Case Study: Williamson College of the Trades

The Challenges

We spoke with Susan Waller, Williamson's Vice President of Research and Assessment, who reflected on the college's history with course catalogs. She explained that Williamson did not use an online catalog software application prior to Clean Catalog, and that the catalog was updated each year through Microsoft Word and InDesign. While the process had become familiar to staff, it still required a considerable amount of manual work and offered none of the flexibility of an online catalog. Since the college had never used catalog management software before, moving to an online platform presented a hurdle for both students and staff. It was important that the new catalog feel intuitive for users while making backend editing and publishing much more efficient.

The Process

From the start, the goal was to make the transition as seamless as possible. Rather than asking Williamson to rethink the structure of its catalog, our team worked alongside the college to recreate the organization they were already comfortable with, while giving staff new tools for keeping content accurate and up-to-date each year.

The implementation went much more smoothly than the Williamson team anticipated. Waller shared that the transition was "easier than expected" and credited the Clean Catalog team throughout the process, saying, "Gabby was outstanding in assisting us in the transition." Once the catalog was live, the benefits were immediately apparent. Waller described the administrative interface as "very easy to use," adding that "the software application is user-friendly and intuitive."

Our Solutions

While Williamson's implementation followed many of Clean Catalog's standard best practices, several custom design elements helped showcase what makes the college unique. Since Williamson offers a focused collection of trade degree programs, we customized the Degrees & Programs page to give each program greater visual prominence. Larger degree cards, paired with custom trade icons, create a cleaner layout that highlights each area of study and makes better use of the page.

We also designed a custom homepage featuring a full-width image of Williamson's campus, along with three quick-access buttons that direct visitors to the Catalog, Degrees & Programs, and Courses. These shortcuts make it easy for students, faculty, and prospective students to find the information they're looking for. To streamline navigation throughout the catalog, we created a custom footer with links to each of Williamson's trade degree programs, giving users quick access to the most-visited academic pages from anywhere on the site. The finished catalog feels like a natural extension of Williamson's website.

Looking Forward

Today, Williamson College of the Trades has a modern online catalog that's easier to manage, easier to navigate, and built to stay current for years to come. Staff no longer rely on a manual Word and InDesign workflow, and annual updates can now be completed through an intuitive administrative interface. When asked what she would tell another school considering Clean Catalog, Waller didn't hesitate: "We would HIGHLY RECOMMEND Clean Catalog to another institution."

She also reflected on the implementation itself, noting that the Clean Catalog team's "proactive support and timeliness throughout the process was outstanding," adding that the team "really made the transition process for us easy and on schedule." For Williamson, the result is more than a new catalog. It's a modern publishing solution that supports the college's mission while keeping academic information accurate, accessible, and up to date.