Produce Timely College Catalogs

By Author: Kaitlyn Miller
Total Articles: 90
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Schools may be places where people go to be educated, but running them is also a big business venture. No school opens without the aim of making a profit for their owners. The business is stiffer for colleges and universities offering higher education because not too many high school graduates proceed to college. The only difference between usual businesses and running a college is that schools do not sell items but rather their programs. And they do this by sending out catalogs to high schools and students who request for them. That is why college catalog printing should come out just in time when graduating students are already considering their options for college.

No matter what your reason is, there is no excuse for distributing your catalog late. That is a no-no because that could spell thousands if not a million of dollars in losses for your school. While it may be true that the publication of a catalog entails a lot of meticulous, time-consuming work, things will run more efficiently if you have a workable system in place. That is why you need to identify the areas that you have to work in the process of producing ...
... your catalog up to distribution.

1. Source of information. You know that you will need the cooperation of many different sources for your information, such as department heads for the courses and programs, club presidents for extracurricular activities, and organizations for financial support or scholarships. The number of sources will depend on how much information you are going to include in the handbook. In order to make the process of data gathering convenient for you and your sources, make a template or a computer program where they will be able to input the data you requested in a uniform manner. Of course all the texts will have to be read and edited so that they will “read” in the same tone and style, but at least, the data is not cluttered.

2. Set a deadline. People working in universities are very busy people. Give them ample time to finish providing the information and set a workable deadline that they can meet. But this deadline should have an allowance so that you will have a leeway for those who will be late. Do not hesitate to send a follow up email to the sources who have not submitted their data about one week before the due date.

3. Process data immediately. As soon as you receive the data, get them re-written, edited, and inserted in the layout. Do not wait until everyone has submitted their data because you will be cramming in the production. Work on the details as soon as they arrive.

4. Work with the printer. While you may already have your data all ready, you will also have to work with the printer because you are the only client that they have. If they will assure you that the printing time will be two weeks, then submit your work at least 4 weeks before you actually need the catalogs delivered. This should give you some time should there be technical problems or if there is a big order for the printer that just came in before you.

Producing college catalogs may be hard but also rewarding work. It is just so fulfilling to get the catalog printing done ahead of schedule.

For more information, you can visit this page on catalog printing