A simulated annealing algorithm for the faculty-level university course timetabling problem

In this study, faculty -level university course timetabling problem with double major and minor program constraints where classrooms are shared with several faculties is taken into account. This is the first study considering all these constraints together. A goal programming model is proposed to solve the considered problem. Since it is not possible to find a feasible solution for large -size problems with the proposed model in a time limit, a simulated annealing algorithm is developed. The performance of the proposed solution methods is tested by using randomly generated test problems. In addition, a case study is performed at the engineering faculty of a private university. Computational results show the success of the proposed simulated annealing algorithm to solve large -sized problems. An 83% improvement was achieved with the proposed algorithm for the real -life problem.