty rooms get a Roommate Rank of 0.
If the Ghost Roommate Rank is high, such as 40, patrons are always assigned to empty rooms first before filling open spaces in occupied rooms.
Setting the Ghost Roommate Rank in the middle (which is dependent on criteria defined for the batch) allows assigning a candidate to an occupied room if the match to the occupant(s) is considered "good". A candidate is assigned to an empty room if there is no "good" match with existing occupants found.
The quality of a match is determined on a per-batch basis because each batch has several different variables: Facilities, Occupants, Criteria, and process order.