Integrated Catalog Reduces Time to Publish by 75% at Parker University
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Institutional Overview
Location: Dallas, TX
SIS: Jenzabar
Early Outcomes
- Reduced the time to create and publish the catalog by 75%, from two months to two weeks
- Introduced the search function to the catalog and reduced the number of student questions received by the registrar’s office
- Integrated the catalog, curriculum, and scheduling processes to improve data governance
Tedious Catalog Process Required Manually Editing Hundreds of Pages
Prior to Coursedog, staff at Parker University created and managed the catalog manually. This required managing a 300-page document, sending out each section to relevant departments, and compiling changes from each department manually.
To solve this challenge, Parker looked to adopt a new solution. When selecting a catalog vendor, Senior Director and Registrar Andi Repp noted that:
”When we were comparing Coursedog with other vendors, the different products that integrated with catalog really resonated with us. How can we create something that is comprehensive and consistent across the board in each of the areas that we need, like curriculum, scheduling, and now syllabi?”
Time to Create the Catalog Reduced by 75% With Coursedog
Creating the catalog manually used to take staff at Parker at least two months to compile, review, revise, approve, and publish. Now with Coursedog, staff are able to create the catalog in two weeks, a time savings of 75%. Instead of going through numerous manual steps, staff now notify content owners when it is time to do a revision and then go through a workflow to approve each section.
User-Friendly, Searchable Catalog Reduces Number of Student Questions
With Parker’s old catalog, students had to scroll through a 300-page PDF or rely on control/command+F to search for keywords. As a result, students often couldn’t find the information they needed or gave up due to how difficult it was. Staff frequently received emails and phone calls with questions about simple information that lived in the catalog and students were unable to find.
Now, students use Coursedog’s search functionality to quickly find information such as curriculum charts, grading policies, and leave of absence policies. Staff report receiving fewer catalog questions via email and are able to spend time supporting more critical and nuanced student questions.
”Students didn’t look at the catalog, they didn’t take the time to do it. With it being so much more intuitive and user friendly, they can now go and look for their answers.” - Andi Repp, Senior Director and Registrar
Integrated Products Reduce Errors & Improve Data Governance
Adopting an integrated catalog, curriculum, scheduling, and syllabus tool allowed Parker to reduce errors in the catalog. For example, leveraging a curriculum system that is directly connected to the catalog eliminates inaccurate course descriptions and inactive courses in the catalog.
“I love that the Coursedog curriculum pulls directly out of our SIS and that it is the one place that I need to update. Now with changes going into a workflow, approved changes are now correct in the SIS and Coursedog for the catalog. When the curriculum council disbursed word documents with approved course descriptions or changes, they didn’t always get updated in every place.” - Andi Repp, Senior Director and Registrar
The integrated approach to academic operations also allows for stronger data governance, as changes are now accurately reflected across all systems.
“That is the number one thing for me is that it's more than just a catalog. It's got the other things with it that you can integrate. It talks to your SIS and for us it was really just needing consistency and governance.” - Andi Repp, Senior Director and Registrar
