Course Form
I. Summary of Proposed Changes
Dept / Program
Forest Management (College
Prefix and Course # FORS 521
of Forestry and Conservation)
Course Title
Heuristic Optimization for Spatial Forest Mangement Planning
Short Title (max. 26 characters incl. spaces)
Heur. Opt. for For. Plan.
Summarize the change(s) proposed
Add a new graduate course
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office
Please type / print name Signature
Requestor:
Woodam Chung
Phone/ email :
x6606
Program Chair/Director:
LLoyd P. Queen
Other affected programs
Dean:
Date
Jim Burchfield
Are other departments/programs affected by this
Please obtain signature(s) from the
modification because of
Chair/Director of any such department/
(a) required courses incl. prerequisites or corequisites,
program (above) before submission
(b) perceived overlap in content areas
(c) cross-listing of coursework
III: To Add a New Course Syllabus and assessment information is required (paste syllabus into
section V or attach). Course should have internal coherence and clear focus.
Common Course Numbering Review (Department Chair Must Initial):
YES
NO
Does an equivalent course exist elsewhere in the MUS? Check all relevant disciplines if
course is interdisciplinary. (http://www.mus.edu/Qtools/CCN/ccn_default.asp)
X
If YES: Do the proposed abbreviation, number, title and credits align with existing course(s)? Please indicate
equivalent course/campus. 
If NO: Course may be unique, but is subject to common course review. Be sure to include learning outcomes
on syllabus or paste below. The course number may be changed at the system level.




Understand the fundamentals of C computer programming
Understand modern heuristic solution techniques for combinatorial forest planning problems
Experiment with applying heuristic techniques to forest resources scheduling problems
Familiarize with the literature on heuristic techniques with emphasis on spatial forest management
planning
Exact entry to appear in the next catalog (Specify course abbreviation, level, number, title, credits,
repeatability (if applicable), frequency of offering, prerequisites, and a brief description.) 
G 521 Heuristic Optimization for Spatial Forest Management Planning 3 cr. Offered spring evennumbered years. Prereq. FORS 481 (FOR 481) or equiv. and consent of instr. Modern heuristic optimization
techniques and their applications to solving spatially explicit forest planning problems.
Justification: How does the course fit with the existing curriculum? Why is it needed?
This course is designed to provide forestry graduate students with in-depth, hands-on understanding of spatial
forest management planning problems and state-of-the-art optimization techniques to solve such challenging
combinatorial problems. This course is unique and fits well with the existing forest management
undergraduate and graduate curricula because of its course contents addressing modern forest management
issues. This course has been taught experimentally three times, and will be taught by a tenured faculty
member. Thus, no additional resources will be necessary.
Are there curricular adjustments to accommodate teaching this course?
No
Complete for UG courses (UG courses should be assigned a 400 number).
Describe graduate increment - see procedure 301.30
http://umt.edu/facultysenate/committees/grad_council/procedures/default.aspx
Complete for Co-convented courses
Companion course number, title, and description (include syllabus of companion course in section V)
See procedure 301.20 http://umt.edu/facultysenate/committees/grad_council/procedures/default.aspx.
New fees and changes to existing fees are only approved once each biennium by the
Board of Regents. The coordination of fee submission is administered by
Administration and Finance. Fees may be requested only for courses meeting specific
conditions according to Policy 940.12.1 http://mus.edu/borpol/bor900/940-12-1.pdf .
Please indicate whether this course will be considered for a fee.
If YES, what is the proposed amount of the fee?
n/a
Justification: n/a
IV. To Delete or Change an Existing Course – check X all that apply
Deletion
Title
Course Number Change
From:
Level U, UG, G
Co-convened
To:
Description Change
Change in Credits
From:
To:
Prerequisites
1. Current course information at it appears in catalog
(http://www.umt.edu/catalog) 
YES
NO
X
From:
To:
Repeatability
Cross Listing
(primary
program initiates
form)
Is there a fee associated with the
course?
2. Full and exact entry (as proposed) 
3. If cross-listed course: secondary program & course
number
4. If co-convened course: companion course number, title, and description
(include syllabus of companion course in section V) See procedure 301.20
http://umt.edu/facultysenate/committees/grad_council/procedures/default.aspx.
