CASE STUDY
Curriculum Management at Colorado State University
Colorado State University Modernizes Curriculum Management to Strengthen Academic Operations
At a Glance
Institution Type: Four-Year Public
Enrollment: 28,300 students
SIS Integration: Ellucian Banner Integration
Challenge: Paper-based approval processes; Word and PDF catalog management; Missed deadlines and workflow backlogs
CourseLeaf Solutions: CourseLeaf CIM Curriculum Management Software, CourseLeaf CAT Academic Catalog Software
From Paper Processes to Connected Academic Operations
Colorado State University (CSU) has a long history of academic excellence and continuous improvement. As the university invested more than $1.5 billion in campus improvements, leaders recognized that the processes supporting curriculum and catalog management also needed to evolve.
Like many institutions, CSU had outgrown paper-based curriculum processes. Manual approvals, campus mail routing, and disconnected catalog publishing made it increasingly difficult to keep academic information current and move curriculum changes through governance efficiently.
Rather than simply replacing paper forms, CSU saw an opportunity to modernize curriculum management, improve collaboration across campus, and create a more sustainable foundation for managing academic change.
Managing Curriculum at the Scale of a Research University
Established in 1870, Colorado State University is the flagship institution of the Colorado State University System. Serving more than 30,000 students across eight colleges and dozens of academic departments, the university manages hundreds of academic programs and a continually evolving curriculum.
Before implementing CourseLeaf, curriculum approvals relied on paper forms that circulated across campus for signatures before returning to the Registrar's Office for processing.
"Paper forms circulated through campus mail for approval signatures," explains Andrea Russo, CSU's Assistant Registrar for Curriculum and Catalog. "The forms came back to the curriculum office for processing, and then paper agendas were sent to the curriculum committee. The course catalog was a compilation of word processing documents first sent around to campus partners, then converted to PDFs."
The process was becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. Curriculum changes took longer than desired, publishing timelines slipped, and maintaining an accurate catalog required significant manual effort.
Improving accuracy was a priority, but so was creating a faster, more transparent curriculum workflow that could better support faculty, academic departments, and institutional governance.
Choosing a Platform Built for Complex Curriculum Governance
CSU began evaluating web-based curriculum management solutions that could support robust academic workflows while providing flexibility for the university's evolving needs.
The University Curriculum Committee, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs, academic advisors, and other campus stakeholders consulted peer institutions as part of the selection process.
"We were looking for an online web-based solution with a robust workflow," says Russo.
After evaluating available options and hearing strong recommendations from peer institutions, CSU selected CourseLeaf. The platform's flexibility, transparency, and ease of publishing aligned with the university's goals for improving curriculum management and catalog operations.
"I joined CSU shortly after they implemented CourseLeaf CAT for catalog publication and CIM for curriculum management, and I came from a university that had implemented an online catalog and curriculum management system with a different vendor. Having worked extensively with two different curriculum management systems, I vastly prefer CourseLeaf. CourseLeaf is more robust and can handle the nitty gritty details of curriculum more efficiently and cleanly. I am impressed with CourseLeaf's continuous innovation and responsiveness," says Shelly Ellerby, CSU's Curriculum Liaison Specialist.
Replacing Paper with Transparent, Connected Workflows
In fall 2015, CSU implemented CourseLeaf CAT for catalog publishing and CourseLeaf CIM for curriculum management. The transition from paper-based processes to connected digital workflows produced immediate improvements.
"We saw improvement with the first publication," recalls Russo. "We now have learning objectives available for all to see. Having changes to curriculum—courses and programs—preserved in the historical record is so helpful, as now it is possible to see differences over time. Workflow is dynamic, and it's much easier to get proposals to other departments for comment."
As curriculum information began flowing directly from CIM into CAT, the accuracy and consistency of the university catalog improved while reducing duplicate effort. Within a single semester, faculty and staff had become comfortable using the new process, and ongoing CourseLeaf enhancements continued to strengthen the university's curriculum management capabilities.
Supporting Academic Governance
The greatest impact extended beyond efficiency.
CSU created a curriculum process that is more transparent, easier to manage, and better equipped to support collaboration across departments. Academic proposals move through a structured workflow with greater visibility, helping reviewers participate earlier and making curriculum decisions easier to track over time.
Historical records are preserved, learning objectives are readily available, and catalog content remains more closely aligned with approved curriculum, giving faculty, staff, and students greater confidence in the accuracy of academic information.
Creating a Foundation for Future Innovation
While CSU's initial goal was to improve efficiency and eliminate backlog, the university also established a stronger operational foundation for future academic change.
With modern curriculum management and catalog publishing in place, CSU is better positioned to adapt programs, respond to evolving academic priorities, and continue improving the experience for faculty, staff, and students. By strengthening the processes behind curriculum governance, the university created an academic operations foundation that can support innovation for years to come.
"The ease of training new users makes for a painless on-boarding process," says Russo, "and the tireless customer service has made a very good impression, too."