Citrus College Finds "COR" Support for Academic Operations in the Golden State

“When we signed up with CourseLeaf, we were looking for an integrated catalog and curriculum solution with intuitive functioning, online approval processes, and strong customer service support and that’s exactly what we got.” 

- Gwen Harris, Catalog and Schedule Analyst at Citrus College

In California’s vast community college network, Citrus’ streamlined system is getting noticed

Citrus College opened its doors in 1915 and is one of California’s oldest community colleges. Located in the City of Glendora in Los Angeles County, it serves 16,000 students with various educational goals. Some successfully transfer to a four-year college or university, while others hone professional skills to boost their careers.

In addition to its vital role as an education and skills development hub, the college is also making improvements in curriculum and catalog management that other colleges in the state’s network of 115 community colleges are noting and, in some cases, replicating.

“We’re a trailblazer because we were the first California community college to implement CourseLeaf CIM in 2018,” says Gwen Harris, Catalog and Schedule Analyst at Citrus College. “Now, other colleges are hearing about our experience with CourseLeaf and want the same benefits.”  

With CourseLeaf’s help, Citrus College transitioned from an arduous and time-consuming curriculum management system to one that allows academic divisions to update program curricula quickly and collaboratively.  Citrus College administrators have shared their positive experiences with colleagues at other community colleges, and now, other campuses are partnering with CourseLeaf, too.

Up and down the state, many California community colleges use CourseLeaf. Citrus College was part of a small group of community college campuses in the state to start using CourseLeaf's catalog software, called CAT, in 2017. A year later, the campus added their curriculum software, called CIM. Administrators are working with CourseLeaf to add more automated features to their CIM platform.

“California has precise requirements for community college curriculum development and approval,” says Christine Recendez, Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of Academic Affairs. “It’s helpful to work with a service provider who understands our unique needs and curriculum challenges.” 

Managing CORs and more

In the California community college system, the Course Outline of Record, or COR, defines student learning outcomes and assessments, methods of instruction and evaluation, and instructional materials for each course. Faculty members use the CORs to create classes and build lessons. Course requirements and descriptions are pulled directly from the CORs to the course catalog, so they must be complete and correct.

Before CourseLeaf, Citrus’ CORs were challenging to review and check for accuracy, mainly because the college's software displayed each section of the COR on a separate page. “This made it cumbersome for the administrative staff and faculty to access the data they needed,” says Harris. “And even if they printed out a COR, the printed version didn’t include all of the relevant data, such as effective term start dates.”

Today, Citrus College administrators and faculty no longer worry about missing critical information about a course and its requirements because it is easy to use CourseLeaf’s CIM software to locate a COR document and check for specific details. And since the college also uses CourseLeaf’s CAT software to manage its catalog, there is a constant flow of information between the two systems.

“When we signed up with CourseLeaf, we were looking for an integrated catalog and curriculum solution with intuitive functioning, online approval processes, and strong customer service support,” says Harris. “And that’s exactly what we got.”

Delivering on control and customization

For Citrus College, it was also important to have ownership of all curriculum content. When working with a previous higher education software provider, college officials found out too late that the content they had uploaded onto the platform was not considered proprietary. They were shocked when they could not export the content they had created.

“With CourseLeaf, we were reassured up front that we would never lose access to our own catalog and curriculum data,” says Harris.

Citrus College also wanted to work with a service provider that would allow them to create campus-specific forms and integrate other customized options into their curriculum management and catalog platforms. Harris and Recendez say they appreciate that CourseLeaf representatives are willing to brainstorm with them to develop easy-to-use digital forms that work for administrators and faculty alike.

Earlier this year, the campus added degree and certificate maps to the course catalog as required by California’s Guided Pathways initiative. Each Pathway provides students with a multi-semester course map that helps them navigate to program completion and eventual school transfer. Guided Pathways is a statewide initiative intended to boost program completion rates, and all campuses are in the process of adding Pathways to their course catalogs.

“I’ve been very impressed with the willingness of our CourseLeaf reps to make modifications that will enhance the overall experience of using the software,” says Harris. “This is another reason we’re happy we went with CourseLeaf.”

Praise and pride

Looking back on the progress made in curriculum and catalog management, Harris and Recendez say they can feel proud of the improvements. CAT transformed a “paper-heavy” catalog publishing process into a streamlined one that provides suitable checks and balances, and CIM aligns data across all platforms.

“Our Curriculum Committee has been universally pleased with the digital form CourseLeaf created for Citrus,” says Harris. “They like that the content is consolidated to one page and that the interface is easy to use.”

Citrus College Curriculum Chair Lisa Villa says that CAT and CIM “were user-friendly from the get-go,” which made her job easier and gave her “confidence to support colleagues when they were learning to use the platforms.”

A reviewer from the Chancellor's Office (which oversees curriculum standards in California) praised the clear, comprehensive layout of Citrus College’s COR and asked to share it with other community colleges in the Golden State.

“We spent a lot of time working with CourseLeaf to create systems that would work for us but also for other colleges in the state,” says Harris. “It’s exciting to think that what we did for our campus could serve as a template for others.”