The Division of Academic Affairs is responsible for overseeing the Schools of Arts and Sciences, Business, Human Services and the Graduate School as well as the Division of Continuing Education and Non-traditional Programs, and Community Service, and the College Library. The Division exercises oversight and review over a large volume of information that is provided for public consumption, including the College Catalog.

The College Catalog, which is published biannually, provides information on the College’s mission and goals, admissions and transfer acceptance policies, tuition and fees, and applicable refund policies. The Catalog outlines accurate descriptions of courses of study and degree programs, departmental flow sheets and graduation requirements, as well as instructional and administrative staff with qualifications, and descriptions of learning and physical resources. The Catalog also provides valuable information regarding student’s rights and responsibilities, academic support services, academic policies and procedures and student services. Supplemented during each semester’s advising and registration period, by the Master Schedule, the Catalog information is kept as accurate as possible.

The Graduate School publishes a Graduate Catalog, which provides pertinent and necessary academic information for the graduate audience. The Graduate Catalog, published every two years, provides admission and transfer credit policies, descriptions of each program of study, degree requirements, instructional and administrative staff with accompanying degrees, a schedule of tuition and refund policies.

A separate Graduate Brochure published at each registration period supplements the Graduate Catalog.

Within the various Schools and Divisions of the College, many departments provide brochures and or handbooks describing programs of study or particular activities of special interests. Examples of these materials include the Student Teaching Handbook, the School of Social Work Handbook, the Library Handbook and the student life handbook, Compass. Each of these documents strives to provide detailed information outlining the types of academic, co-curricular, and non-academic opportunities available to students at the College.

Each of the College’s academic programs, policies and procedure are developed and reviewed by various committees and subcommittees of the governance process. Changes, additions and deletions that are recommended and approved through this formal process, are then included in official College publications. The College works diligently to insure that all of its publications are consistent with the College Catalog and provide an accurate and clear portrayal of the conditions and opportunities available at the College, and that the information provided is sufficient to allow students to make informed decisions about their education.

Salem State College is aware of its commitment to public disclosure, and conforms with all federal and state laws which govern appropriate access to College information, and responds in a timely manner to those request.

The Office of the College Registrar shares the responsibility for the review and publication of the catalogs with the Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs. Materials for the catalogs are subject to the College’s governance process, which is designed to review and recommend changes in College policy and curriculum to the President. The oversight provided as a result this procedure is paramount in setting forth the expectations and responsibilities of students as well as the College.

Since many of the College’s additional publications grow out of the Official Catalogs, it is important that the College continue to work continually towards providing publications that are consistent in both content and style. To that end the College wide "Standards and Guidelines for Publications" were issued in 1988 as an effort to provide guidance in the development of printed material produced by the College. These guidelines delineate the process for the review and approval of content for brochures, handbooks and other publications and also provide direction regarding format and the College's visual image in printed material. Ultimately, the guidelines help insure that all College printed materials conform to the publication standards and are an honest and accurate reflection of the College to the public.

Although there is still some variance in the quality of material produced, the College continues to strive towards offering publications that are an accurate reflection of the school, its programs, and its services. The controls set forth in the publication guidelines, and the College governance procedures have provided for a more centralized method of producing varied printed materials. The overall result is an increased quality of College publications in both the content and the format.

Salem State College recognizes the continuing need to assess and review its publications, to insure that the College’s overall efforts to communicate with its campus community and the general public are successful.

Salem State College will continue to be vigilant of the quality and accuracy of its publications. Through the adherence to the College's "Standards and Guidelines for Publications", and the guidance of appropriate college governance committees, publications will continue to reflect accurately the College's goals, services and programs.

The College will continue review and make improvements in how it presents itself to the public through the various media that will insure both accuracy of content and consistency in style and format.