Syllabus Guidelines

The course syllabus provides students with the information they need in order to succeed in your course. This includes basic information, such as instructor name and course description; information about course activities and assignments; and official university, college, or departmental policies. This guide provides information about each type of content; indicates what’s required, recommended, or worth considering; and provides sample language that can be incorporated into your syllabus.

Basic Information

Information about the course and instructor(s) is the most essential part of the syllabus, as it tells students what they need to know to attend the course, what the course requirements are, and who will be teaching them. The following basic information is expected on every syllabus and should appear at the beginning: 

  • Course title and number, catalog number (required) 
  • Term: semester and year 
  • Instructor information: Your syllabus is required to include your name. In addition, include your title and preferred form of address (do you want your students to call you by your first name? Last name? Something else?). Include contact information: email address, office and/or cell phone, office location if you’re on-campus. Indicate your preferred method of contact. 
  • Consultation (office) hours (required): Indicate what times you’re available for consultation and where your students can find you – physical location or virtual meeting link. 
  • Note that some students may be confused by the term “office hours,” thinking that this is time you’ve set aside for doing your own work. Others may equate going to office hours with being called to the principal’s office in high school and think of it as punishment. This is why you may want to consider using a different name, such as “Student Consultation Hours.” Regardless of what you call them, make it clear that this is time for students to ask you questions, learn more about what you’ve covered in class, and get extra help. 
  • Course Modality: does your class meet in person, online (synchronous or asynchronous), or hybrid? 
  • Meeting time and location: Indicate where students need to be to attend class, either the physical location or a link to the online classroom. If the class has specific meeting times, indicate those as well. 
  • Course description (required): Include, at the very least, the course description as it appears on the Registrar’s webpage. If you want to add more of a description of what the course covers or what students can expect, you can include it here. 
  • Prerequisites and co-requisites: List any prerequisites or co-requisites that students must complete before or alongside this course. This reminds students of the information and skills that you’ll be assuming they’re familiar with and that they need in order to succeed in this course. 
  • Any general education, departmental, or program requirements the course fulfills: This helps your students understand where this course fits in their overall academic program. 
  • Learning outcomes (required): Let students know what they’ll be able to do as a result of successfully completing this course. 
  • Course materials: Indicate what materials students are required to have access to and what materials are recommended. Include technology requirements and software skills that are necessary to complete the coursework. 

Course Structure

Information about course structure provides students with a clear sense of what to expect in the course—what they’ll learn, how they’ll learn it, and how they will be assessed on that learning.

  • Overview of Learning Activities: Include a list of the activities the course will rely on to foster and assess learning, such as readings, videos, audio, presentations, discussions, reflections, assignments, projects, quizzes, and exams. Include both graded assessments and ungraded learning activities.
  • Assessment (required): Indicate how students’ grades will be determined: assignments, any other factors (e.g., attendance and participation), and their relative weights. Include a grading scale.
  • Statement that the syllabus is subject to change as needed: Sometimes, circumstances arise that necessitate changing the schedule of topics, details of assignments, or other aspects of the course. It’s important to include a brief statement on your syllabus to let students know that this is a possibility. 
  • Example #1 (brief statement): “Syllabus subject to change as needed.”
  • Example #2 (longer statement): “The schedule, policies, procedures, and assignments for this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances, by mutual agreement, or to ensure better student learning.” 

Course Values

These elements of the syllabus contribute to your students’ success by both fostering a sense of belonging in the course and helping them know how to be successful. While this is important for all courses, it is particularly important for online courses, which often present greater barriers to student engagement. Including such information is also of particular value for first-generation students and students from underserved backgrounds, who may not begin the course with as much implicit knowledge about how to succeed as a college student. These elements are optional but recommended:

  • Teaching statement and course expectations
  • Tell your students why you are teaching this course, how you define successful learning and what they can expect from you. Include communication expectations here, such as your response times to communications and grading turnaround time.
  • For online courses, indicate how you plan to interact with your students on a regular basis throughout the term to support their learning.
  • How to be successful in this course 
  • Provide students with guidance and suggestions for succeeding in your course. Indicate how much time they should expect to spend each week completing out-of-class work and suggestions for how to be successful with the course material. Remember that not all students come into your class with a clear understanding of how to study, take notes, read for comprehension, listen actively to lectures, or participate in discussions. You can help them by providing advice that is specific to your field, discipline, and course.
  • Content warning (if applicable) 
  • If your class will discuss difficult topics, it can be valuable to let your students know in advance. The following statement is an example of how you can do that.
  • In our class, we will engage in some difficult topics, including [list relevant topic(s)]. It is important to engage with these topics as they shape our field of study. I have been careful in selecting how these topics are discussed, so that we are sensitive to how these issues may have already been lived experiences for those in this class and so we can achieve the learning outcomes for our class. You may find some of these topics emotionally challenging. If needed, I encourage you to utilize resources on campus, including, but not limited to Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS): 3rd Floor Hudson Health Center; 740.593.1616; counseling.services@ohio.edu & Student Accessibility Services: 348 Baker University Center; 740.593.2620; access@ohio.edu 
  • If you have questions about the content of our course, please come and speak with me. [Edit this to provide your own guidance on how students are expected to engage with you on sensitive material. Are they able to step out of class during triggering conversations? Can they miss sessions? Do you require that they receive appropriate accommodations from Accessibility Services to miss or step out of sessions?]

