As part of the Graduation Initiative, UNC Charlotte is adopting a new catalog content management system Acalog and a paperless course and curriculum approval process system Curriculog.
These two new software programs are part of the multistep initiative designed to clarify degree requirements, reduce barriers to student progression and aid in students’ ability to successfully navigate their curriculum.
First developed by Digital Architecture in 2001, Acalog is database-driven; it currently is being used by hundreds of colleges and universities. This product was selected after careful examination of all available software options and will be implemented for use by faculty and staff beginning spring 2015. The 2015-16 academic catalogs will be the first produced and published by the new software.
More than a decade ago, the University began offering the Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs on CD. With technological advancements and the consideration of additional environmental and cost-savings measures, UNC Charlotte began to produce an online-only version of the catalogs. The new content management system will offer an upgraded version of the current online catalog website, and it will deliver an interactive experience for students, who will be able to tag favorites, personalizing their experience and keeping a portfolio specific to their degree program and interests. Additionally, a built-in mobile feature will provide easy smartphone access to well-organized catalog content.
“Given the size of our institution,” noted Provost Joan Lorden at University Convocation on Aug. 19, “we need all the help we can get from technology to support our student success initiatives.”
Recently, both the Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs expanded to 700-plus page documents. With Acalog, consistency and accuracy will be improved throughout. Searching these massive tomes will become easier as it will allow users to narrow by colleges, departments, programs, courses or keywords. Acalog will function with Banner Self-Service, the University’s current online registration system, to automatically populate course descriptions for students to read and review while registering for classes.
Directly following execution of Acalog, implementation will begin on Curriculog, the accompanying curriculum management software.
This new software will help automate the annual Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog review process, and it will streamline and automate the curriculum approval process, replacing all of the current Faculty Governance paper processes, such as the Short Form and Long Form.
“It will simplify the process of curricular change,” stated Lorden. Proposed changes will go through an online process where programs and courses may be created or modified and then routed for review and approval by college and University committees, all without any paperwork. The program will maintain an electronic history of tracked edits, comments and approvals.
Following all of the necessary approval channels, changes to existing programs will be ready for seamless integration into the next academic catalog through Acalog. Additionally, when making changes to a particular course (e.g., course title, course number) in one part of the catalog, the software will automatically update that course anywhere it appears in the catalog, from the list of course descriptions to a course prerequisite to a degree program requirement.
As a result of these changes, the annual catalog review process will be altered; reviewers will be notified of the new procedures following Acalog’s implementation. Training for the new user-friendly software will be offered by the Center for Teaching and Learning, with workshop information forthcoming during the academic year.
Current course and curriculum procedures will remain the same for the 2014-15 academic year, with Curriculog replacing these in fall 2015.
Additional details and FAQs are on the Web.