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Leaping Forward: Campus Course Inventory Management System Updates

Student relaxes in Talley Student Union.
Student relaxes in Talley Student Union.

This past March, representatives from NC State’s Office of Undergraduate Courses Curricula and Academic Standards (OUCCAS), the Graduate School, and Registration and Records attended the annual Leepfrog User Conference (LUC).

The conference is hosted by Leapfrog, the company that makes the CourseLeaf software NC State uses for course approval – the Course Inventory Management system, or CIM. LUC provides users an opportunity to network, learn about new updates, and provide input on future plans for the system. Lexi Hergeth, of OUCCAS, attended this year’s LUC as an advocate for undergraduate program concerns from across NC State. Hergeth notes, “the conference serves as a great way to connect with Leepfrog support staff, learn about new technologies and updates, and enhance the user experience.”

LUC is a great setting to discuss and resolve current issues within the CIM system. Hergeth explains, “the conference provides time and space for Leepfrog support staff to meet with attendees to clear up errors in the CIM system quickly and in-person.” She further notes, “it also gives users a chance to ask for updates to the system.” For example, during this year’s conference, NC State requested the ability to export a CIM record into a Word Document to enable users to download CIM course records in a cleaner format. CourseLeaf support staff was able to do just that. Hergeth also advocated for fixes and improvements in response to faculty user input, such as PDF exports to facilitate syllabus creation, and automatically-generated email reminders for stalled actions. While some suggested updates were taken under consideration, issues regarding workflow and attachments were able to be resolved during the in-person support time provided at LUC. Another issue that was resolved during the conference was related to cross-listed courses displaying incorrectly. Since the fix at the conference was implemented, Hergeth has been able to assist faculty in submitting cross-listed course actions successfully.

The conference also provides attendees with the opportunity to network and connect with representatives from other institutions using CourseLeaf products and share ideas based on their experience. “It was a great way to see how other institutions are using CourseLeaf and understand what works for them and why,” Hergeth states.

Furthermore, the NC State team was able to provide feedback on upcoming CourseLeaf ideas and give developers feedback on how improvements in the technologies could be implemented specifically for our campus to benefit faculty at all levels of the university.

“It was a great way to see how other institutions are using CourseLeaf and understand what works for them and why.”

Additionally, Hergeth attended “Best Practice” training sessions to be able to provide clearer guidance to CIM users in our campus community. Based on the information presented at the conference and the specific needs of NC State faculty and staff, Hergeth updates CIM training to provide timely and accurate information to the NC State community. Her training aims to provide CIM users with the confidence and knowledge to effectively and efficiently create and edit courses in the system while providing beneficial information for existing users in need of targeted guidance or a refresher. For those interested in learning more about CIM or looking to scheduling an individual or group training session, please contact the office using this Google Form.