5. Is this a course with MUS Common Course Numbering?
http://www.mus.edu/Qtools/CCN/ccn_default.asp
If yes, please explain below whether this change will eliminate the course’s common course
status.
6. Graduate increment if level of course is changed to UG.
Reference procedure 301.30:
http://umt.edu/facultysenate/committees/
grad_council/procedures/default.aspx
(syllabus required in section V)
7. Other programs affected by the change
8. Justification for proposed change
YES NO
Have you reviewed the graduate
increment guidelines? Please check (X)
space provided.
V. Syllabus/Assessment Information (must include learning outcomes)
Required for new courses and course change from U to UG. Paste syllabus in field below or attach and send
digital copy with form.
FORS595
(3 credits)
Heuristic Optimization for Spatial Forest Management Planning
Instructor:
Office:
Phone:
Email:
Office Hours:
Woodam Chung
FOR 207B
243-6606
woodam.chung@umontana.edu
Class Times:
One 3-hour lecture (JOUR107) M 2:10P – 5:00P
Optional Texts:
Rojiani, Kamal B., 1996. Programming in C with numerical methods for engineers.
Prentice-Hall, Inc.
1. Course Descriptions:
The course provides forest management graduate students with an introduction to modern heuristic
optimization techniques for combinatorial problems with an emphasis on spatial forest resources
management planning. This course also provides the students with the fundamentals of C computer
programming and helps them to experiment with heuristic techniques on simple forest planning problems with
spatial constraints. This course requires students to develop a class project of their own interests where they
apply heuristic optimization techniques to solve combinatorial planning problems.
2. Course Objectives:
 Understand the fundamentals of C computer programming
 Understand modern heuristic solution techniques for combinatorial problems
 Experiment with applying heuristic techniques to forest resources scheduling problems
 Familiarize with the literature on heuristic techniques with emphasis on forest management planning
3. Course topics:
 C computer programming
Introduction to Computer Programming
Variables, Constraints, and Data types
If-Then-Else statements, For-Next Loops, Do-Loops, Functions
File Operations, Formatted Input and Output
Arrays, Structures, and Pointers
Introduction to Visual C++, Microsoft Foundation Classes
Dialog boxes and Controls
Documents, Views, Frames, Menus
File handling with Visual C++
 Traditional optimization techniques
Linear Programming
Mixed Integer Programming
 Modern heuristic optimization techniques for forest resource scheduling
Random Search Method
Simulated Annealing
Great Deluge
Tabu Search
Genetic Algorithm
Ant Colony
Others
4. Assignment Format:
 Homework presentation format is your choice. As appropriate, you should submit the problem
description, hard copy of program and output, and disk
5. Grading:
 Weekly problem sets
60%
 A final project
40%
 No exams for this course
 Problem sets and your project are strictly individual work. It is okay to discuss and compare results, but
this is to be your individual work.
6. Tentative Lecture/Lab Schedule:
Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Lecture Topic
Course introduction, Introduction to Computer Programming
Variables, Constraints, and Data types
If-Then-Else statements, For-Next Loops, Do-Loops, and
Functions
File Operations, Formatted Input and Output
Arrays, Structures, and Pointers
Introduction to Visual C++, Dialog boxes and Controls
Documents, Views, Frames, Menus, File handling
Traditional Optimization Techniques: Linear Programming,
Mixed Integer Programming
Heuristic Optimization Techniques I: Random Search Method,
Simulated Annealing
Spring break
Heuristic Optimization Techniques II: Threshold Accepting,
Great Deluge
Heuristic Optimization Techniques III: Tabu Search
Heuristic Optimization Techniques IV: Genetic Algorithm
Heuristic Optimization Techniques V: Ant Colony
Project presentations
Final week - no final exam
VI Department Summary (Required if several forms are submitted) In a separate document list course
number, title, and proposed change for all proposals.
VII Copies and Electronic Submission. After approval, submit original, one copy, summary of
proposals and electronic file to the Faculty Senate Office, UH 221, camie.foos@mso.umt.edu.
Revised 8-23-11