GRS Bulletin Editing Instructions

All text edits to the Staging Bulletins must be made and submitted via email in a Word document attachment (a separate Word document for each URL you are editing) in the manner outlined below. Please note: this is different than the templates required by CAS undergraduate programs.

• Go to the Staging Bulletin’s page you wish to edit. Copy the page’s URL and paste it at the top of a blank Word document, using Word’s “Print Layout” as your document view option. The GRS Staging Bulletin is here.
• Select the entire text of the webpage, copy it, and paste it into the main body of the Word document, directly below the page’s URL.
• Employing Word’s Track Changes feature, make your edits. Using Track Changes is required and is how MarCom  identifies changes you want to make, implements them, and finally verifies that they’ve been made. IMPORTANT: Do not turn on Track Changes until after you have cut and pasted the URL and the text of the page you wish to edit into your Word document.
• General Editorial Guidelines (as suggested by MarCom)
  • Use bullets. Break up large blocks of text and all lists, especially lists of courses, with bullets.
  • Think “online.” Provide exact names of other sections/information you’d like to point to, along with their URLs.
  • Be consistent. Use the same style and tone across all sections of your bulletin sections.
  • Be thorough. The Bulletin is an unchangeable snapshot of a particular academic year. Information is frozen upon publication.
• Once your edits are complete and saved, attach your file in an email to grsbltn@bu.edu by the appropriate deadline

A more visual representation of these instructions (with additional editing tips) is available for your reference here. If you run into any issues or have any questions, please contact grsbltn@bu.edu and we will be happy to guide you through this process.

The Bulletin follows BU style standards, including:

• “Bulletin”, “the Bulletin” (as in the name of this website/document) is always capitalized.
• Do not use “Office of” in a department name, except when the office name is the title of the office holder, such as Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Office of the Registrar.
  • Correct: Admissions office
  • Incorrect: Office of Admissions
• Informal references to degrees are lowercased (“master’s degree”).
• Headlines should be formatted consistently to assist the reader, in descending order where appropriate.
• For courses:
  • Course numbers need space: GRS PH 717 (not PH717).
  • Use numerals for credits: 8 (not eight).
  • In running text, use “credits”. In course listings or tables, use “cr” and use with all.
  • “Graphic Design elective”—elective is lowercase.
• In grades (“students must earn a B–”), please use an en dash.

The first editing deadline is for any necessary revisions to the text of the GRS Program Pages. Program Pages list the specific academic requirements for any graduate academic programs. The edits we ask from you for this deadline are general text and/or format changes to your program pages. (Department Pages will be addressed in a later round of edits.)

NOTE: Text for all formally submitted new program proposals and substantial changes to existing program requirements will be incorporated in the Bulletins automatically by MarCom at a later date following approval of the changes through the usual academic approval process (eCAP) initiated by your chair/director.  You need not make these edits.

• Review all the Program Pages applicable to your particular department/program as published in the Staging Bulletin.
• Following the editing instructions and format outlined above in “Text Editing and Proper Format Instructions,” edit as and if necessary. A list of all GRS Program Pages can be found here.
• If you have followed the editing instructions and format outlined above in “Text Editing and Proper Format Instructions” correctly, you should end up with a Word document that looks something like this before you start editing.

As a guide to editing and content of Program Pages, the Office of the Provost and the Arts & Sciences Office of the Dean offer the following guidelines and tips. Please take the time to read them and incorporate them if any of your existing program pages do not adhere to these guidelines:

Program Overview

Program Pages in the Bulletins are required to include introductory information that helps students understand the programs’ objectives. Before defining specific degree requirements, each Program Page should begin with a clear and substantive description of what the program aims to do for its students. Please make certain all your Program Pages contain such an overview (most already do). The overview should range in length from several sentences to three short paragraphs outlining:

• The intellectual content of this program
• What students gain
• What it prepares students for in life and work

Learning Outcomes  

Academic degree programs must include program learning outcomes. These should match those submitted to the Provost’s office and visible on the Provost Office website. Please paste learning outcomes between the introductory description of the program and the program requirements.

Program Requirements

Here are some tips for editing the program requirements section of an individual Program Page:

• Think scannability, clarity, and ease for the reader.  Arrange information, particularly requirements/courses, in bulleted lists. Use subheads when possible, to create easy-to-digest chunks of information.
• Arrange courses in bulleted lists in the order that they should be taken. Where order is not an issue, arrange alphanumerically.
• Include credits after courses in parentheses with credits abbreviated “cr”.
• Be consistent in your terminology.
• A good way to check if program requirements read clearly and concisely is to ask some students in the program to read your text.  If they understand it and have no questions, you’ve effectively reached your audience.

What information is appropriate to include on an individual Program Page?

