This is a summary of the policy detailing the Guide Approved Language for New or Discontinued Programs. Click here to view the official policy in its entirety in the UW-Madison Policy Library. 

General Rules/Assumptions

• Foundational expectation: changes/updates should only be made once a year with the Guide edition published in June, beginning a new academic catalog for the new academic year. This is to support student and advising needs relating to the single source of truth.
• Any significant/major change will take effect with a new Guide publication in June.
• Any creation/deletion/renaming of tabs requires proposal to and approval by the Lumen Sponsors in consultation with Lumenaries, Guide Coordinators, and other appropriate governance bodies. Once approved, implementation will take effect with the publication of a new Guide (June publication).
• Academic structure revisions cannot be made without governance process and approval and, when required, University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents, Higher Learning Commission (HLC, Accreditation) and/or State Legislature approval.

Guide Publication

Guide is updated annually and publishes June 1. Guide serves as a vessel that contains governed and non-governed content in a centrally located space, supporting the single source of truth. Non-governed content is edited directly through the “next-guide” editing environment. Governed content, also referred to as integration points, are edited through Lumen Programs. Governed content should reside exclusively in the integration points, and should not be duplicated on non-governed tabs. Similarly, the opposite is true - minimize the use of non-governed content within the governed content. For more information, see the KB on Guide Publication.

Dates and deadlines are found here: Lumen/Guide: Deadlines (2024-2025 academic year)

Governed Content

Definition: the information presented within several sections of Guide for which institutional policy applies. In these sections, specific rules exist, and adherence is necessary to ensure published content is aligned with and supports existing policy and standards.

Dates and Deadlines for governed content are found in the Academic Planning and Institutional Research calendar (https://apir.wisc.edu/events/), as provided by schools and colleges. Note, while deadlines are included, it’s important to keep in mind all of the governance steps (department, school/college, University, University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, Higher Learning Commission, etc.) when planning for implementation. The inclusion in Guide is dependent on the publication deadlines as well.

Non-Governed Content

Definition: content is curated by the department or school/college that does not require formal University governance review or approval. This includes content that should be relatively static over an entire year, such as the overview of the program, funding, advising, Wisconsin Experience, or other tabs that are intended to serve as advertising for any given program.

Dates/deadlines for school/college Guide coordinators for changes to non-governed content: Lumen/Guide: Deadlines (2024-2025 academic year)

Changes to non-governed content outside of the editing period can be emailed to guideeditor@office365.wisc.edu

 Tabs

Footnote:

1. This applies to Badger Ready, Guest Auditor, High School Students, Other, Post-Baccalaureate Course, Visiting International and Visiting University Students.