Why CourseLeaf is the Only Academic Operations Software for SLU

Saint Louis University is proud of its long-standing partnership with CourseLeaf, which keeps the campus on the cutting edge of digital academic operations

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University (SLU) is the second-oldest Catholic campus in the United States. At SLU, students are encouraged to serve others and challenged to make the world a better place. In addition to its impressive history in higher education, SLU has a significant history with CourseLeaf: It was among the first schools in the nation to implement CourseLeaf ‘s academic operations platform nearly a decade ago and continues to be a loyal partner.

“We’re big fans of CourseLeaf,” says Nicole Mispagel, assistant registrar at SLU. “CourseLeaf was our first software provider, and we love how its many tools help us work together to keep course and degree information centralized and organized. We’re loyal to CourseLeaf because CourseLeaf understands higher ed.”

SLU started its CourseLeaf journey in 2017 when the school added CourseLeaf CAT and CLSS to Ellucian Banner, its student information system. CAT is an academic catalog software that helps campuses develop, edit, and publish engaging course catalogs that are easy for students to navigate. CLSS is an academic scheduling software that reduces course conflicts for students and ensures the efficient use of learning spaces across campus.

A catalog and scheduling game-changer

Mispagel was a catalog editor at SLU’s College of Engineering and Aviation in 2017, and she remembers well the ah-ha moment when she first experienced the powerful efficiencies of CourseLeaf.

CAT’s online interface provides tools that allow users to easily add, edit, and update content (no more paper printouts!). It also tracks edits so users can view the evolution of catalog development and approvals (no more phantom approvals!). CLSS helps administrators create course schedules that work for students and campus logistics, ensuring the efficient use of learning spaces across the entire campus.

Since moving to SLU's registrar's office, Mispagel has learned more about CourseLeaf and SLU's love story. For instance, SLU Registrar Jay P. Haugen first learned about the Iowa-based software company at a conference of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO). Like Mispagel, Haugen was impressed by the efficiencies and student-centered benefits of CourseLeaf’s suite of software options.

Committed to innovation

Once SLU implemented CAT and CLSS and saw the benefits of partnering with CourseLeaf’s ace academic operations experts, administrators were eager to continue working with the company. Over the years, SLU has made upgrades to CAT and CLSS to continue leveraging the software to meet campus goals. Last year, they added CourseLeaf’s curriculum management and student advising and registration modules, CIM and PATH, further cementing the entities' partnership.

CIM is a curriculum management solution that simplifies curriculum updates, approvals, and outcomes mapping. At SLU, it is saving administrators time and energy. In the past, if professors or academic department administrators wanted to change a course description or a course’s requirements, they would have to initiate a lengthy approval process, which, at SLU, meant filling out forms and circulating them among different committees.

“People are always looking to make changes,” says Mispagel. “And in the past, when we used paper forms, requests would get lost, or people would forget to sign off on them. But now, with CIM, I can see exactly who is making changes and when they made them. This is handy because anyone with access to CIM can see precisely where things are in the workflow.”

Features that support each institution

When building the CIM platform for SLU, CourseLeaf added specific features for the campus, including a “rule” that reminds staff to include each course’s Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code and, when necessary, to add STEM features to course descriptions for foreign students who need to take such courses to qualify for extended visas post-graduation. This is an essential feature for SLU because the school welcomes students from over 80 countries yearly.

“I love all of the tools CourseLeaf offers,” says Mispagel. “The tools, along with the rules, help us enforce deadlines and policies and protect important information. CourseLeaf ensures that the right people edit and approve changes.”

Help for students, too

Another perk, according to Mispagel, is the “shopping cart” feature in CourseLeaf PATH. This feature allows students to prepare for registration days or even weeks in advance so they are ready to submit their top choices when registration opens. This feature also provides “priority” registration depending on the student’s status. Graduate and undergraduate students closest to their graduation date are typically at the head of the line.

Students also appreciate the search options offered by CourseLeaf CLSS. Gone are the days when students needed a course code to find a course in the catalog. Today, they can search for a course by attributes and course time slots.

“We have never used anyone other than CourseLeaf, and for good reason,” says Mispagel. “CourseLeaf reduces staff time on tasks and keeps academic departments communicating together. Curriculum management has been amazing—we use fewer Word docs and spend less time chasing down signatures.”

Respect for clients

The LeepFrog User Community (LUC) Conference is the largest annual gathering of “curriculum geeks in the world,” and Mispagel and her colleagues look forward to attending. One of the highlights of the conference is when CourseLeaf CEO Lee Brintle takes questions and comments from the audience. For Mispagel, this moment exemplifies the company’s dedication to its clients and the schools they serve.

“LUC is a blast—it’s one of the highlights of my year,” says Mispagel. “It’s amazing to meet so many partners and to see Lee up there writing down all of the comments and ideas from the audience.”

At SLU, the overall impression of CourseLeaf—its management, employees, and products—is very positive. When Mispagel has a question, she contacts customer service and very quickly receives a response. She gives kudos to CourseLeaf for staying on top of higher education trends and constantly improving the usability and functionality of its software products. 

“With CourseLeaf, I know there are real people on the other end of the email or telephone line who care about end-users and value our input.”