Registration for Kuali Days is now open!

4 Benefits of Using Kuali Catalog from Southern New Hampshire University

March 20, 2018

The dreaded time arrived once again – the month before the annual course catalog publication at Southern New Hampshire University. With three colleges, 60,000+ students and one registrar’s office, publishing the course catalog was an “all hands on deck” process.

Mary Higgins, Assistant VP of Academic Resources and Communication Initiatives at SNHU, knew it was time for an upgrade. The university’s goal was to provide students with a world-class experience, the kind that was expected from a university with an international presence like SNHU. The current catalog management system wasn’t cutting it.

Prior to working with Kuali, SNHU used a sharing platform with limited capabilities. Administrators had a difficult time finding the information they needed, and tracking changes was nearly impossible. Additionally, the curriculum and catalog weren’t automatically synced. The catalog publication process required intensive reviews, manual entry, and hours of editing. And for online users, there were even occasional blackout periods.

Enter Kuali Catalog Management. In 2017, Mary Higgins began investigating Kuali’s catalog solution. University associates and the Kuali Student team worked together to build the features that SNHU was looking for. Here are 4 of Higgins’ favorite features.

1. Curriculum Integration

Kuali Catalog integrates seamlessly with Kuali Curriculum Management. That’s because information about programs, courses, requisites, dependencies, and much more are automatically pulled from the curricular data that’s already been entered. There is no need to schedule blackout periods to allow for manual entry and editing. Tracking edits is simplified, information is consistent, and human error is significantly reduced.

2. Easy Printing

Prior to implementing Kuali, administrators at SNHU spent weeks creating a printable version of their catalog. This included copying and pasting, downloading documents one at a time, and manually re-ordering files. They had to complete this process not only for catalog coursework but also for university policies. With Kuali, SNHU can print with the press of a button.

“This process, formerly consisting of multiple weeks of manual work, now happens in under a minute. Simple push of a button, download the catalog and it is created exactly in the order you have designated.” – Carrie Morel, Senior Assistant Registrar for Curriculum and Scheduling

Then, before printing, SNHU administrators had to manually insert university branding. Kuali allows SNHU to add their own branding online. Administrators don’t have to add branding like headers and footers, cover sheets, and university colors to each PDF. Again, this results in less copying and pasting (and hearing the groans from the marketing team).

3. Organized Data

Another feature SNHU  loves is more flexibility to organize data. Within Kuali Catalog, SNHU can create, delete, and rename fields in a menu. Catalog provides many options for configuration. This kind of flexibility also allows SNHU to keep their catalog language uniform with existing university language. There is no need to adopt new vocabulary assigned by an outside party.

Not only can administrators name items, but they can also organize them in a best-fit model. With Kuali Catalog, administrators can configure the menus to fit their institution’s needs. This new ability was much appreciated by SNHU.

4. Predictive Search

Kuali Catalog’s search feature is predictive. When a user types in “accounting,” all titles and courses including that word appear in the results. The policy section has the same feature. For SNHU, this function saves time for students and administrators, helping them find what they’re looking for quickly.

Kuali Catalog saves time for administrators with its curriculum integration feature, easy printing, organized data, and predictive search. The product is continually innovating and improving, helping SNHU and others get closer to their goal of providing a world-class experience for their students.

To learn more about SNHU’s experience with Kuali Catalog, watch the webinar. To request a demo, visit kuali.co/.

Become a partner, not just a customer.
Connect with Kuali