Title: Syllabus
Course: Template 4

[Note to instructors - this is the UC Syllabus Template as approved by Faculty Senate. There is a word version to download at the bottom of the page.  You can replace that linked file with your own syllabus once it's prepared. Please feel free to also download and use these suggested syllabus statements for use in your syllabus. DELETE THIS TEXT]

Class Meeting Time and Place (Lab Meeting Time and Place)

Instructor Name

Email, Phone

Office Location

Office Hours [Sample statement: Office Hours]

Students are expected to review and follow the UC Faculty Senate policies on the following topics:

- Attendance
- Class Cancellation
- Academic Integrity
- Accessibility
- Title IX (Sex-Based Discrimination/Harassment & Sexual Violence)
- Counseling Services

[If you have additional or different language, include a statement here about which topics.]

Course Overview, Description, Purpose

[UC Faculty Senate recommends that all syllabi contain a section on Course Overview, Description, and Purpose. Consider including the Catalog Course Description and provide your own overview of the course, focusing particularly on new skills and abilities the students will practice or acquire. Use accessible language to explain how this course will contribute to students’ development—in terms of their possible professional, personal, or curricular goals. Catalog Course Descriptions are located in Catalyst and the eCurriculum system.]

Course Learning Outcomes

[UC Faculty Senate recommends that all syllabi contain a section on Course Learning Outcomes. Course learning outcomes should be measurable and articulate specific skills and abilities that students will develop over the course of the term. Course Learning Outcomes are located in the eCurriculum system.]

[A guideline for writing outcomes is available on the CET&L website.]

Pre- & Co-requisites, Breadth of Knowledge (BoK) areas, Baccalaureate Competencies

[UC Faculty Senate recommends that all syllabi contain a section on Pre-& Co-requisites & Breadth of Knowledge (BoK) areas of the UC General Education Program, if applicable. Consider explaining how this course fits sequentially with other courses in your program, rather than just listing course numbers of relevant pre-requisites. If this is a General Education course, per UC Faculty Senate recommendations, you should also indicate the Breadth of Knowledge areas of this course and how the course fulfills the areas. If the course has been designated as only partially meeting a BoK area, list the additional courses that are necessary to fully satisfy the BoK area. In addition, you should indicate the Baccalaureate Competencies of the UC General Education Program that the course addresses and how this course advances the competencies.

You can find more information about Breath of Knowledge and Baccalaureate Competencies by visiting the Gen Ed website. Gen Ed BoK areas and Gen Ed Competencies for courses are located in the eCurriculum system.]

Course Format

[Providing a description of the format of your course helps students anticipate the frequency of interaction with others in the course and the type of work they are expected to complete. These expectations can be extremely useful especially for students who have never taken an online course or a flipped course.]

[Sample statements: Online - Asynchronous, Online – Synchronous, Hybrid/Flipped]

Course Materials

Required readings/equipment/technology

[UC Faculty Senate recommends that all syllabi indicate at least the titles and authors of required texts. We suggest doing more than simply listing the texts that the students need to buy. We encourage you to list specific equipment, software/technology that is required for you course. Consider answering the following questions: Why did you choose the specific texts that you’ve required? How should students read those texts? What function does reading serve in this course? Are there optional texts, equipment, or technology that could serve as helpful resources for students?]

[Sample statements: Blackboard, Echo, WebEx, SafeAssign]

[If you plan to use test proctoring, consider including a statement about requirements such as equipment, identification, and costs.]

[Sample statements: Proctored testing]

Assessments/Activities and Grading Policy

[UC Faculty Senate recommends that all syllabi contain an Assessments and Grading Policy. We suggest that this section include a breakdown of how grades will be determined, including what each major assignment is worth and how numerical scores translate into letter grades. It might also include your perspective and method for evaluating participation, both inside and outside the class. Consider articulating briefly the importance of particular assignments and how they support specific course learning outcomes. If you would like to talk about grading and assignment options, you can request a consultation with CET&L.]

[Sample statements: Late assignments/labs/exams/quizzes]

Test Proctoring

[If you plan to use test proctoring, consider including a statement about requirements such as equipment, identification, and costs. Also, include a statement on the type of proctoring that will be used.]

[Sample statements: Proctored testing]

Pass/Fail, Audit, and Withdrawal Policy

[UC Faculty Senate recommends that all syllabi contain a Pass/Fail, Audit, and Withdrawal section. How might this affect your perspective on P/F or auditing students? Consider also including an articulation of how an early-term assessments and assignments might help students gauge whether they are a good fit for a course and whether/when they might consider withdrawal.

UC Faculty Senate also recommends that intermediary grades be made available to students at least one week before the official university withdrawal date.]

[Sample statement: Withdrawal]

Classroom Procedures/Policies

Communication

[UC Faculty Senate recommends that all syllabi contain a section on Electronic Communication. In crafting such a policy, consider which devices you think would and wouldn’t work well for course activities and assignments, provide information on how you will use Blackboard, and let students know how they can reach you and how you can reach them. If an additional course website will be used, you should include a hyperlink for the website. Consider providing a “help” section in Blackboard and/or the syllabus so that students know where to get answers to their tech questions about Blackboard and other tools used in the course. For more information about technology resources including the IT@UC Knowledge Base (KB) and the Help Desk visit the IT@UC Help Page.]

