CGU launches interactive online map

Claremont Graduate University (CGU) has launched an interactive online map that highlights the intimate nature of the university while also spotlighting the institution’s place in the larger Claremont University Consortium.

The map features high-resolution photographs of buildings, facilities, and other structures on campus; detailed text descriptions of points of interest; 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 Patricia Easton, CGU’s vice provost for student and enrollment services. “We encourage students to work across different fields and take classes in other departments so that they are exposed to different approaches 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 Claremont University Consortium means that many Claremont Colleges facilities, including non-academic buildings such as gymnasiums and cafeterias, are accessible to CGU’s 2,300 students. Users may filter the map by college; for example, they may choose to view Harvey Mudd College as well as the CGU campus.

Along with the improved ability to visualize CGU’s breadth of offerings, the map holds a key advantage over the prior static PDF version: timeliness. As the university adds services and relocates offices, the platform’s user-friendly interface allows the school to make changes to the map, add and create materials, and house them in the same place, keeping the map as up-to-date as possible.

In addition, the new map is useful for students from out of state and across the globe, letting them explore where they will be living and studying long before they arrive on campus.

“One of the big benefits is that potential students can actually see our campus and world-class offerings, such as the Drucker School of Management and the availability of graduate student housing on campus,” Easton said. “Our ‘city of trees and PhDs’ is now truly visible online.”

The map also serves a larger audience. It guides visitors to the many lectures, art exhibits, 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,” Easton said. “This makes us a lot more visible to the rest of the consortium than we were before.”

CGU partnered with mapping company Campus Bird to create the tool.

For more information and to view the map, please visit https://www.cgu.edu/map/.