Course Catalogs: Compasses or Quicksand?

Without even knowing it, you have likely encountered the Hero's Journey across nearly every form of media you've ever consumed. For those unfamiliar, it's a 12-stage story arc built around a cast of recognizable archetypes. The Hero (or heroine!) is called to complete an insurmountable task, usually not by choice, and must navigate a series of trials to see it through. Supporting characters appear along the way, as do villains, and the journey ends either in victory or in a sacrifice for something greater. In my own reading and viewing choices, I’d choose a Hobbit over any other genre every single time, so you can see why this framework speaks to me.

Now, I’m here to tie that beloved concept to one area of my work at Student-Ready Strategies: the building of databases. And while this may not seem to be the stuff of legends, it is essential work…and I am the heroine of this story, so stay with me!

As we strive to build a more student-ready world at SRS, one of our efforts includes tracking curriculum patterns across institutions. Whether it’s a single system or a multi-state endeavor, we look to identify many threads: Which degrees are offered? How are requirements structured? Are the pathways clear? And, my personal favorite to investigate: What is it actually like to navigate these resources in real time? 

Spoiler alert: It’s the worst.

Okay, Melissa, yes. Sifting through course catalogs is tedious, but so are many other trials that are worth tribulating! What makes this one so bad?

Allow us to look toward the Hero’s Journey for our answer. A quick pop-culture reference so you can see where I’m heading: Disney’s Hercules (1997); a super-strong teenager who does not fit in, must go the distance to find where he belongs. This place of belonging happens to be Mt. Olympus, and so he must find a mentor (Danny Devito) to become a hero worthy of god status. There are many trials and much failure, even supported by Pegasus (his loyal steed), but he manages to fall in love, literally dies for a minute there, but still wins the day and defeats Hades, ultimately choosing to remain on Earth with Meg where he actually belongs.

If Phil had stuck to his guns and refused Hercules' plea, the story would have veered off course at Step Two — and it would have been nearly impossible to recover. This is precisely what happens to so many students. If the goal is a degree in a field where they can succeed, and the first quarter of that journey depends on mentorship, clear thresholds, and a reliable helper — what happens when those systems fall short?

To find that answer, we look to the completion data. A 2023 Student Voice survey of more than 3,000 undergraduates found that nearly half were never advised on the course sequence they needed to graduate. This insight is significant because it appears to place blame on advising practices, but I think it actually highlights the system-wide scale of this problem:

1. Call to Adventure: Institutions purchase tools designed to help students navigate course requirements and sequences independently.

2. Meeting a Mentor: The tools don't function as intended, so students seek guidance, reaching out to an advisor or counselor who knows the way.

3. The Threshold: That mentor only has the same broken tools and only 24 hours in a day, often routing the student right back to the resources that failed them in the first place.

4. Trials and Failures: The student tries again. But without a helper, whether that be a clearer path or a better tool, the outcome will remain the same.

As demonstrated by the completion data, we’re witnessing an endless cycle within another endless cycle. And that's only accounting for students who know how to reach their advisor in the first place. Research on first-generation students consistently shows that navigating institutional systems—finding the right information in a format they can access, and in jargon they can decipher—is one of the most significant non-financial barriers to persistence and completion. All parties know that degree pathway information exists. Somewhere. Technically. But "technically documented, probably, maybe, somewhere" is not the same as accessible, and it's definitely not the same as serviceable.

This is exactly the kind of gap I am dying to address through my work at SRS: the chasm between what an institution has available and what any student can use independently. Student-ready design asks a different question than, "Is this linked to our website?" It asks: “Can any student…even one who is tired, busy, uncertain, or without insider knowledge…find what they need, understand it, and act on it?”

If the answer is no, the system has failed the student. The Journey ends at the first threshold, before the Hero has even reached the trials of coursework.

The good news is the solutions aren't too complicated, and most of them already exist:

• Plain-language program maps that live on the site itself (not as a compilation of links to PDFs), and bonus points if the map can automatically mirror changes made in the registrar’s course software and update in real time.

• Search tools built specifically to surface real-time information about what's being offered and when.

• Transfer equivalency tools that give students a reliable answer without a six-month turnaround.

• And, dare I say it, an AI so well-versed in catalog content that it can reliably answer questions or otherwise guide the student to a human person who can.

None of these tools is the stuff of legends, either, but each one acts as the helper students need to cross those initial thresholds. If a student can find accurate information, navigate it with minimal support, and reserve their mentors for the individualized guidance a hero can rely on, they are far more likely to stay, progress, and earn their degree.

We already know these tools exist; now we just need to ensure that the people who build the systems and incorporate those tools truly understand what their end users need. Until we close that gap, our heroes will continue to seek adventure elsewhere.

References

Inside Higher Ed / College Pulse. (2023, March 1). Student survey reveals gaps in core academic advising functions. Inside Higher Ed.

LeMire, S. (2019). First-year and first-gen: Assessing the information literacy skills of first-year, first-generation college students. College & Research Libraries.

Mustapha, Taiwo Olayode, et al. (2026). Higher Education Policy and Equity: Addressing Barriers to Access for Adult, First-Generation, and Working Students: A Review Article.

The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell (2017). USC Viterbi, Admissions & Student Engagement.

Recommended reading: Bailey, T., Jaggars, S. S., & Jenkins, D. (2015). Redesigning America's community colleges. Harvard University Press.

Diwan, G., (2018) The Hero’s Journey in Literature.