Why Pratt Institute Replaced Its Legacy Academic Systems

Challenges

Legacy Systems Created Bottlenecks Across Academic Operations

After years of relying on legacy catalog and events systems that required manual workarounds and never fully integrated with the SIS, Pratt Institute decided to replace them with a single, unified academic platform. The existing tools lacked transparency, were difficult to configure without vendor involvement, and created bottlenecks that slowed approvals, publishing, and room coordination. Pratt needed a single system that could provide real-time visibility, support institution-specific workflows, and scale across academic operations without adding administrative burden, leading them to choose Coursedog.

Lack of Visibility into Curriculum Proposals Delayed Review and Approvals

Prior to implementing Coursedog Curriculum Management, Pratt Institute primarily managed curriculum proposals over email and PDFs, making it difficult to see which changes were in progress, or where proposals were in the review process.

When evaluating curriculum management solutions, they found other systems difficult to visualize and heavily dependent on vendor-led setup. There was little transparency into how workflows would actually function in practice, ultimately leading them to choose Coursedog for its configurable, visual workflows and transparent approach.

“As the Registrar, I was often the last to know what was going on. I’d get proposals that had been in the works for years and then have to figure out timing after the fact. With Coursedog, I can go in and see what’s coming early in the process, catch issues like incorrect codes, and make sure things are compatible before they become a problem. Having that visibility and a graphical workflow was important to me from a curriculum vendor, so I could see proposals early, understand where they were in the process, and catch issues before they reached me too late.” - Luke Phillips, Registrar

A Fragile, Poorly Integrated Catalog System Created Ongoing Manual Work

Before implementing Coursedog Catalog, Pratt’s catalog process was constrained by a system that was difficult to use, poorly integrated with Colleague, and heavily dependent on manual intervention. While the previous vendor advertised built-in workflows and approvals, those capabilities never fully functioned in practice, forcing staff to track curriculum and catalog changes manually and rely on workarounds just to publish updates.

After five years of attempting to make the system work with limited support, Pratt made the decision to replace it entirely.

“The integration and usability wasn’t at the level we needed to streamline our catalog and keep it updated. Basic functionality didn’t really work… It was supposed to do an overnight refresh with Colleague, but it never did. We never got the workflows to work in five years and it required almost a full-time person just to manage it.” - Luke Phillips, Registrar

“We struggled with getting the support we needed… issues would linger longer than they should have and we had to escalate multiple times just to get them to respond.” - Luke Phillips, Registrar

Disconnected Events and Room Scheduling Created Unsustainable Manual Burden

Pratt also faced ongoing challenges with events and room scheduling. Under the previous system, Pratt struggled with basic visibility into room availability and event conflicts. The events process relied on disconnected tools that did not integrate reliably with Colleague, forcing staff to manually cross-check availability, create placeholder events, and manage constant back-and-forth with requestors. As demand for space increased, the process became increasingly difficult to sustain.

“We have a lot of demand for space [extra class sessions, student clubs, events, meetings] so it’s important that rooms are assigned in a way that doesn’t conflict with classes. With our old system, it didn’t really sit in the middle of anything. We’d get requests and have to manually check whether a room was actually available in Colleague and make sure it wasn’t impacting our academic scheduling and reach back out to the requestor and place a “dummy” hold in the room. Nothing was prioritized and everything was manual.” - Luke Phillips, Registrar

The process had become so complex that knowledge of how it worked lived with only a few individuals, making it difficult to maintain and creating a heavy administrative burden just to keep events moving. After years of struggling with a disconnected events system, Pratt replaced it with Coursedog Events.

“We had it for years and I never could figure it out. We would just assign it to somebody and hope they figured it out. It was a full time job to just manage room requests.” Luke Phillips, Registrar

Solution

New Curriculum Workflows Dramatically Reduce Backlog of Proposals & Cut Time to Approval by 90%

With Coursedog, Pratt leverages configurable, visual curriculum workflows that provide real-time visibility into every stage of the proposal process. Staff can now see proposals from initial submission through final approval, making it easier to identify issues earlier and keep changes moving.

