What is the Catalog Term and how does it determine how students complete the requirements for a major?
The curriculum required to complete the major is determined by the catalog term under which a student declared their major. If a student re-declares their major in YaleHub, they will automatically be placed on the newest curriculum requirements. However, if a student’s curriculum year (or catalog term) is updated, any existing exceptions applied in Degree Audit will fall off and need to be re-applied.
1. Curriculum Year and Major Requirements
- A student’s curriculum year is determined by the catalog term under which they declared their major.
- If your department updates its curriculum in the YCPS (Yale College Programs of Study), those changes apply only to the catalog year in which they are published.
- Example: If you updated your curriculum in the 2025–26 YCPS, these changes will not retroactively apply to students who declared their major prior to Fall 2025.
2. Updating a Student to the Newest Curriculum
- To have students follow the newest curriculum, their record in Banner must be updated.
- This is handled by the Student Data team (Scott Runner and Lauren Perrino).
- Alternatively, if a student re-declares their major in YaleHub, they will automatically be placed on the newest curriculum requirements.
- Please note: If a student’s curriculum year is updated, any existing exceptions applied in Degree Audit will fall off and need to be re-applied.
3. Curriculum Information in Degree Audit
- Degree Audit can only reflect requirements listed in the YCPS.
- No edits can be made to a major’s requirements that fall outside of the published YCPS.
- DUSs do have discretion to make exceptions for individual students, but these must be applied as exceptions in Degree Audit, not as changes to the published curriculum.
