Catalogs, Course Inventory, and Credentials (Official Publications)

Official Publications in the Office of the Registrar publishes all university catalogs, maintains university course inventory, and implements various legislated academic credential changes while preserving the university’s historical record of catalogs, course inventory, and credentials to protect the integrity of all student records, both past and present.

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Catalogs

Official Publications publishes the university catalogs. In general, new catalogs are created by modifying the previous catalog. Online catalogs are officially published university documents (not websites), are exact duplicates of the printed books, and generally do not change once published. The catalog of the University is the document of authority for all students.

Approvals

Catalog changes require documented approval. Changes to policies require the approval of the contributor's Vice President and the President of the University; changes to academic policies may require the approval of the Faculty Council, Graduate Assembly, Provost, President, University of Texas System, Board of Regents, and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Catalog content owners must seek the necessary approvals and meet all catalog approval deadlines.

The Office of the Registrar tracks legislation for final approval to ensure that only approved changes are included in the next catalog.

Archives

Archived catalogs (beginning with 1883) are available online.

Course Inventory

The course inventory consists of courses that the university is authorized to offer by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.  Active courses are published in the 'Courses' section of the General Information Catalog.

Course inventory changes must be planned, approved, and implemented for academic programs in conjunction and accordance with catalog legislative cycles. Course changes must be submitted a minimum of one year prior to catalog publication to be published. For example, changes to a course program of study in the 2022-2024 Undergraduate Catalog should be:

  • Legislatively proposed by August 1,  2021
  • Submitted in course inventory systems before September 1, 2021
  • Submitted in the next catalog draft before December 15, 2021 (corresponding academic program of study changes)

Changes to the course inventory must be proposed, submitted, and approved via the Course Inventory Management (CIM) system. Changes implemented during the fall inventory editing cycle are reported to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and are effective the following fall semester; limited changes implemented during the spring inventory editing cycle are effective the following spring semester.

Credentials

University credentials must be formally legislated and are implemented in accordance with university catalog and course inventory cycles. Once a credential is implemented, it cannot be deleted nor renamed, as the university must preserve the integrity of all student records, both past and present. Credentials can be created, replaced, or retired (phased out) according to the applicable undergraduate, graduate, law, or medical catalog under which students can graduate.

Courses and Course Descriptions

Courses are a transcript-recognized university credential. The Office of the Registrar provides course descriptions published in university catalogs to former and current students upon request.  Please see our Course Descriptions page for details.

Degrees

Please refer to university catalogs to see a list of degrees the university is authorized to offer by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for undergraduate, graduate, law, medical, and PharmD students.

Fields of Study

To create, realign, or retire an academic field of study, contact Official Publications for assistance. Active fields of study are published in the 'Courses' section of the General Information Catalog.

Majors

Please refer to university catalogs to see a list of degree majors the university is authorized to offer by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for undergraduate, graduate, law, medical, and PharmD students.

Minors

Please refer to university catalogs to see policies and a list of transcript-recognized undergraduate minors.

Certificates

Please refer to university catalogs to see policies and a list of transcript-recognized undergraduate and graduate certificates.

Distinctions, Portfolios, and Special Honors

Please refer to university catalogs to see a list of transcript-recognized medical distinctions and graduate portfolios. Transcript-recognized undergraduate special honors are published in university catalogs within each college’s section.

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