The syllabus is an important contract between students and instructors that outlines course expectations and requirements. A good online syllabus should be available on the first day of class through Blackboard and submitted to department secretaries. It must include instructor contact information, office hours, required materials, course objectives, schedules, grading policies, academic integrity statements, and accessibility for students with disabilities. Lastly, hyperlinks and specific dates should be used instead of general weeks.
2. Importance The syllabus is one of the most important parts of any course, whether delivered online or face-to-face. The syllabus is known as the contract between the students and instructor. The contract contains ALL necessary information specific to an individual course such as the:expected responsibilities and duties, grading criteria, class participation, etc.
3. Course Syllabus The course syllabus should be available to your students the FIRST day of class or sooner, via Blackboard. A copy of each syllabus should be submitted to the depart-mentSECRETARY within the first week of the semester. Service courses with multiple divisions (e.g., ENGL 101, MA 153) should have, a common syllabus (i.e., common course requirements) for each division.
4. What should your syllabus contain? A course syllabus should contain, at minimum, the following information: Instructor’s name Instructor’s office number (departmental office if an instructor does not have a designated office on campus) Instructor’s phone number (departmental secretary’s phone number if a PNC phone number is not available) Instructor’s PNC e-mail address* Department office number and phone number Office hours; 4-6 hours per week *The PNC e-mail system is the campus default communication system; all instructional staff must use their PNC e-mail account.
5. It should also contain… Course title and class (lab) schedule time Required text(s), lab manual, etc. Course objectives Communication policies and expectations Tentative lecture (lab) schedule for the semester which should include all assignments and due dates, quiz and exam dates Comprehensive grading policy Statement concerning missed exams/quizzes+ Statement of expectations about the academic integrity policy This statement should come from the PNC Code of Student Conduct www.pnc.edu/cd/Policy/conduct.html + In general, instructors are responsible for proctoring all course exams.
6. Lastly… If your course is laid out with web pages, make sure that the links are accessible within the course syllabus. If hyper-linking web addresses, always provide the actual URL as an alternative (in case they need to enter it manually). Use specific dates instead of simply listing “Week One” in your schedule. It should be clearly stated how students with disabilities can contact the instructor for the necessary accommodations.
7. RESOURCES Creating An Effective Online Syllabus: http://college.hmco.com/instructors/catalog/walkthroughs/pdf/walk_0618000429_4.pdf PNC Academic Integrity Policy: http://www.pnc.edu/academic_affairs/academic_integrity.pdf PNC Standards for Online Courses: http://www.pnc.edu/academic_affairs/syllabi.pdf (2011, H. Koski)
