Catalog review 101

What is the Academic Catalog?

The Academic Catalog is the sum total of all the policies and procedures of how the university and its individual units interact with a student academically. This covers everything from admission to graduation, and includes topics such as residency and academic integrity. To ensure that all incoming students are treated equally (i.e., that the same standards that apply to student A also apply to student B, all other things being equal), catalog information is updated by catalog year.

Catalog information is publicly available and is published to a number of university websites. Items in the catalog to be reviewed by colleges and units in this catalog cycle are bolded in the bulleted list below.

• The Academic Catalog website includes college and university policies and the catalog archives. The college policies are reviewed by you; university policies are reviewed by the Registrar's office and the Provost's office. Once yearly, information from all Academic Catalog websites is scraped and edited together to create the academic year's catalog archive.
• Degree Search is the resource for current academic year degree programs. This includes both the catalog text you review in PeopleSoft and the major maps you review in BAMM.
• Students.asu.edu and tuition.asu.edu provides information about costs and finances, residency and academic standards. This information is maintained and updated by University Registrar Services, Student Business Services and Financial Aid and Scholarship Services.
• Admission.asu.edu contains information regarding admission including all things transfer-related. While Admission Services updates most of the information on this site, the Transfer Pathways you review when there is a new requirement or additional clarification needed go into MyPath2ASU™ (formerly The Transfer Guide) to be selected by students.

How does this fit in with my college's other curricular activities?

The graphics below show the approximate time frame of the Academic Catalog review as compared to the Academic Plan, fall course review and curricular proposals. Course review for spring courses carries different deadline dates, and all official deadline dates are available on the Curricular Deadlines Calendar.

What do I have to do as the catalog coordinator?

The responsibility of the catalog coordinator is to:

• Serve as the one point of contact and liaison between your college/school and the provost's office regarding academic catalog information specific to your school.
• Organize annual catalog review tasks for your specific academic unit.
• Provide communication and coordination for the college's adherence to academic year Curricular Deadlines Calendar timelines.
• Assess and provide quality control for curriculum requirements across all formats: Degree Search, Major Maps, Transfer Pathway documentation, DARS Audits and Curriculum Changemaker.
• Verify all curricular documents meet department, college and university requirements prior to submission to university-review level. Depending on the size and structure of your college, you may opt to distribute to and collect catalog information from several contacts in your college and to impose an internal review deadline earlier than the official one.
• Provide final college approval during the annual catalog review process for Degree Search edits and major maps through appropriate formats or systems.
• Submit and provide final college approval for DARS verification audits for majors, minors, certificates and Transfer Pathways. For undergraduate majors, this means ensuring there are no discrepancies between curricular requirements as documented in the DARS verification audit and on the major map.
• Submit all the necessary catalog review information by November 13, 2023.

What do I have to do as an originator or department-level reviewer?

• Review all program forms or major maps as assigned to you by your college's catalog coordinator.
• Respond to questions and make suggested revisions in a timely manner when a program form or major map is sent back to your review level.
• Ensure that all changes being made have gone through your college's internal review process, if applicable.
• Submit all the necessary catalog review information to your college's catalog coordinator by your college's internal review deadline.
• Communicate any system issues with your catalog coordinator, and get a screenshot if you can.

What do I need to start reviewing?

• Make sure you have access to any of the platforms where you will be reviewing.
• Attend a catalog training or review the rest of the resources to be certain you know what you are doing.
• Familiarize yourself with catalog style through the Catalog Style Guide (PDF) and refer back to the document as needed throughout the review.

Where can I see who the Catalog Coordinators are?

The current list of catalog coordinators and provost contacts is available at /catalog_contacts.

Questions and assistance

Please feel free to contact us at academic.catalog@asu.edu or 480-727-3034 if you have any questions regarding the academic catalog and its review process.