Course Policies

Students take several courses at a time, each with different expectations and policies regarding attendance, late work, and other course logistics. Making it easy for students to find such information for your class is thus essential to their success.

  1. Attendance Policy
  • According to university policy, absences due to the following considerations are considered legitimate and should count as excused absences under any course policy: illness, death in the immediate family, religious observance, jury duty, and involvement in university-sponsored activities.
  • Per University Policy 40.003, the following statement is required to be included: “Additionally, you may be absent for up to three (3) days each academic semester, without penalty, to take time off for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system or to participate in organized activities conducted under the auspices of a religious denomination, church, or other religious or spiritual organization. Notify me in writing of specific dates requested for alternative accommodations no later than fourteen (14) days after the first day of instruction. These requests will remain confidential. For more information about this policy, you may contact the Director and Title IX Coordinator, Equity and Civil Rights Compliance: Lindley Hall 006, 740-593-9140, equity@ohio.edu.”
  • Within these constraints, you are responsible for your own attendance policy. Whatever your attendance policy is, be sure to indicate what students should do when they miss class (inform you before/after, complete makeup work, contact classmate to get notes, etc.), how many classes they can miss, what the ramifications are of missing class, and the difference between excused and unexcused absences.

2. Late / Makeup work policy

  • Indicate under what conditions, if any, you accept late work. Is it only in cases of excused absences? Is the number of extensions limited? Is late work eligible for full or only partial credit? The more clearly you delineate your policy in your syllabus, the more equitably you can administer it and the fewer questions you’ll have to field during the semester.

3. Classroom etiquette/netiquette guide

  • Provide students with guidance regarding how to conduct themselves during class. Include specific expectations regarding student interactions and participation in course discussions. Indicate as well what materials you expect them to bring to class, and other such considerations. Include your classroom technology policy here. Do you permit/discourage/prohibit cell phone use? Other technologies?
  • For synchronous online courses, include your expectations regarding whether to have cameras on, keeping oneself muted, and demonstrating engagement in class. 

4. Academic Misconduct Policy (required)

  • Either refer to a policy approved by your academic unit or college, or provide your own policy, making sure to include
  • A definition of academic misconduct (if your field requires a more specific definition than the one found in the Student Code of Conduct),
  • A list of the range of sanctions that you might implement in the case of academic misconduct,
  • A statement that students may appeal academic sanctions through the grade appeal process,
  • A statement that the Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility (CSSR) may impose additional sanctions.

5. Generative AI Policy

6. Statement of how students can provide feedback/suggestions and report issues

  • How can students let you know if there’s a technological issue with the course (a link in Canvas doesn’t work, a file is missing, etc.)? If students have constructive suggestions for how the course could be improved—consider, for instance, if the navigation of an online course is particularly confusing—how can they get those suggestions to you? Is there a way to provide such suggestions anonymously? 

Academic and Student Support Resources 

Ohio University provides an array of resources to help students be successful, both academically and overall. Including links to these resources in an appendix to your syllabus is an easy way to encourage your students to utilize them. 

You may also choose to include a basic needs statement that acknowledges the physical, physiological, and psychological needs that are a prerequisite of successful academic work, and links students to relevant campus resources:  

Other Important Information 

This final type of syllabus content is information that is important to include, but that doesn’t change much from one syllabus to the next. The specific language of this content is often dictated, with the instructor having little or no say in what it says. It is thus recommended that this information be included last (perhaps in an appendix), because if it appears earlier students are unlikely to read past it to the more course-specific information. This information nonetheless should appear on every syllabus: 

  1. Course withdrawal and Drop date 

2. Refer to the Academic Calendar for relevant dates. 

3. Title IX Statement 

  • All OHIO faculty and staff share in the responsibility to create a safe learning environment for students and for the campus as a whole. With the exception of the confidential resources listed below, all OHIO employees are required to report any instances of sexual harassment or other sexual misconduct to the Title IX Coordinator in the Office of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance (ECRC), even if they learn of it through classroom assignments, discussions or the like. Reports are made to the Title IX Coordinator in the Office of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance and can be made electronically, by phone at 740.593.9140, by fax at 740.593.9168, or by email at titleix@ohio.edu or equity@ohio.edu. If you are not yet ready to have something that happened to you or someone else reported to ECRC, you can speak confidentially with the Survivor Advocacy Program (740-597-SAFE), Counseling and Psychological Services (740.593.1616) or Campus Care (740.592.7100). 

4. Accommodations Statement (required) 

  • Any student who suspects they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the class instructor privately to discuss the student’s specific needs and provide written documentation from the Office of Student Accessibility Services. If the student is not yet registered as a student with a disability, they should contact the Office of Student Accessibility Services. (This is the language recommended by the faculty senate.) 
  • If you suspect that you need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability, please contact me privately to discuss your specific needs and provide written documentation from Accessibility Services. If you are not yet registered as a student with a disability, please contact Accessibility Services at 740-593-2620 or visit the office in Alden Library, Suite 230. (This is the language recommended by the Office of Accessibility Services, slightly revised.) 

5. Department/Program Information 

  • Include relevant contact information for your department and/or program. 

6. Copyright Statement 

  • The lectures, classroom activities, and all materials associated with this class and developed by the instructor are copyrighted in the name of [instructor’s name] on this date [give date]. (This statement is recommended, but not required, by the faculty senate.)