Capacity Planning in Higher Learning Institutions (Essay Sample)

Capacity Planning
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Capacity Planning
Capacity planning in higher learning institutions involves determining the capacity needed by the institution to meet the changing demand for its programs. Poor capacity planning may lead to either overcrowded and congestion or empty facilities and courses (de la Torre, Lusa & Mateo, 2014). An example of capacity planning at a college university is the introduction of distance learning in a university like Ohio State University. The institution is expanding its capacity to make the necessary adjustments to meet the rising market demands. The university has the option of offering online learning programs if its capacity is overstretched. Similarly, students who do not have the ability or time to attend classes also have an alternative. Online classrooms usually have lower overhead costs than physical classrooms. However, the university will still have to plan for additional resources such as servers to store files, more teachers, and improved website management. Ohio State University also employs short-term capacity planning, such as determining how many programs to offer, how many students to admit for its programs, and real-time view of resource utilization.
In my opinion, the above example is a good capacity planning practice because it is done bearing in mind the expansion plans, future growth, and demand trends. Additionally, a strategy like distance learning optimizes resource allocation and streamlines resource demand planning. It also addresses the concerns of doubling of college-bound population in the next decade. Addressing capacity concerns may be a costly endeavor for many institutions. For instance, based on a report by the Higher Education Scheduling Index, institutions spent over $11.6 billion on construction in 2015, with 8.7