Include	Do NOT Include
A program overview, as outlined above	Complete explanation of a program and its opportunities, attractions, relevance to the modern world, and so on. (These belong on your department/program website.)
Program learning outcomes
The total number of courses and/or credits required for successful completion of the program	“Marketing copy” (e.g., “Why study X?”) for the major/program (this belongs on your department/program website.
Specific course requirements for the program
Minimum grade requirements (if applicable)
Other requirements specific to the program (if applicable)
Special examinations relating to the program (if applicable)
Other academic information specific to the program (as necessary)

When finished, submit edited Word documents to the the GRS Bulletin email address (grsbltn@bu.edu)

A properly formatted edited program page should look similar to this example.

The second editing deadline is for edits to the text of the GRS Department Pages*. Department Pages in the bulletin are intended to contain a brief overview of departments/programs and departmental contact information.

* Please note that in the context of bulletin editing, the phrases “Department Page” and “department” are generic and, in the case of CAS and GRS, inclusive of the departments and other administrative homes of academic majors, minors, courses, and degree programs offered within the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.

• Review the Department Page applicable to you as published in the Staging Bulletin.
• Following the editing instructions and format outlined above in “Text Editing and Proper Format Instructions,” edit as and if necessary. A list of all GRS Department Pages contained in the Staging Bulletin can be found here.

As a guide to editing and content of Department Pages, the Office of the Provost and the Arts & Sciences Office of the Dean offer the following guidelines and tips. Please take the time to read them and incorporate them if your existing department page does not already adhere to these guidelines:

Department Page: Overview

Think: Brief. Academics only. Bird’s-eye view. 

Remember, the Bulletin is a place for academic information; provide links for information contained elsewhere (e.g., on the Arts & Sciences website or on the department/program website).

What information is appropriate to include in the department overview on a Department Page?

Include	Do NOT Include
High-level Department overview—break up with bullets and subheads as necessary—may include some or all of the elements below:	Lengthy text that attempts to cover history, selling points, and details of the department/program
Overall focus/mission/objectives	Detailed list of degrees, majors, and minors offered (these belong on Bulletin Program Pages)
Range of degrees and programs: Brief, high-level look at range of graduate degrees and certificates offered in the department and a brief note about the program(s) that the department houses	General attractions of Boston or BU as a place to study or live (these belong on your department/program website)
Faculty research foci	Information available on your own department/program website (e.g., “Why study at…?”)
Facilities/special research equipment	List of programs (these belong in Programs section of the Bulletin)
General note about faculty (e.g., size, areas of expertise, etc.)	Lists of faculty and non-faculty administration and staff (these belong on your department/program website)
General note on special opportunities (study abroad, internships, and so on)	Major/minor/degree requirements (these belong on Bulletin Program Pages)
Student organizations/associations	Application/admissions information (this information belongs on your department/program and school website)
Department affiliations	Grade requirements (info specific to a particular program belongs on your Bulletin Program Pages)
	Any other details that belong or already exist in other Bulletin sections or on your department’s/program’s website

Department Page: Contact Sidebar (blue box in upper right-hand corner)

Contact sidebars instead point to individual department/program websites. The intent is to provide students with a link to the portion of your department/program website that provides the best and most comprehensive contact information pertinent to undergraduate students. The departmental/program website page to which this link points should at the very least state one method of direct contact in the form of an email address and/or telephone number.

When finished, submit edited Word documents to the GRS Bulletin email address (grsbltn@bu.edu)

A properly formatted edited Department Page should look similar to this example.

Course lists should be created and returned in a Word document attachment. Please create one Word document for courses to appear in the GRS Bulletin in the manner outlined below:

Your Word document should list the complete course number of all the courses whose number, title, and description you wish to appear in the 2024/2025 GRS Bulletin. Note that this does not mean only the courses you plan on offering during the 2024/2025 academic year.* List courses in alphanumeric order, with no spaces.

Please note: as of Fall 2024, all GRS courses will be replaced with CAS college codes as part of the transition to a new student information system, MyBU Student.  For example, GRS MA 615 will become CAS MA 615. (Graduate-level Course Lists may contain CAS 500-level courses that are required or are electives for GRS degree programs, should you choose.)

Listed courses do not roll over from one year to the next.  Therefore, a course list is required yearly, even if there are no additions or deletions to the courses listed in the previous year’s bulletin.

• Only complete course numbers are required. Do not state course titles, or include course descriptions, the semester(s) the courses are to be offered, or the instructors of the courses. Remember to include any new courses that have been officially approved during the 2023/2024 academic year that you intend to offer in 2024/2025.

• Do not employ Track Changes when compiling your list(s).

• Do not list courses offered only during Summer Term.

• While compiling your course list, please make certain that all the courses intended to be offered during the 2024/2025 academic year are properly noted in your department/program’s Academic Planning Database (APD).

• A complete, proper course number includes the school of the course, the departmental/program two-letter rubric, and its 3-character number with no spaces between the three parts, e.g., CASAH867.

• At the top of the Word document state your department/program and the Bulletin for which the list is intended.

