2012
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College produces four versions of their catalog every year: (1) documentation sent to the state for approval, (2) in the database of record for the college to manage student registration systems, (3) a website, and (4) a printed catalog. The website and printed catalog because of their design needs took the longest to produce and were created while copy editing and revisions were still taking place in order to complete them in time for student registration. To simply this process, I created a WordPress plugin that standardized the catalog website and produced an XML output. The web version could be maintained live until all revisions were complete. Then, the XML file could be given to the graphic design department to import into InDesign and where they could apply the pre-designed catalog styles. The print catalog could thus be completed in hours rather than weeks. Note: Due to the college’s desire to have more control over the presentation of the catalog, we were unable to pull data directly from the college’s database of record, although course information was pulled this way.
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College has spent more than 50 years serving Rowan and Cabarrus counties, ultimately educating nearly 650,000 individuals. Over time, the College has progressively evolved in response to the community’s workforce and economic development needs, annually serving more than 20,000 individuals on our seven campuses and sites across two counties.
Presentation on Catalog System at the North Carolina Community College IIPS Conference
Catalog Homepage
Program Description Page
Award Requirements Page
Print Catalog produced from XML
(Print Design by Allison Robinson, Graphic Designer at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College)