[Sample statements: Communication, Technology assistance, and Technology-specific statements]

Technology use during/for class

[Consider including expectations regarding technology use for your course to help students anticipate when certain technologies may be used in class. For example, you may ask students to use a clicker or smart phone for polling in class, but you do not permit texting or listening to music in class. You may also consider including language about how the technology and content used in the course meet the accessibility standards of the university. To learn more about accessibility at the University of Cincinnati, visit the Accessibility Network at UC website.]

[Sample statements: Technology assistance, Technology-specific statements, and Phones, laptops, etc.]

Attendance Policy

Please see the attendance policy.

[The UC Faculty Senate statement on Attendance Policy is available on the UC Faculty Senate Policies webpage. If you would like to add specific information, be sure to include any course or department policies about excused and/or unexcused attendance, especially those where a student automatically fails for excessive absences. You may find it helpful to distinguish between “participation” and “attendance.” Research indicates that students are more likely to attend when attendance expectations are clear. You might also consider including in this section a discussion of how you handle make-up exams, late assignments, and outside of class group work. Focus on maintaining an open, transparent, and positive tone with students.]

[Sample statements: Attendance, Participation]

Faculty attendance

[The UC Faculty Senate recommends that all syllabi include language about expected student reaction or instructions for students if a faculty member does not arrive within the first 15 minutes of class.]

Class Cancellation Policy

[The UC Faculty Senate statement on Class Cancellation Policy is available on the UC Faculty Senate Policies webpage. If you plan to provide class materials and/or activities online to replace a class that was cancelled, we suggest including how this will be communicated to students.]

[Sample statement: Class Cancellation Policy]

Inclusion Statement

[Consider including an Inclusion Statement which is a simple way to signal to students that you value the participation and contributions of those from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. You can use this statement to communicate your expectations for civil debate, critical thinking, and personal accountability.  It is also a helpful reference point when responding to team conflicts, discussion “hot moments,” crisis, and student grievances. Depending on your goals, you might consider including language about personal challenges/health issues, preferred pronouns/names, or being a SafeZone Ally.]

[Sample statement: Inclusion]

Notice of Non-Discrimination

[If you would like to add specific information about non-discrimination, review the UC Notice of Non-Discrimination to signal to students that you work to build a welcoming and inclusive environment where discrimination, harassment, and retaliation is not tolerated.]

[Sample statement: Notice of Non-Discrimination]

Accessibility Policy

[The Faculty Senate statement on accessibility is available on the UC Faculty Senate Policies webpage. We recommend you provide students an understanding of what kinds of class activities might require accommodations and resources available at UC. You may also consider adding your own accessibility policy to signal to students that you value accessibility and work to provide create an inclusive environment to provide universal access.]

[Sample statements: Accessibility and Universal Design for Learning]

Trigger Warning

[If your course contains particularly sensitive material that could be considered emotionally stressful, you may consider adding a trigger warning to prepare students.]

[Sample statement: Trigger warning]

Academic Integrity

[The Faculty Senate statement on academic integrity is available on the UC Faculty Senate Policies webpage. We encourage you to provide additional information, indicating what kinds of academic dishonesty might happen in your course, helping students understand if group work/collaboration constitutes cheating or making explicit what they can consult for a take-home exam. We also encourage you to include resources that will aid students in properly citing and paraphrasing. For more information, consult the UC Student Guide to Academic Integrity. You may also consider having students electronically submit work using SafeAssign through Blackboard to search for plagiarism. The university also provides a proctored testing service at various levels. Please consult with your department head about the level(s), conditions and costs for this.]

Please see the Student Code of Conduct for more information.

[Sample statement: Student Code of Conduct]

[Sample statement: SafeAssign]

Student Resources

[We encourage you to provide additional resources to students such as Academic Excellence and Support Services which includes the Accessibility Resources Office, the Learning Commons, Testing Services, and Veterans Programs & Services. You may consider sharing tips for success in your course such as guidance on how to use the Student Learning Objectives, how to read a particular text, the benefits of spacing out studying rather than cramming, etc.]

[Sample statement: Women Helping Women]

[Sample statement: UC Police & Public Safety]

Course Calendar

[UC Faculty Senate recommends that all syllabi contain learning objectives, a tentative schedule of class meetings with an indication of topics, assignment and due dates, and examination dates. Learning objectives for each module of a course can be easily incorporated into the course calendar to indicate the skills and knowledge that students should acquire by the end of the module. If you would like information on writing course learning outcomes and student learning objectives, you can consult the resources on the CET&L website or request a consultation with CET&L staff.]

Week | Module | Student Learning Objectives | In-class activities | Outside-of-class responsibilities
1 |  |  |  |
2 |  |  |  |
3 |  |  |  |
4 |  |  |  |
5 |  |  |  |
6 |  |  |  |
7 |  |  |  |
8 |  |  |  |
9 |  |  |  |
10 |  |  |  |
… |  |  |  |

I reserve the right to update this syllabus as class needs arise. Be assured that I will communicate to you any changes to our schedule, syllabus or policies quickly and efficiently through (method of contact here)

Click here to download the Syllabus

Click here to download the Course Schedule