Revision Responsibility: Vice President of Academic Affairs

Purpose: To ensure timely and properly authorized changes for the annual revision of the catalog and student handbooks.

Policy:

Committee approved revisions to the catalog, student handbooks, and employee handbook will be documented with appropriate committee minutes and submitted to the Vice President of Academic Affairs.  The Vice President of Academic Affairs is to certify the correctness of the catalog and handbooks. Documentation to support all changes to the catalog or handbooks will be maintained by the appropriate committee chair. Catalog or handbook changes will generally fall within the following definitions:

A. Academic Policy and Procedure Changes are those which change student programs, courses and/or policies that affect the academic offerings.

B. Administrative Policy Changes are those which affect students in other than academic and curricular matters.

C. Editorial Changes are those which do not change policy, but are designed to improve the usability of the catalog or handbooks, to clarify language and to improve the technical aspects of production.

I. Responsibilities

A. The Vice President of Academic Affairs is responsible for the revision of the catalog and handbooks and he/she will accept approved change requests, maintain documentation supporting changes and initiate or approve all editorial changes.   

B. Following internal approvals and action of the Catalog or Handbook(s) Revision  Committees, the Vice President of Academic Affairs will process all administrative and curricular policy changes and insure institutional and, when required, Board approval before approving for inclusion in the next catalog or handbook revision.

C. Program deans/coordinators will be responsible for initiating changes to the catalog through appropriate committees and will be responsible for proofing catalog copy when proofs are provided by the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

II. Procedures

A. Timetable and change submission deadlines for revision of the catalog:

1. Academic policy changes that require action by the Board of Directors must be sent to the Vice President of Academic Affairs by July to insure inclusion on Board agenda at its annual full October meeting.
2. Curricular and academic policy changes will be sent to the Vice President of Academic Affairs after committee approval.  All submissions must be received by July 1 of each year.   
3. Curricula changes that require action by any state, federal board or accrediting agency should be internally approved with notification sent to the Curriculum and Outcomes Committee.   
4. Requests for editorial changes must be received by the Vice President of Academic Affairs by July 1 of each year.
5. Catalog copy will be uploaded to the printer (if hard copies are printed) once final approvals of the Catalog have been received and imple
6. Student Handbooks will follow the same revisions procedures with appropriate committee approval by July 1 of each year. 
7. Faculty/Employee Handbook will follow the same revision procedure with appropriate committee approval by July 1 of each year.  
8. The Vice President of Academic Affairs is responsibile for the upload and electronic maintenance of the catalog and handbooks. The College Registrar is responsible for archiving the catalog according to policy.

B. Curriculum Changes will be processed in accordance with Platt College’s Policy 02:02:00 Curriculum Development and Revision. Academic Policy Changes will generally follow the same procedures for approval through appropriate committees.

C. Editorial Changes may be recommended by any employee or student directly to the Vice President of Academic Affairs. The editor will insure appropriate coordination and determine if additional approvals are necessary. Editorial changes include minor word changes in course descriptions that do not change course content, title, lecture, lab or credit hours, prerequisites, co-requisites or quarters offered. Editorial changes will be used to clarify, simplify or improve the description for to the benefit of the students. Narrative sections in any portion of the catalog may be improved within the limitation of approved policy. Statements quoted directly from approved policies will be changed by amendment of the original policy - not by editorial change. Additional statements may be added to help interpretation and improve catalog readability.

Created: August 26, 2009, Revised: January 17, 2011 to reflect revised organizational chart, June 9, 2015 to update accurate submission timeframes.