Regulation-based University Course Timetabling

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Zeising, Michael ; Jablonski, Stefan:
Regulation-based University Course Timetabling.
In: PATAT 2012 : Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling. - Son, Norway , 2012 . - pp. 391-394

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Abstract in another language

Common models for course timetabling either rely on enrolment or on fixed curricula. At the University of Bayreuth enrolment is not desired for political reasons. The university’s management insists on a maximum of freedom for students so the post-enrolment timetabling techniques cannot be applied here. However, fixed curricula in the sense of “a group of courses such that any pair of courses in the group have students in common” are not present either. The only systems of rules on which their course selection is based on are the examination regulations of their program of study. These regulations are legally necessary information in Germany and are already represented in most university management solutions for various purposes. Not even the more specialised variations of the curriculum model with support for optional courses suffice for timetabling on the basis of regulations. In this contribution, we show how to derive timetabling conflicts from examination regulations as they would actually arise from curricula. Moreover, these conflicts are weighted according to the number of students that are affected by the conflict. With the help of these derivations, the information can then be converted to the standard model and utilised by standard timetabling techniques.