Catalog & Curricular Revisions

The Graduate Catalog defines the official policies and procedures of the Graduate School and the degree requirements and course options for each of our programs. Unless otherwise requested by the Graduate Program Director, students are subject to the degree requirements listed in the catalog for the year they enter the program. 

Requests for Curriculum and Catalog Changes 

New Graduate Degrees and Majors

Graduate program directors interested in developing a new graduate degree should follow these steps: 

1. Contact Sheila Dooley (Graduate Curriculum Committee) to discuss your proposal. Depending on the degree being proposed, other Graduate School staff or individuals from other offices may be contacted for input. 
2. Prepare your proposal according to the Guidelines for Preparing a Proposal for a New Graduate Degree.
3. Print your proposal, attach the routing form, and obtain the signatures of your Chair and the Dean of your school. 
4. Deliver the proposal and the routing form to Sheila Dooley in the Graduate School office. She will contact you to provide a timeline and information about next steps.
5. Contact Sheila Dooley at any time to check the status of your proposal.

New Courses

New courses are created through the Course Action System which is managed by the Provost's Office. A guide for writing course proposals is available here. If the proposed course will become part of your program's degree requirements, you must also submit a change to degree requirements (instructions below).

Graduate Catalog

The Graduate Catalog defines the official policies and procedures of the Graduate School and the degree requirements and course options of each graduate program. Unless otherwise requested by the Graduate Program Director, students are subject to the degree requirements listed in the catalog for the year they enter the program. Current and prior versions of the Graduate Catalog are available here.

All catalog changes and/or degree requirements changes may be submitted via the Graduate School’s online submission form. Requests may be submitted at any time during the year; however, the Graduate School will announce a deadline (typically February or March) for all changes to be submitted for inclusion in the upcoming catalog.

Changes to Degree Requirements

All changes to a program’s degree requirements must be reviewed by one of the Graduate Curriculum Committees prior to inclusion in the catalog. Programs can request these changes by submitting a brief document to the online submission form that includes the following information:

• An explanation or justification for the changes
• A clear description of the changes, including the desired effective date
• A note about the department/program faculty who have reviewed and recommended the changes

After the changes have been approved, the graduate catalog and degree audit will be updated. There is no need for a program to submit degree requirements changes a second time through the catalog process.

Examples of changes requiring curriculum committee review include new concentrations, changes to required courses/degree plans, and changes in total degree hours.

Other Changes to Graduate Catalog

All changes to a program’s description or non-course requirements may be made with only departmental approval. Programs can request these changes by submitting a detailed explanation, an annotated PDF, or a Word document to the submission form.

Examples of catalog changes not requiring curriculum committee review include updates to the wording of a program’s description, program-specific admissions requirements, or the Accreditations and Memberships page.

Changes to Existing Courses

Change course requests may be submitted at any time during the year. All BearQuests which have been fully processed by the catalog deadline will automatically be included in the “Courses of Instruction” section of the upcoming catalog. There is no need for a program to submit changes to course listings a second time through the catalog process.