Academics

Penn State Bulletins to transition to user-friendly management system

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State recently launched a new initiative to replace the University Bulletins web-based interface with CourseLeaf Catalog, an academic catalog management system solution that will improve the accuracy, functionality and maintenance capabilities of the degree-program bulletins. The transition to the new bulletin system will align with recent University-wide academic and student information system improvements.

Executive sponsors of the University Bulletin Implementation Project are Robert Pangborn, vice president and dean for Undergraduate Education, and Regina Vasilatos-Younken, vice provost for Graduate Education and dean of the Graduate School.

The University Bulletins provide comprehensive academic information to students including degree program requirements, General Education requirements, course descriptions, and program descriptions. The current bulletin migrated from a print publication to an online platform in 2007, but functional, user and integration needs have evolved beyond the current system’s capacity.

“Updating the bulletins to a more intuitive and flexible system will contribute significantly to the ease with which students can explore and take an active role in their education to achieve their academic goals,” said Pangborn. “For students, the system offers enhanced mobile features and filtering options through engaging design and a user-friendly interface. Faculty and staff will see increased precision, efficiency and sustainability in curriculum management processes.”

Other universities using CourseLeaf include Northwestern, the University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Stanford and Temple. CourseLeaf is a software product that allows higher education clients to build bulletins with intuitive editing tools and on-demand publishing capabilities to web, mobile, tablet and print platforms. CourseLeaf is managed by Leepfrog Technologies, a company with more than 20 years of experience in developing innovative web solutions through customized software.

“Leepfrog has successfully provided academic information systems to universities of a similar size and organizational complexity to Penn State, and we look forward to the advanced capabilities the new system will afford all educational sectors of the University,” said Vasilatos-Younken. “This initiative is consistent with Penn State’s focus on deploying effective and agile systems to support organizational processes that enable the University to fulfill its mission and vision.”

The Bulletins Steering Committee is co-chaired by Alan Rieck, assistant vice president and assistant dean for Undergraduate Education, and Robert Kubat, assistant vice president for Undergraduate Education and the university registrar. Members of the committee include representatives from faculty, staff and students. The Bulletins Steering Committee and Bulletins Implementation Team will immediately begin work with Leepfrog to review and validate academic information and develop new bulletin content.  

Updates regarding the bulletins initiative will be posted to a project website that is currently under development.

Questions can be directed to bulletins@psu.edu

Last Updated September 5, 2017