Introduction to the Catalog Revision Process
The Undergraduate Catalog and academic bridge pages go through an annual revision process where the Office of the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education collects revisions from academic units, and then edits and makes appropriate changes.
Why the annual update of the Catalog?
Students are governed by the university requirements as stated in the Undergraduate Catalog in effect at the time of their initial matriculation in the university and by the degree program requirements as stated in the Undergraduate Catalog in effect at the time of their initial acceptance into the major (see the Catalog Rights Statement). Also, students continuously enrolled in a particular degree program on a full-time basis, or on an approved leave of absence, are governed by the requirements of that program as stated in the Catalog in effect at the time they initially entered the program. Thus, each year, accurate Catalog information is vital to students’ awareness of their requirements and to the validity of the contract between the University and the student that the Undergraduate Catalog comprises. Accurately revised Catalog information is also important because UB DARS is updated annually in accordance with Catalog policies for that academic year. Finally, because the academic bridge pages are a major source of information for external visitors to UB’s website, it is crucial that the information on these pages is kept current.
What is the department’s responsibility in the revision process?
It is the responsibility of the academic unit to verify the accuracy of all information included in the Catalog and academic bridge pages, and to ensure that the guidelines for these entries are followed. Although the Office of the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education reviews and edits departmental submissions, it is the department’s responsibility to ensure that all appropriate updates are made.
Format for the 2011-12 editions:
We will maintain the basic format of the department entries as they are in the current editions of the Catalog, including the standardized headings and order of these headings. With regard to the Catalog, as over the past few years, textual information about your degree program will appear first, along with course descriptions and degree charts. For additional guidelines for what text should appear in each of your department’s entries, see Entry Guidelines.
Process For Exchanging Files
Department files will be sent to the appropriate Catalog contact as attached Word documents. Contacts will receive one file with all program information. Contacts who are responsible for multiple programs will receive one file per program entry. Catalog contacts should download their files, make revisions, and then email them to as Word attachments to Kate Doran at the address kmdoran@buffalo.edu.
Revisions must be returned to us no later than Friday, January 24, 2011.
What changes can be made to departmental entries?
Only those changes that have been approved through the proper channels will appear in the Undergraduate Catalog. Changes that must be approved by the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE) include but are not limited to the following:
- Changes to the curriculum (courses required for the degree, etc.)
- Changes to acceptance criteria; graduation criteria (necessary GPAs, etc.)
- New concentrations and/or minors offered by your department
- New courses or revisions to courses that include substantive changes to course content
If your department has requested any of the above but has not received approval from the VPUE, that information cannot be included in the Catalog according to university policy. Do not make any changes on the basis that you anticipate approval.
Entry Formatting
- Please keyboard all text in appropriate upper or lower case letters (i.e., do NOT type sentences in all upper case, or all lower case, letters).
- Please do not change/remove/add formatting (i.e., bold, italics, underlining, line and paragraph spacing, capital letters).
- Course number format: All course numbers must be in the following format — Departmental Abbreviation [space] Course Number. For example — PSY 101, IE 302, MTH 151 – MTH 152; NOT MTH 151-152
- Special characters ($, – , ñ, etc.) may appear as other symbols (e.g.
). Please do not make any corrections to these; all special characters will be fixed automatically.
Questions or Requests
If you have any questions about the Undergraduate Catalog or academic bridge page revision process, please feel free to contact Kate Doran at 645-6003 or kmdoran@buffalo.edu.
Last updated: February 14, 2012 3:33 am EST