A university-wide orientation course timetabling model and its modification for pandemic period

The key mechanism for facilitating students’ engagement in university life is the orientation programs. These programs typically consist of a series of introductory lectures and activities meant to assist students to become acquainted with university life. With thousands of new students registering each year, the planning of the orientation programs necessitates meeting the needs of a large and diverse set of students. Education timetabling models are ideal instruments for the effective planning of such programs. The aim of this research is to generate a real-world course timetabling problem for an active orientation course with over 7000 participants every year. A novel university-wide timetabling scheme is introduced and implemented to handle both traditional face-to-face format and a hybrid format that encompasses both online and face-to-face activities to be pursued during the pandemic period. Two integer programming models are proposed for the conventional education case and the case of the pandemic period, respectively. The research contributes to education timetabling literature by introducing university course timetabling notion to orientation program planning in higher education institutions. Both models presented within the scope of the research have been effectively employed for several years covering both pre-pandemic and pandemic periods in a public university in Turkey.