The director of undergraduate studies (DUS) is appointed by the dean of Yale College after consultation with the chair of a department¹ or program. The appointment is renewed annually. 

As DUS, you are the chief tie between the department and its undergraduate students, and an essential link between Yale College and the members of the department. Accordingly, you should regularly attend the monthly meetings of the DUSs and the monthly meetings of the Yale College Faculty, both convened by the dean of Yale College, and keep informed of developments in Yale College, in your department, and in related departments. You should be thoroughly familiar with the principles and regulations governing education in Yale College as they are set forth in Yale College Programs of Study (YCPS). And you need to keep regular and well-advertised office hours.

As DUS, you are responsible for the quality and range of undergraduate instruction in your department and the contents and structure of the undergraduate major. You do this within guidelines laid down by the chair and other faculty of your department and by the Yale College Faculty, and in accordance with the regulations and usages of Yale College. This general charge may give rise to obligations that cannot easily be defined in a manual of this sort, and in any event the duties of a DUS differ from department to department, depending on the size of the department and its administrative traditions. Yet there are some obligations that most directors of undergraduate studies must fulfill, and these are described in this handbook.

Appropriate people with whom to get in touch about the various duties described here have been indicated throughout the text. General questions may be directed to the Yale College Dean's Office. Directors of undergraduate studies and others are urged to send information about omissions or mistakes in this handbook, as well as suggestions for improving it, to the University Registrar's Office at registrar@yale.edu.

1	Throughout this handbook, “department” almost always refers to both departments and programs.