Case Study — Georgetown College

We recently partnered with the staff at Georgetown College to build a new catalog site for both their undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as a student handbook. Our team spoke with Jason Snider, the associate dean for academic services and registrar, about their experience transitioning to Clean Catalog.

The Challenges

Prior to switching to Clean Catalog, Georgetown College was using catalog software that was built internally by their IT department. This software was time-consuming for their staff to maintain and did not meet objectives set by the registrar’s office. The catalog was considered difficult to navigate, which led to low engagement from both students and faculty. Together, our goal was to create course catalog sites that met modern web standards, reflected their unique academic structure and were easy to use for both their students and staff.

The Process

The process was kicked off by Georgetown staff handing off their old catalog site, after which our Clean Catalog team took over the migration process. We built out separate catalogs for both their undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as a student handbook. The catalog sites and handbook were all accessible from one landing page. Once the core content of the catalog was built out, we worked with their staff to integrate brand colors, logos, and graphics.

Jason Snider said “the process of switching from our previous catalog software to Clean Catalog was incredibly easy! One of the easiest on-boarding experiences we've had with a third party vendor. Clean Catalog was able to make all changes we requested, usually within 1-2 business days. The lift on our end was very little as far as the build was concerned.”

Our Solutions

Georgetown College presented with several unique challenges that required custom build-outs. Snider said that “as a small, private, liberal arts institution we have rather complex academic requirements. This required unique layouts and data sorting. Clean Catalog was able to build these quickly and adjusted them based on our feedback.”

A highlight of Georgetown’s new catalog sites were the degree summary sections that we built specifically for their needs. We collaborated with their team to determine a layout for degree pages that would accommodate their institution’s academic structure. This custom layout allowed us to carry over content from their previous catalog and display it in a more streamlined way. Our team also designed a custom landing page, headers, and footers with Georgetown’s branding to make their catalog sites more visually appealing. As a result, their Clean Catalog sites integrate seamlessly with Georgetown’s primary website without feeling disjointed as many third-party software platforms do.

Looking Ahead

Since launching their new catalog site, Georgetown College has enjoyed improved catalog accessibility and user engagement. Snider is happy with the final result and says “the admin interface is intuitive and simple to use. We've been able to make updates quickly and efficiently.” The minimal learning curve with updating catalog content has made for a smooth transition and lessened the burden of content management. Georgetown will also have access to all future Clean Catalog tech updates, ensuring that their catalog sites will continue meeting modern web standards.