Iowa Community Colleges Adopt Award-winning Curriculum Automation System

Sept. 12, 2012 - PRLog -- DES MOINES, IOWA… The Iowa Community College System has joined the ranks of more than 350 colleges and universities to transition into a new era of curriculum automation, collaboration and network connectivity. Governet, innovators of Web-based solutions for higher education institutions, announced today that the Iowa Community College System will become the third statewide college system to streamline curriculum processes and improve system-wide connectivity using CurricUNET, Governet’s award-winning curriculum automation and management system.

Since its initial development in 1998, the CurricUNET system has been implemented by more than 350 colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada. CurricUNET also serves statewide college systems in California and Illinois, as well as the national higher education system of the United Arab Emirates.

“In the past, colleges and universities have operated as what might be called ‘islands of learning,’ each operating independently of one another, using cumbersome methods of developing and processing curriculum with limited resources for sharing information,” said George Tamas, Governet’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. He explained that this is particularly true of statewide systems, where ability to collaborate and share developing information is crucial to successful articulation, reporting and approval processes.

According to Tamas, CurricUNET applies Web-based networking capabilities to statewide systems of colleges and enables these institutions to streamline an otherwise labor-intensive process, improve their ability to collaborate on course offerings and expedite state board approval processes. “We have become accustomed to instantaneous connectivity due to the accessibility of the World Wide Web. With CurricUNET, all of the Iowa community colleges will have instantaneous access throughout their system the same way.”

By adopting the CurricUNET system, the Iowa Community College System will also improve the way institutions manage Iowa’s common course numbering requirements, and integrate local college processes with all state reporting and approval processes at the Iowa Department of Education. Over the course of two years, the project will fully automate course and program approvals at all 15 of Iowa’s community college campuses, making Iowa’s curriculum system the first comprehensive curriculum network in the nation containing 100% of all course outlines and programs offered by every community college in the state system.

“But the real innovation isn’t just in the automation of the curriculum management processes, or connectivity within Iowa’s inter-college network. In our view, the truly transformative aspect of the solution is in the aggregate database of approved courses and programs from all of our participating institutions,” said Tamas. “CurricUNET users currently have access to more than 550,000 course outlines (not just course descriptions) and 23,000 programs and degrees in what is becoming an emerging worldwide curriculum network and database.

The Iowa Community College System will be able to tap into that transformative resource,” said Tamas. “Now Iowa’s college system can also help to shape curriculum best practices that benefit other institutions globally as well.”



About Governet:

Governet is a leading provider of innovative Web-based solutions for higher education institutions. These solutions address local campus, statewide system, and international collaborative network issues in curriculum development, management and accreditation. Governet’s core application is CurricUNET, the award-winning curriculum automation and management system designed to streamline curriculum processes from planning to articulation by improving workflow efficiency, reporting and approval processes and institutional connectivity. Currently serving more than 350 colleges and universities throughout the U.S., Canada and the United Arab Emirates, CurricUNET provides its users access to 550,000 course outlines and 23,000 program and degree programs. Via this transformational database, Governet is guiding the development of best practices standards for curriculum and creating what is rapidly becoming the worldwide curriculum network. For more information about Governet and CurricUNET, please visit www.governet.net.