Q: What are the Virginia Commonwealth University bulletins?
A: The VCU bulletins provide course and curricular information for each of the student populations served by the institution: undergraduate, graduate and first-professional studies. Bulletins contain information about the academic requirements for each program available to the respective student populations as well as course descriptions and university policies.
Q: For whom are the VCU bulletins relevant?
A: The bulletins are most relevant for students entering VCU in the year of publication; it serves as the effective bulletin for students entering during that academic year. However, returning students may also use the Bulletin to look at new programs that may interest them as well as a source for course descriptions for the academic year.
Q: How often are the bulletins published?
A: The bulletins are published yearly, generally in early March for the following fall's academic year. However, curricular activity occurs throughout the year by way of university curriculum committee action.
Q: The requirements for my major are different here than when I entered VCU; will my classes still count the same toward graduation?
A: Yes. A student’s requirements for graduation are determined by the year he or she enters VCU. If a program or major’s requirements change in a later catalog, these changes will only affect students entering during that Bulletin year.
Note: Students should confer with their academic advisers each semester in order to ensure they are on track for graduation. Students may also use Degree Works to check on progress toward graduation.
Q: Does the Bulletin include course times and locations?
A: No. Current information on course times and locations can be found in eServices, under the Class Schedule tab.
Q: How do I navigate the bulletin structure?
A: While the navigation of the site is intuitive, the following key concepts should help guide the way to needed information.
- Navigation tabs are located at the top of the page for the three levels of study:
o Undergraduate
o Graduate
o Professional
- Index of courses – lists and describes all courses offered by VCU. (The courses are presented by subject area and arranged in alphabetical order. The subject name is followed by the subject code in parentheses.)
- Index of programs – an alphabetical index of all programs offered at VCU
- Archive – a section that provides a link to the VCU Scholars Compass hosted by the VCU Libraries (Students who entered VCU prior to the current academic year can access their effective bulletins and/or course descriptions from the Scholars Compass; PDFs from more recent years are also available on the archive page.)
- Quicklinks – links for the most common sites used by students: academic calendars, Canvas, class registration, Financial Aid, maps and directions, myVCU, Technology Services, tuition and fees, and VCU Libraries
- Search – allows users to enter key search terms to find the most relevant information within the bulletins
- Print/download options – allows users to print directly to a connected printer (But we encourage students to download pages as PDFs to support VCU’s green initiative.)
Q: How does a department request corrections to the bulletin?
A: The bulletins reflect the curriculum and course information approved by university curriculum committees for the published academic year and are shared with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia on a yearly basis. Note: Curricular updates will be handled through the regular activities of the appropriate university committee processes and not through the process described below.
Changes to published information are restricted to correcting errata or for providing clarification on compliance or regulatory issues. Only these types of correction requests can be submitted to the Bulletin editor after the website goes live.
Q: When can departments submit a correction or change?
A: Departments are responsible for a yearly review of the information presented in the Bulletin. Noncurricular changes to CAT can be made by designated page authors when the system is open; they will be notified of any system closure through the user listserv. The deadline for updates to be through the full review process and system workflow is the final day of the fall semester. These updates will be published with the spring launch of the Bulletin.
Other questions? Contact bulletin@vcu.edu.