The Academic Catalogue is the source of truth for program requirements and academic policies and informs:
- Degree Audit
- Department websites
- Student Handbooks
- Internal and external stakeholders (example: Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense)
Universities generally restrict changes to the catalogue after publication, as students have relied on the information in the catalogue for their academic plans. Programmatic changes after the publication of the catalogue will not be published and should be considered effective in the next academic catalogue. The following guidelines are established to protect the institution’s integrity and the individual student’s interest and welfare.
Categories Considered for Catalogue Amendments
| Amendment Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Errata | • Omission of an approved program • Misstatements in written policies • Broken web links • Change of Dept Chair or Program Director |
| Policy Changes | • Policy additions or changes effective in the current catalogue year • Updates will be footnoted in the catalogue, indicating the change, approving body, and listed on the Amendments page. |
| New Programs | • In rare cases, if a program is approved after publication for the current catalogue year it will be documented on the Amendments page (only if the program is expecting to enroll students in that academic year), with the MHEC or other approving body approval date. • If appropriate, these programs will be updated on the respective department catalogue page with their approval dates. |
| Curriculum Changes due to Omission or Error | • Curriculum changes should be limited to errors, omissions, and/or compliance requests from accrediting agencies. • Requirements tables will not be updated. A footnote will be added to the requirements page and a summary of changes to the Amendments page. |
Categories not considered for Catalogue Amendments:
Course changes or additions will not be updated in the catalogue:
- The course schedule is the source of truth for the most current course offerings and course descriptions.
- Changes to courses and/or new courses added to SIS after publication will not be updated in the published catalogue. New courses and course changes, including area designations, course attributes, and foundational abilities approved after June 30 each year will be available in the JHU Course Schedule.
- This may require schools to make temporary exceptions in the degree audit system until the next catalogue cycle.
Catalogue Best Practice:
The nature and timing of catalogue publication is often not aligned with admissions and enrollment. The best practice is to align the curriculum changes in accordance with the catalogue publishing timeline agreed upon at the inception of the university-wide catalogue. Please see the sample catalogue timeline under ‘Appendix’.
School leadership should avoid implementing any major program updates or curricular changes during the academic year, especially those that could impact students’ capacity to meet program requirements. Changes of this nature are unlikely to receive approval as amendments.
Schools should avoid posting any mid-year curriculum changes on their website until they have been officially amended in the catalogue. We recommend planning to ensure all curriculum and policies are incorporated into the new catalogue cycle each year. The deadline for OUR to receive edits for the next academic catalogue is early June each year.
Amendment Submission Process:
Amendments to the currently published catalogue:
- Must meet the amendment categories (listed above)
- Submit amendment requests through this Catalogue Amendment Request Form
- Include a justification for request
- Include approval from department, program, or school leadership
- No amendments will be accepted after the start of Spring Term of each catalogue year* (example: for the 2025-2026 catalogue the deadline for amendment requests is Jan. 19, 2026)
- Archived catalogues cannot be amended
*University-wide policy may be the only exception. Questions about the catalogue or amendment guidelines may be directed to [email protected].
Appendix
| 2026-2027 Academic Catalogue – Tasks | Deadlines* |
|---|---|
| 2026-2027 Catalogue Opens for Edits | January 2026 |
| Catalogue Refresher Training | January/February 2026 |
| Edit Pages and Submit Pages to Workflow (departments) | January through March, 2026 |
| Edit/Approve pages in workflow (departments and school records teams) | January through June 3, 2026 |
| All pages approved through department/division workflow | Wednesday, June 3, 2026 (COB) |
| OUR Review and Approve submitted pages (push to DONE) | Thursday, June 4 – Thursday, June 11, 2026 |
| Submit Catalogue to CourseLeaf | Thursday, June 11, 2026 |
| Distribute Catalogue Preview Site to departments/divisions for review | Friday, June 12, 2026 |
| Review Preview Site and submit corrections to OUR | June 12-24, 2026 |
| Preview Site corrections due to OUR | Wednesday, June 24, 2026 (COB) |
| Final Course Import from SIS to Catalogue | Thursday, June 25, 2026 (noon) |
| Catalogue Soft Launch | Wednesday, July 1, 2026 |
| Minor Corrections accepted to OUR | July 2-8, 2026 |
| Catalogue Official Go Live | Thursday, August 6, 2026 |
| Catalogue PDF available | Thursday, August 6, 2026 |
| 2025-2026 Catalogue Archive available | Thursday, August 6, 2026 |
| Corrections after this date must be submitted via Amendments Request. | Thursday, August 6, 2026 |
| *These are 2026 university-wide deadlines. Internal department/division deadlines will vary. Dates are subject to change. |
Details
Date of Last Revision: N/A
Effective Date: 10/28/2025
Related Policies/Procedures: N/A