After launching curriculum workflows, Pratt removed long-standing process bottlenecks that had slowed proposals for years. As a result, Pratt reduced approval timelines for non-content curriculum changes by 90% and shortened timelines for provisional courses by 75%, reducing approval cycles from almost four months to just four weeks.

Departments are now able to submit and move curriculum changes forward at a pace that hadn’t been possible before. Within the first seven months of using Coursedog, Pratt approved 311 curriculum proposals through Coursedog.

“There were things that had been nagging us for years [in the curriculum] that we wanted to change, but there was no good mechanism to get through to us. It was taking years to get done, but now it gets done in weeks.” - Luke Phillips, Registrar

Time to Assign Rooms for the Course Schedule Reduced by Over 66%

Historically, Pratt relied on Google Sheets to build the course schedule, a manual process that made it difficult to track changes and assign rooms accurately. With Coursedog’s real-time room inventory, departments can now select rooms confidently without risking conflicts. What once took three weeks and required an all-hands effort now takes less than one week.

“The old scheduling method caused a lot of anxiety and miscommunication. Now people do things earlier because they can get what they want. It’s more efficient for us and for departments…it’s had a very positive ripple effect.” - Luke Phillips, Registrar

Replacing a Broken Catalog Process with a True Front End to the Curriculum

Coursedog Catalog operates as a direct front end to the curriculum, automatically reflecting approved courses and programs through effective dating. This shift for Pratt reduced administrative burden, eliminated redundant data entry, and gave the institution confidence that when the curriculum is approved, the catalog is already prepared to go live accurately and on time.

“The previous vendor required us to jump through a lot of hoops just to publish. Once we were using Coursedog curriculum, we realized Coursedog catalog is what the catalog should be… a front end to the curriculum. With everything being dated in Coursedog, we can see when a course is live and when it goes into the catalog, and it’s already there waiting for us.” - Luke Phillips, Registrar

In addition to improving reliability and integration, Coursedog gave Pratt direct control over catalog structure and content. Tasks that once required vendor engineers, such as adding pages, reorganizing navigation, or updating program requirements, can now be handled internally, allowing the registrar’s team to iterate and maintain the catalog without bottlenecks.

“Modifying the catalog is just much easier now. We can add pages, create tabs and drop downs, and organize Registrar policies ourselves. With our previous vendor, we were locked into the infrastructure they built for us… even adding a menu or dropdown required engineers. With Coursedog, I can say, ‘I want another tab here,’ make the change, and move on.” - Luke Phillips, Registrar

From a Disconnected Events System to Scalable, Self-Service Room Requests

After replacing their previous events system with Coursedog Event Scheduling, Pratt moved to a self-service model integrated directly with Coursedog Academic Scheduling and Colleague. Requestors can now search for available rooms in real time and see only available options and submit requests through structured workflows removing the need for manual checks or placeholder holds.

“Now people can go into Coursedog Events, pick a time, and search for rooms in real time. Because it integrates with scheduling, they only see rooms that are actually available, which takes a lot of the weight off our office. The request moves through a workflow, my staff does a quick yes-or-no check, and any needs like security or catering are built into the process.” - Luke Phillips, Registrar

In the first five months alone, Pratt processed over 1,400 event requests, a level of volume that would not have been feasible under the previous vendor.

Looking Ahead

Growing Value of the Coursedog Platform

By consolidating their academic operations into a single platform with a consistent interface, Pratt reduced the learning curve for staff, minimized errors caused by transferring information between systems, and made it easier for users to move seamlessly between workflows with confidence. With Coursedog in place, Pratt continues to expand its use of the platform to streamline academic operations and better support student success.

Pratt continues to expand their use of Coursedog to better support student success and streamline academic operations.

“The value of having multiple Coursedog products is the familiarity with the interface, scheduling looks like curriculum and the modules actually talk to each other. The same people who build the course schedule also handle events, so they can go to one place and easily see what they’re working on. It’s very intuitive to use and honestly, become part of the culture around here.” Luke Phillips, Registrar