How Norwich University Modernized Scheduling, Catalog, and Curriculum on One Platform with Coursedog

The Challenge 

Growing Scheduling Complexity Created an Opportunity to Modernize

Like many institutions, Norwich University built its course schedule across several systems. The typical process required rolling the schedule in the SIS, moving it into Excel, and coordinating changes with departments over email.The process supported Norwich's scheduling needs, but as those needs became more complex, coordinating information across systems required increasing staff time. For example, when a section changed after registration opened, coordinating around students' existing schedules added another layer of complexity. 

"Scheduling rooms was basically first come, first served…if the room was available, you got it. But if a department was slow returning the schedule, my team had to figure out what room was open, whether it met capacity, and then move things around to find a match. At the time, rooms weren't identified with the attributes they had, so it could take a full day just to untangle." - Cindy Suter, Registrar 

A Time-Intensive Catalog Build Process 

Every year, the registrar's office cloned the prior year’s catalog to start building the new edition, with set-up taking up to two weeks. Edit links were sent to page owners one at a time, as editor access for page owners was not available. With the manual lift required up front, the catalog was published in August. However, as part of Norwich's commitment to continuous improvement, the team set out to make its processes more efficient so advisors could have new requirements and degree maps in hand even earlier in the advising cycle, all in support of the university's larger goal of student success. 

"In our previous process, just setting up the catalog could take two weeks and then turning it into a PDF was a whole other process." - Cindy Suter, Registrar 

A Paper-Based Curriculum Process Made Dependencies Hard to See 

Norwich previously managed curriculum proposals through Word documents — a common approach across higher ed, but one that made standardization difficult. The team also tracked course dependencies across programs by hand, so a change in one department could take time to surface in another program's requirements.

"In our previous process, there was a template where you filled in all your questions, but not everyone used it. Our curriculum committee only met once a month, so it was easier to take it as it was and figure it out later." - Cindy Suter, Registrar 

The Solution 

From Inbox Routing to Real-Time Room Visibility 

With Coursedog, Norwich matches sections to the right spaces in one place. Departments can see what's open, evaluate available rooms, and make informed changes during the request-edit period instead of routing every question through the registrar's office. By the team's own estimate, this shift cut manual scheduling effort by 80%, greatly reducing time spent responding to emails and going back and forth. These new capabilities also empower departments to choose rooms best suited to their curriculum and make necessary changes without relying on an intermediary. 

"Now that rooms are right in the Coursedog app, departments can put in a time, see whether the room is available while we're in the request-edits portion, and better manage what's open to them. They can be proactive when they're adding or changing sections." - Cindy Suter, Registrar 

Publishing the Catalog Two Months Earlier 

Thanks to Norwich’s commitment to refining its processes and the Coursedog implementation, the catalog now comes together faster and more efficiently. Page owners can go into the app and make their edits publish-ready themselves. Norwich publishes its catalog in June instead of August, two months ahead of its old timeline. Advisors can review new requirements and degree maps earlier now, furthering Norwich’s mission to help students start in the right courses from day one. 

"Our page editors are way faster now using Coursedog. It's easier for them to go in and make their edits and it's just not as clunky as before. Publishing the catalog two months earlier helps advisors because we publish our degree maps, so they can see the new requirements before they help students register." - Cindy Suter, Registrar 

Standardized Proposals Cut Curriculum Work by 97% and Keep Weekly Meetings on Schedule 

Norwich rebuilt its curriculum process around one standardized proposal template, tying every question to the accreditation standard behind it. This ensures proposals arrive at the curriculum committee ready to review. A new pre-review step also lets the office polish proposals before they reach the approval committee, which finishes its full agenda more than 90% of the time. By the team's estimate, the standard proposal process and course dependency visibility cut the manual work behind curriculum by 97%.

"Our curriculum goes through proposals so fast now because they all go through the same process. The curriculum committee meets weekly instead of monthly now and 90% or more of the time we finish the agenda because it's consistent and everyone knows how to answer the questions. I love dependencies…we can see when a department's trying to inactivate a course another program is using and hold it until that's all worked out." - Cindy Suter, Registrar 

Looking Ahead 

The efficiency gains contribute to Norwich's bigger strategic picture: maximizing resources and better serving students. With curriculum changes now quick to propose and approve, the team identified and consolidated duplicate work that directly lowered overhead costs. Next, the team aims to continue optimizing the course schedule by using demand forecasting to enhance their ability to offer the right sections at the right time. 

"Coursedog supported our ability to reduce overhead costs. If we can reduce overhead cost again in the type of sections that we offer, the number of sections we offer, in forecasting, that can meet a strategic goal. I think Coursedog's going in the right direction, definitely." - Cindy Suter, Registrar

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