Office of the Registrar

Curriculum Processes

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Curriculum: Course and Program Oversight

The campus’ curriculum (courses and program/degree requirements) is under the leadership and oversight of the Academic Senate:

Our Curriculum Team facilitates quarterly and annual processes to update and maintain curriculum requirements, and publishes all updates in the annual General Catalog. The team also coordinates changes for the purposes of academic scheduling, and partners with the Degree Progress Unit on incorporation of requirements into the Degree Progress Report.

Content updates and changes are collected and reviewed through the Curriculum Approval and Tracking (CAT) system. Courses and programs are routed to program chairs/provosts, divisional staff, the Office of the Registrar, and the appropriate Senate committees via workflow.

CAT: Curriculum Approval and Tracking System

Login to the CAT system

LOGGING IN: The login for the CAT system is in the top right corner of any page. Click the link and you will be prompted to sign on via your cruzid gold account. Please note that users are not logged in by default; you may need to login each time you visit the site, or after taking action on a link in email.

REQUESTING ACCESS: To request access to the CAT system for yourself or others in your unit, please complete the Curriculum Systems Access Request Form. All faculty should have automatic default access to initiate course changes and view items in the dashboard. Additional access will be required to sign off on the program workflow, or for any staff to make changes. Department managers, academic advisors, program chairs, and divisional oversight staff all typically have some form of access in CAT. For more information on roles for approval, see CAT User Roles.

NEED HELP? Our team hosts weekly CAT Open Lab Sessions on zoom: Wednesdays 3:00-4:00pm (see our google calendar for the zoom link and details). You can also email us at curric@ucsc.edu.

OVERVIEW: For detailed information about program and course edits, please see the sections below. Additional documentation of basic items (and quirks) in the CAT system is available via CAT Basics.

Curriculum Deadlines

Course Approval Processes

All new course proposals, and revisions to existing courses, must be submitted through the CAT system.

INTRODUCTORY GUIDE: CAT Intro: How to Propose or Revise a Course

DEADLINES: Course Approval Calendar

COURSE STATUSES: Courses can be Active, Suspended, or Cancelled. Course statuses may be changed using a course revision request.

  • Active: Approved and ready to be scheduled. Published in the catalog. 
  • Suspended: Removed from scheduling, not published in the catalog. Consider this a holding zone. Course can be reactivated by course revision and CCI review.
  • Cancelled: Removed from scheduling, not published in the catalog, and not held for possible reactivation. Course number is freed up for other use.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

NEED HELP? Our team hosts weekly CAT Open Lab Sessions on zoom: Wednesdays 3:00-4:00pm (see our google calendar for the zoom link and details). You can also email us at curric@ucsc.edu.

Catalog Program Statements

The General Catalog‘s requirements for degree and certificate programs are overseen by the Committee on Educational Policy (for undergraduate programs) or Graduate Council (for graduate programs).

Revisions to existing programs must be submitted through the CAT system in order to be updated in the General Catalog. Some initial proposals and work (especially for new programs or substantial changes) must also be directly proposed to the affiliated committee, often in advance — contact the committee’s analyst for guidance and information.

CEP/GC CORRESPONDENCE for the 2026-27 Catalog Cycle: Program Statement Review Process for 2026-27 General Catalog – revised 9/15/25

INTRODUCTORY GUIDE CAT Intro: Program Statement Forms

DEADLINES: General Catalog & Program Statements

REQUIRED FORMS: Departments must submit at least three types of forms, in addition to required cover letters. Review and submission of each form is required for all programs, even if there are no changes. If there are no changes to a given form, please also select the checkbox at the top marked “no changes,” and submit.

  • Department Information and Documentation – the repository for correspondence between the department and the Senate. Departments/Programs with both undergraduate and graduate program statements will submit separate forms for each (undergraduate and graduate), along with separate required cover letters.
  • Revise Department/Program Primary – public-facing, often short introductory information for the department/program as a whole, with links to degree programs.
  • Revise Program Statement (for each undergraduate and/or graduate plan) –
    each includes the information, policies, course requirements, and planning information for the specific undergraduate or graduate degree(s) or pathways(s) sponsored by the department or program. Undergraduate programs with multiple concentrations will have each concentration contained on the main program statement form.

PREVIEW: The Preview button on the left side of the programs statement and primary forms will allow you to preview your pages as they will appear in the published catalog.

ACADEMIC PLANNERS moving to Program Pathways Mapper: Beginning with the 2026-2027 General Catalog, academic planners will be fully migrating to the Program Pathways Mapper. Additional details and instructions can be found here: 2026-2027 Planner Update Process.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

NEED HELP? Our team hosts weekly CAT Open Lab Sessions on zoom: Wednesdays 3:00-4:00pm (see our google calendar for the zoom link and details). You can also email us at curric@ucsc.edu.

Last modified: Sep 17, 2025