As a reference and aid in compiling your course list, courses appearing in the current, 2023/2024 Bulletins are viewable at:

CAS Bulletin courses
GRS Bulletin courses

*IMPORTANT: When compiling your list of courses please adhere to the following:

In accordance with New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) accrediting guidelines, only courses offered within the three-year period prior to and including the bulletin year may be listed in a publication. Therefore, course list(s) for the 2024/2025 Bulletins should only reflect courses that have been offered or will be offered during the following academic years:

2022/2023
2023/2024
2024/2025

SAMPLE OF A PROPERLY FORMATTED COURSE LIST

GRS course list Word documents must be submitted to the GRS Bulletin email address (grsbltn@bu.edu) no later than April 10, 2024.

NOTE: New CAS graduate-level courses that receive official approval after this April 10 deadline will be added automatically to your course lists if the Course Proposal Form stated the course was to be first offered Fall 2023 or Spring 2024.

Please note- the Course Description Edits and Updates process has been updated to reflect the correct process in the transition to MyBU Student.

This is a separate task from the April 10th “Course List Deadline”

1. Use the on-line “Course Catalog” function available in MyBU Student (https://mybustudent.bu.edu under “Course Information”) as the basis for reviewing your course descriptions (and any pre- and/or co-requisites) edits. Do not make your edits based on descriptions appearing in the current GRS Bulletin, as these descriptions may not be the most current.
2. If an update to an existing description and/or its pre- or co-requisites is necessary for any of the courses you wish to appear in the 2024/2025 GRS Bulletin, note its course number and paste its course description into a Word document. Your Word document should not include course numbers or description text for any courses for which you are not making edits.
3. With Track Changes turned on, update the Word document as needed. Remember that course descriptions should be 40 words or fewer and contain no statements in the future tense.
4. We do not state cross-listed courses in a course description itself. This info appears in the “View Sections” portion of a course’s entry in MyBU when students view the course schedule, or you view the course in Course Information as directed in item #1 above.
5. If you come across a course with only a title and no full description it indicates that a course description and/or title was never processed for the course.  In which case, simply state the course number, title, pre-requisites (if any) and course description in Word document.  Check with Emily Griffin <grsbltn@bu.edu> if you have questions.

IMPORTANT: Please do not indicate the instructor, credit hours, or semester(s) offered. That information will be automatically drawn from UIS’s scheduling functions for Fall 2024 and Spring 2025.

Please do not combine your Course List(s) (deadline 4/10/2024) with edits to course descriptions in one Word document.

GRS Course List Description Edits must be submitted to the GRS Bulletin email address (grsbltn@bu.edu) no later than 5/1/2024.

 

You need not submit all your description edits at once. You may submit them piecemeal up until the 5/1 deadline.  Any description updates received beyond that point will be processed but we cannot guarantee they will appear in the published 2024/2025 GRS Bulletin.  They will appear in the MyBU Course Catalog and published MyBU class schedule.

– Not applicable for 2022/2023 –

MarCom has implemented all edits submitted earlier in the editing cycle to your Department and Program Pages.  You now have a small window of opportunity to review these edits as they appear in the Staging Bulletin prior to publication on June 1, 2023.

Therefore, please take this time to review your Department and Program Pages in the Staging Bulletin to make sure text appears as you intended.

Each Word document of edits you previously submitted should have the linking Staging Bulletin URL stated at the top.  If not, of if you did not keep a copy of what you submitted, a list of all GRS Department Pages contained in the Staging Bulletin can be found here.  A list of all GRS Program Pages can be found here.

If you have any corrections or minor last-minute textural changes to make, please follow the editing instructions and format outlined above in “Text Editing and Proper Format Instructions” and edit as/if necessary.

NOTE:

• To align with BU style, MarCom has let stand some capitalization edits you may have submitted (like “university,” “institute,” “office”, etc.) when those words stand alone. They have been asked to stringently lowercase such instances by the Provost’s Office.
• Text for all formally submitted new program proposals and substantial changes/revisions to existing program requirements will be incorporated in the Bulletin automatically by Creative Services following approval of the changes through the usual academic approval process (eCAP) initiated by your chair/director.  You need not make these edits.

When finished, submit edited Word documents to grsbltn@bu.edu

Note this is the same date your edits to bulletin courses descriptions are due.

Staging Bulletins

• CAS 2022/2023 Staging Bulletin
• GRS 2022/2023 Staging Bulletin

Department Pages in Staging Bulletins (department/program overview pages)

• CAS
• GRS

Program Pages in Staging Bulletins (degree program/major/minor descriptions and requirements pages)

• CAS
• GRS (including Graduate Certificate Programs)

Style Guides

• BU Editorial Style Guide (general University editorial guidelines/standards)

Templates and Examples

• Editing and Proper Formatting Steps
• Sample of a Correctly Formatted and Edited Document (using Track Changes)