From CampusBird Blog
The only graduate-only, research-extensive university in the country has just introduced the newest digital mapping technology. Claremont Graduate University (CGU), the graduate university of The Claremont Colleges—a unique consortium that the Fiske Guide called "a collection of intellectual resources unmatched in America”—has debuted an interactive map platform that focuses on the intimate nature of the university while putting a spotlight on the institution’s place in the larger consortium.
The CGU digital map features high-resolution photographs of buildings, facilities and other structures on campus, detailed and informative text descriptions of various points of interest, and useful features such as point-to-point directions and the ability to filter by categories such as Parking and Emergency Services. Built on top of Google Maps, the technology is viewable online and via smartphone and allows for panning and zooming.
“The map allows us to depict our university as it truly is, with a focus on its intimate nature and no-boundaries approach,” said Brandon Tuck, Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing. “We encourage students to look beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries and take classes in other departments so that they are exposed to many academic perspectives and learn from a number of professionals and researchers. The map shows how accessible the classes are across departments, schools, and disciplines.”
CGU’s setting within the consortium means that all Claremont College facilities, including non-academic buildings such as gymnasiums and cafeterias, are accessible to CGU’s 2,500 students. Map users may filter the map by college; for example, choosing to view Harvey Mudd College as well as the CGU campus.
Along with the improved ability to visualize CGU’s breadth of offerings, the mapping platform has a key advantage over the prior, static PDF version: timeliness. As the university adds services and moves offices around, the platform’s user-friendly interface allows the school to make changes to the map, add and create materials at will, and house them all in the same place, keeping the map as up-to-date as possible.
All these features enable the university to depict the school in such a way that outsiders get a deeper understanding and truer picture of the CGU experience. This, Tuck says, is likely to lead to an uptick in admission applications, especially among students from out of state and across the globe.
Tuck cites one example of a recent recruitment trip to Turkey, where a prospective student’s parents were concerned about their daughter being in an unfamiliar location. Had the map been in place then, Tuck says, he would have been better able to allay their concerns by showing the parents exactly where their child would be living and studying.
“One of the big benefits is that potential students can actually see our campus and world-class offerings, such as the Peter F. Drucker School of Management and the availability of graduate student housing on campus,” Tuck said. “Our ‘city of trees and PhDs’ is now truly visible online.”
The map also serves a larger audience. While the initial goal of the map was student recruitment, the university has seen an impact on the entire community. The map guides visitors to the many lectures, art gallery showings and other events on campus, along with giving them point-to-point directions to the nearest parking locations. The map benefits other consortium schools as well.
“Students at the other colleges can more easily see what classes and other opportunities we have,” Tuck said. “This makes us a lot more visible to the rest of the consortium than we were before.”
For more information and to view the CGU map, please visit http://www.cgu.edu/map.
Topics: CampusBird, Campus Map, College Campus Tours
