Curriculum Management System Selection FAQ

CourseLeaf will become the system of record for our course and curriculum data and will feed that data to other systems, including the student information system. 

CourseLeaf will be used for:

• Course and curriculum proposal and maintenance
• Catalog management
• Learning outcome tracking and management
• Tracking of metrics required for accreditation
• Curriculum mapping

CourseLeaf will not be used to manage course content; to manage course content we will continue to use our learning management system (LMS), Canvas.

The following systems are likely to be impacted by the implementation of CourseLeaf.

• General Campus: eCourse, internal department applications for curriculum proposals, catalog publishing tools and processes
• Division of Extended Studies: Academic Services SharePoint, DocuSign course and program approvals, Kentico content management system, UnexWeb, catalog publishing tools and processes

The project's change management team will communicate with users of the systems impacted by the project as the project progresses and more detailed information becomes available.

Our LMS, Canvas, will not be affected by this implementation.

At the course level, a curriculum management system tracks the overarching details of a course, such as the description, student learning outcomes, quantity of units and hours or format of the final.

A learning management system (LMS) provides students with access to course materials, such as the course syllabus, discussions, quizzes, lecture recordings, and assignments.

Check out this article to learn more about the difference between a curriculum management system and a learning management system.

No, CourseLeaf will not be used to manage course content. Course content will continue to be managed via our LMS, Canvas. 

CourseLeaf is currently in use at UC Berkeley and UC Irvine. Our implementation of CourseLeaf will be specific to UC San Diego. 

We will be implementing CourseLeaf in phases over the next few years as we are mindful of the impact this change will have on stakeholders. 

In the first phase, we plan to implement course approvals, and in the second phase, we plan to implement catalog management and curriculum approvals. This may be subject to change as we learn more about the system and continue project planning.

The project timeline (subject to change) is as follows:

• Phase 1 Begin: As soon as readiness criteria for beginning implementation are met
• Phase 1 Go-live: 2024, more specific date in 2024 to be determined
• Phase 2 Begin: Following go-live of the SIS (currently projected for Winter 2025)
• Phase 2 Go-live: 2025, more specific date in 2025 to be determined

The next steps for the project are: 

• Establish a project team and ensure their readiness to participate, including hiring and conducting backfill when necessary
• Establish a steering committee to provide leadership on strategic decisions and actions for the project and to escalate issues to SIS Project governance
• Establish an advisory board to provide guidance and subject matter expertise on system design and configuration decisions; committee members will be end users of the system
• Assess readiness of participating stakeholders
• Holding initial meetings with the vendor to begin project planning
• Kick-off the project

The project will primarily impact staff and faculty. 

The team has been in contact with the Academic Senate about the project and counts on their participation in the steering committee and project implementation team.

The impact on staff will fall primarily on the Registrar’s Office, University Communications, and staff in the Divisions, Departments, and Professional Schools who interact with the course and curriculum approval processes. 

The project's change management team will be focused on making sure all impacted stakeholders and end users are aware and prepared to use the new system.

The university community will continue to receive regular updates from the SIS Project team on project progress. As the project progresses, expect more communications from the team.

Please continue to communicate your questions, concerns and needs with the team. You can reach the team by emailing esr-student@ucsd.edu.