UNICAP: Efficient Decision Support for Academic Resource and Capacity Management

Abstract. Growing complexity of the data and processes to be managed, as well as the transition from strict governmental regulation towards autonomy make academic institutions a significant consumer of advanced software solutions. Strategic management requires a comprehensive analysis of large data volumes from heterogeneous sources, often imprecise and incomplete. Our aim is to assist university policy-makers in building strategic action plans in the field of resource distribution and teaching capacity utilization through explicit modeling and testing of diverse development strategies. The proposed decision support system (DSS), called UNICAP (acronym for university's capacity planning), is aimed at optimizing the academic decision making by allowing simulation and evaluation of strategic plans. We conclude by presenting a case study, carried by the planning experts of our university who used UNICAP filled with "real " university’s data.