Overview of the Official University Catalogs

All versions of the course catalogs are centrally managed. The official University catalogs and bulletins are the printed versions published by SMU's Office of the Provost.

Should an official University catalog, bulletin or addendum conflict with information published on a school's or department's website, the official University catalogs, bulletins and addenda shall control.

Program Changes/Catalog Addenda

Catalog addenda and appendixes listing text corrections and changes are available online, along with PDFs of the official catalogs. Students should check www.smu.edu/catalogs for updates to graduation, degree and transfer requirements.

Student's Catalog of Record

With a few exceptions, a student's catalog of record is the one in use during the student's term of matriculation at SMU. One exception is for students returning to SMU after a three-year absence; their catalog of record is the one printed for the academic year when they return.

Curriculum Update: Students can declare a later catalog of record if their program changes its requirements for the major. Students who move forward to a later catalog must meet all requirements in that catalog, including admission requirements for academic programs.

Policy Update: Changes in official SMU policies do not constitute grounds for changing a student's catalog of record. Students are responsible for complying with all current University rules and regulations.

Course Listings

The University's Office of the Registrar maintains the Master Inventory of Approved Courses in the student data system, Access.SMU. The University catalog editor maintains the course listings in the University catalogs. The two offices work together to assure that the two sources of course information remain synchronized. Additions, deletions and modifications to courses must be approved by the appropriate school or similar unit. Any course untaught for four consecutive years is reviewed for deletion from the course inventory.

Scheduled Catalog Revisions

The undergraduate catalog and the Cox, Dedman Law, Hart eCenter and Simmons graduate catalogs are updated annually by the relevant departments and the University’s catalog editor. Information in each catalog is reviewed by the appropriate University committee(s) and/or department(s) and approved by the governing body, the school and the Office of the Provost. The Dedman College, Lyle and Meadows graduate catalogs are updated biennially and undergo a similar review and approval process when they are updated.

During November–April, University catalog coordinators work with faculty and staff to revise catalogs that will be printed that year. The new printed catalogs are available in August before students arrive on campus for the fall term.

Contact Info and Catalog Style Tips

Questions about the official University catalogs or technical questions about the smu.edu/catalogs Web pages should be directed to the University catalog editor at catalogs@smu.edu. For a handout with catalog style tips, click here.