The bulletin of each school and college at Duke University is considered to be the official statement of academic policy, both of the individual school and of the university. Each school at Duke is required to produce a bulletin either annually or biennially. The bulletins are designed, edited, and published in digital form by the Office of the University Registrar. While the overall content can vary between schools, it is Duke's policy that all of its official bulletins have the same general design and format. In addition, all bulletins must include:

  • the school's academic calendar
  • information about admissions policies and practices
  • financial aid information
  • tuition and fees information
  • academic information, regulations, and policies, including grading, registration and continuation requirements
  • judicial conduct information
  • degree and program offerings and requirements
  • information about the faculty in those schools
  • school administration listing
  • general Duke information, including:
    • the Mission of Duke University
    • nondiscrimination and harassment policy statement
    • accreditation statement
    • email policy statement
    • Student Right to Know statement
    • student records policy statement
    • university administration listing

Given the technology available now, and the propensity for students to use digital, rather than printed materials for most information gathering, it is appropriate to provide schools the option of publishing their bulletins on the web only. Indexed PDF versions of all university bulletins are available online via the Office of the University Registrar's website. This site includes not only the current bulletin for each school but also archived copies dating back to at least the 2000-2001 academic year. If a school elects to continue to print its bulletin nothing will change. The Office of the University Registrar will continue to print a mutually determined number of bulletins and a PDF version of the same bulletin will be posted on the web as well. A school can choose, however, to discontinue the printed version and rely exclusively on the web-based version. This will result in significant cost savings for the school; though there will still be set-up costs involved for the web version. The following stipulations will apply:

  • The bulletin will still be produced annually or biennially, as it is now.
    • The web-only version will be an indexed PDF version in the same format as the current bulletins.
    • The official copy posted on the web will be a static copy. No changes will be made until the next year's edition is posted. This is critical since the bulletin provides official notification to both incoming and continuing students of the policies applicable to the students for that particular academic year. It is also critical that we have a static copy that can be used for archival purposes.
    • Since the bulletin will be in PDF format, if a school or any user wishes to print a copy it will be printable. If a school elects to use the web-only version, though, the Office of the University Registrar will provide no printed copies.
  • Whether web only or both printed and web versions are produced, all bulletins will be produced in the same basic format with a standard cover design and will include all of the required items indicated in the policy statement above.
  • Archival copies of previous PDF editions will continue to be made available on the bulletin's website.