CASE STUDY
STC Improves Catalog Process with CourseLeaf
At a Glance
Institution Type: Four-Year Public
Enrollment: 18,000 students
SIS Integration: Ellucian Banner Integration; Ellucian Degree Works Integration
Challenge: Manual print catalog process; Unstructured review and approvals; Limited content owner review
CourseLeaf Solutions: CourseLeaf CAT Academic Catalog Software
Creating a Better Academic Catalog
Founded in 1993, South Texas College (STC) serves more than 32,000 students across five campuses and is recognized for its commitment to student success, workforce development, and innovative academic programs. As the only community college in Texas offering five bachelor's degrees, the institution depends on accurate, accessible academic information to support students throughout their educational journey.
Prior to implementing CourseLeaf CAT, however, the college relied entirely on printed catalogs and manual publishing processes that required significant time and coordination.
Moving Beyond Manual Catalog Publishing
Before 2017, STC maintained its academic catalog through print publications and manually updated documents.
According to Christina Cavazos, Director of Curriculum, the process required extensive manual effort.
"We had only print catalogs, and we used design software to update them. Individual pages were created and edited through word processing software," recalled Cavazos.
The manual approach created inefficiencies throughout the publication process.
"It left room for errors. It did not provide the owners of the content a chance to review and make changes if needed prior to publishing. It was very time consuming, and there was no structure in place for comprehensive oversight," said Cavazos.
The college recognized the need for a more efficient process that would improve collaboration while giving academic departments greater ownership of their catalog content.
Finding the Right Solution
STC assembled a committee representing academic leadership, faculty, admissions, advising, public relations, curriculum, and information technology to evaluate online catalog solutions.
The committee wanted more than a digital catalog. It wanted a workflow that supported collaboration, accountability, and accuracy across the institution.
Reflecting on the evaluation process, Cavazos said the feature that stood out most was "the workflow setup that allowed department heads to review and approve their pages, but also to assign representatives from each division to review and ensure the accuracy of all pages related to their area of responsibility."
The committee also valued CourseLeaf's integration with Ellucian Degree Works.
According to Cavazos, "the only system that had Degree Works integrated." Because STC had recently implemented Degree Works, "we believed it would benefit us to have systems that work together."
Improving Accuracy and Accountability
STC launched CourseLeaf CAT in 2017.
Although the implementation began using content from the previous academic year, the first full publication cycle demonstrated how much more efficient the process had become.
"We already had the print version completed because we wanted to be sure we'd meet our target implementation date," said Cavazos. "So when we were building that catalog in CourseLeaf, we took our time."
Once the 2017-18 catalog was published, academic departments became active participants in maintaining catalog accuracy.
"The content owners could not only correct their content, but they could also be held accountable, since they had to approve the pages through CAT's workflow," said Cavazos.
Providing earlier access to catalog information also improved support for students.
"We received great feedback from our administrators, advising staff, and admissions staff, because they all had access to the information earlier than usual. This made it easier for them to advise both current and incoming students about course and degree requirements," said Cavazos.
A Partnership That Supports Continuous Improvement
For STC, the implementation experience was just as important as the technology.
Reflecting on the project, Cavazos said,
"What I really liked about the whole implementation experience was the customer service provided."
She added,
"CourseLeaf staff were wonderful in helping us meeting our target implementation, providing training to our end users, and being responsive to our calls and emails. It made the transition very smooth, and since making the switch we've received great feedback about making the information available sooner to our student support staff to advise our students accurately and our ability to update important policies quickly, so that our students and the public always have the most up-to-date information."
Supporting Better Student Service
Today, South Texas College manages its academic catalog through a structured, collaborative process that improves accuracy, increases accountability, and makes important academic information available sooner.
By replacing manual catalog publishing with connected workflows, the college has strengthened collaboration across departments while giving advisors, faculty, and students access to more timely and reliable academic information.