How to globally discourage scheduling classes on Friday evenings

[yunlong]

Hi Thomas,

I’d like to ask if there is a way to globally discourage scheduling classes on Friday evenings when running the timetable solver.

Ideally, we don’t want to completely prohibit those time slots — just make them less preferred for all classes, unless no other feasible options exist.

I have looked into time subpart time preferences, but I’m wondering whether there is a global-level time preference (for example, for the entire session or one department) that the solver can take into account.

If not directly available through the UI, could this be configured through the solver parameters ?

Any guidance or best practice on how to implement this kind of  “soft time constraint” would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,
Yunlong

[Tomáš Müller]

Hi Yunlong,

We do have default time preferences. These can be changed on the Administration > Solver > Configurations page. Click the solver configuration you are using, then scroll down to the Default Time Preferences section. You can make the option editable by unchecking the left-most checkbox (which, when checked, indicates that the default value is being set). Besides the "Time preferences" parameter, you will also need to set the "Time preferences weight" to ensure the default preferences are used -- 0.5 is a good weight, as it means the defaults will take half of the preferences set on the class (or inherited from the subpart and/or instructor).

Please note that the "Prohibited" preference in the default time preferences does not prevent the class from being placed at that time; it only has a very high penalty (+1000). 

Best regards,

Tomas Muller

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