Seamless Integration of Syllabus and Course Catalog Software

August 27, 2024

Last updated: January 31, 2025

As our world becomes increasingly online, higher ed institutions may feel overwhelmed not only by the number of software providers to choose from, but also by the number of platforms their institution already uses. Switching between multiple accounts, learning different backend interfaces, and updating content in multiple platforms can lead to software fatigue.

Consolidating multiple publications into the same software can be a great way to simplify admin tasks and improve overall efficiency. Clean Catalog offers multiple software options, including course catalog, syllabus management, curriculum management, and handbook software. Course catalog and syllabus management software, in particular, are a popular choice to bundle for a multitude of reasons.

Publishing Syllabi and Course Catalogs Together

Of the documents a higher ed institution publishes, the course catalog and syllabi are the ones most commonly delegated to staff members, such as professors and department chairs. This content frequently changes between academic years, so empowering faculty members to edit their own department’s content can save your registrar’s office countless hours of data entry.

Workflows and approval processes are a powerful way to achieve this. Our course catalog software and syllabus management software both have these tools built in, which can enable staff members to edit course listings and syllabi from the same backend interface.

Whether your institution has already launched a course catalog with us or is interested in transitioning from your current platform, syllabus software can be added at any stage of the process.

The Advantages of Publishing Syllabi and the Course Catalog in Tandem

Integrating syllabi and course catalogs on a single platform offers numerous benefits in terms of functionality, accessibility, and convenience.

Benefits for Students

For students, having both course listings and syllabi in one place simplifies the user experience. Because they can easily access detailed course information alongside the corresponding syllabus, they receive a comprehensive overview of each class.

Benefits for Staff

For staff, this integration streamlines administrative tasks. Managing course listings and syllabi from one backend system reduces the need to switch between multiple systems, minimizing the risk of inconsistencies between course information and syllabus content.

Content can also be synced with your institution’s SIS or LMS using our API integration to further simplify editing for your staff. By choosing a single platform as your source of truth, updates can then be pushed and pulled at a regular cadence to ensure all publications are consistent.

Custom templates can also be designed for both course listings and syllabi. These templates ensure essential details, such as instructor name, semester, meeting times, location, credit hours, attendance policies, exam dates, and more, are completed prior to publication. These templates facilitate consistent and efficient content creation.

Benefits for Your Institution

For your institution as a whole, bundling software is not only beneficial in saving budget, but can increase the overall effectiveness of your publications. By hosting your course catalog and syllabi within the same platform, you are driving all web traffic to a single page rather than to a different site for each publication. This boosts your SEO and presence online, ultimately driving more prospective student traffic to your site.

See the Benefits in Action

We recently launched a bundled integration for Panola College, which has proven to be a huge success for both their students and staff. Their new site features a dedicated repository for syllabi alongside course listings, allowing users to effortlessly navigate between course details and syllabus documents. Staff members have also reported that content management has been simplified by hosting all content within one platform.

Integrating syllabus and course catalog software with Clean Catalog is a streamlined solution for managing academic resources. By centralizing access to course information and syllabi, institutions can improve functionality, accessibility, and convenience for both students and staff. As shown by Panola College’s recent launch, this integration marks a significant advancement in academic management, paving the way for more efficient and user-friendly higher ed publications.

For more information about how your institution can integrate these publications, reach out to a Clean Catalog representative today!