Case Study: Maine College of Health Professions

Managing course syllabi can be a complicated process, especially when information is coming from multiple departments or systems. The staff at Maine College of Health Professions (MCHP) recognized the challenges of their existing process and knew it was time for a change. Their goal was to create a more streamlined way to manage syllabus content while ensuring students had access to accurate, up-to-date course information. Clean Catalog worked with MCHP to develop a customized syllabus solution that consolidates institutional policies, program requirements, course details, and assignments from Canvas, all in one place.

The Challenges

MCHP’s biggest need was a syllabus management system that could pull and sync information from multiple sources. The MCHP staff wanted to ensure content wouldn’t have to be updated in multiple places, which would open the door for errors and inconsistencies. College policies, program requirements, course information, and instructor details all needed to reside in a single syllabus. However, not every course within a program follows the same structure or requirements. MCHP needed the flexibility to sync content across courses while still allowing individual courses to make exceptions.

Another priority was incorporating class assignments from Canvas, MCHP's LMS . Rather than having instructors manually duplicate assignment information in their syllabi, MCHP wanted a way to display assignments and due dates directly from Canvas.

The Process

The Clean Catalog team worked with MCHP to develop a customized approach to organizing and displaying syllabus information. Our first step was establishing what content would be the source of truth, and then establishing a workflow that would pull information from multiple sources. Alongside the MCHP staff, we decided that college-wide policies would be managed at the global level, program-specific information would be shared across applicable courses, and individual course syllabi would contain course-specific details and exceptions. From there, the team focused on creating a Canvas integration that would allow instructors to include class assignments in their syllabi without changing how they manage assignments in Canvas. The result was a flexible syllabus structure designed around MCHP's existing workflows and academic requirements.

Our Solutions

Clean Catalog developed a customized syllabus solution that syncs content from MCHP's academic catalog, program and course syllabi, institutional policies, and Canvas.

Canvas Class Assignments Integration

One of the key features of MCHP’s buildout is the ability to display Canvas assignments directly within an instructor's syllabus. Assignments now appear near the end of the syllabus, complete with links to the corresponding assignments in Canvas and due dates when available. Assignments without a due date are clearly labeled, and private student or group-specific due date overrides are not displayed. The integration is read-only, meaning Canvas remains the source of truth for assignment management. Instructors can refresh assignment information when needed, which eliminates the need to manually recreate assignment lists within their Clean Catalog dashboard.

Program-Level Content Management

Our Clean Catalog team also developed a system that allows MCHP to manage shared program information in one central location. Content such as Program Learning Outcomes, grading policies, clinical requirements, and simulation guidelines can be maintained at the program level and automatically included in relevant course syllabi.

For courses with unique requirements, administrators can use a checklist to exclude individual program fields without affecting other courses. This gives MCHP ultimate flexibility while keeping shared information consistent sitewide.

Comprehensive Instructor Syllabi

Each instructor syllabus combines information from the college, academic catalog, program, course, and Canvas into a single document. This allows MCHP to keep information at its source rather than repeatedly updating the same content across multiple syllabi. Published syllabi are then available in both web and PDF formats, providing students with easy access to important course information.

Looking Forward

With its customized syllabus solution now in place, MCHP has a more streamlined approach to managing academic information while maintaining flexibility across its programs and courses. The Canvas Class Assignments feature is an example of how Clean Catalog software can be tailored to an institution's existing systems and workflows, simplifying the content management process for instructors. As MCHP's needs evolve, its syllabus structure will provide a foundation for maintaining consistent, accessible course information across the institution.