NOTE: This is an information page only and is current as of Spring 2009. Any information on official University policy pages or additional requirements from individual units supersedes this page.

Faculty Senate Policy 43-00 (Syllabus)

The Penn State Syllabus Policy (http://www.psu.edu/ufs/policies/43-00.html [2]) requires a written syllabus within the first 10 calendars days of the beginning of class. The following fields are required:

1. List of course content and expectations
2. Grading Policy
3. Examination Policy (including evening non-final exams)
4. Statement of Academic Integrity

Your department, college or campus may require additional information, and an optimal syllabus usually includes more information such as faculty contact information, required textbooks, class policies, course goals, disability statement and other information about the course.

Grading Policy

Details on Penn State Grading policies [3] can be found in the Faculty Senate Web site. [4]

The purpose of stating the grading policy in the syllabus is to clarify specific issues of grading at the beginning of the semester so that students and instructors have a common understanding of grading policy. A detailed grading policy can help alleviate student anxieties about course expectations.

Some tips for a clear grading policy:

1. Note the weighting scale for different types of assignments.
2. Spell out numeric points corresponding to letter grades.
3. Specify which types of exams will be given (essay, multiple choice, etc.). This gives students a better indication how how to prepare for an exam.
4. Provide requirements for papers and projects, including what you look for in an "A" paper or project.
5. Avoid major grading policy changes as much as possible.
6. Specify policies for make-ups, course withdrawals and other special circumstances.
7. A middle course between leniency and strictness is recommended.

A well-constructed, consistently applied grading policy which balances instructor and student needs can help alleviate questions and other grading issues later in the semester.

Examination Policy

This section should include information about exam times (including evening exams) and percentage of the course grade. Students are also interested in course content covered in each exam and how they will be graded.

The scheduling of evening exams in any course offered before 5:30 PM must be approved in advance by the dean or campus executive and notice must be provided to students within the first week of the course (http://www.register.psu.edu/exams/evening.cfm [5]).

Statement of Academic Integrity

The purpose of the Academic Integrity statement is both to educate your students and to protect yourself should incidents arise later in the semester. A written statement is one way to ensure that students are made aware of Penn State policy, so they cannot claim ignorance later. In addition, some students are naive about plagiarism, associating it merely with copying and not with the use of ideas which they have paraphrased without proper citation.

There is no official recommended University statement, but your college or department may have a statement they want instructors to use. Links to some statements recommended by different colleges and campuses are available at :

• Eberly College of Science [6]
• College of the Liberal Arts [7]

These can provide good templates if you need a statement.

Statements should be tailored to meet the specific circumstances of your course. Spell out what constitutes a violation of academic integrity in course-work. Establishing guidelines and providing appropriate time and resources early in the semester will help students avoid committing plagiarism.

Information about strategies for avoiding student plagiarism and Academic Integrity policy at Penn State is available at http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/cyberplag/ [8].

Statement of Nondiscrimination

The Office for Disability Services [9] offers this statement you may want to include in your syllabus:

The Pennsylvania State University is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to programs, facilities, admission, and employment without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as determined by University policy or by state of federal authorities. The Pennsylvania State University does not discriminate against any person because of age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Direct all inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policy to:

Affirmative Action Director
The Pennsylvania State University
201 Willard Building
University Park, PA 16802-2801
Telephone: (814) 863-0471

U.Ed.OVP98-4

Disability Access Statement

Many students at Penn State have learning, physical or other disabilities and a statement of accommodation will make them more comfortable approaching you and informing you of problems early in the semester. Many colleges or departments may have a recommended statement available for you to use.

The Penn State Office of Disability Services also offers a faculty handbook for working with students with disabilities [10] with specific information on how to arrange for individual student accomodations.

Sample Disabilities Statement

If you have a documented disability and wish to receive academic accommodations, please contact the campus disability liaison as soon as possible: (name, office, telephone, email). For additional information, check the university web site: http://www.equity.psu.edu/ods/ [9]
NOTE: Accommodations require documentation.

Confidentiality of Co-Instructors

If you are planning to list co-instructors in your syllabus, such as teaching assistants, graders or other staff members or faculty, you may want to confirm that these individuals have not classified their contact information as confidential. If they have, you cannot list them in the syllabus. For more information on confidential information see:
http://registrar.psu.edu/confidentiality/confidentiality.cfm [11], "Directory Information."

A complete syllabus includes:

• General Course Information
• Course Goals and Objectives
• Course Requirements

A complete syllabus should also have a collaborative tone and a quality look and feel.

Course Information

Answers the student’s questions: So who are you, what’s this class about, and what do I need to know about and/or to buy?

• Course Title
• Prerequisites
• Instructor
  • Full Name
  • Office Location (include map link if online)
  • Office Phone, Email, Office Fax
  • Home Phone (optional)
  • Web Site (include link if online)
  • Office Hours
• Course Goals and Objectives
• Course Philosophy
• Your Grading Policy (Required by Faculty Senate Within the First 10 Days of Class, Senate Policy 47-00) [3]
  • Grading Scale - What is an "A,", a "B," etc.
  • Your Formula to Determine an Overall Course Grade?
  • What Assignments Are Graded?
  • Grading Criteria For Each Assignment
  • Late/Missed/Incomplete Assignments Policy
  • Exam Policy
    • Required by Faculty Senate Within the First 10 Days of Class, Senate Policy 43-00 [2]
    • Evening Exams Must be Listed
  • Extra Credit?
  • Attendance Policy
  • Class Participation Policy
  • Your Penalty for Academic Dishonesty?
  • See also the Policy Section [12]
• Class Location
  • Days, Times (include map link if online)
  • Lab Location
    • Days, Times
    • Lab Policies
    • Safety and Health Issues
• Texts, Readings, Materials, Online Sites (required and supplemental)
  • Titles
  • Authors
  • Edition
  • URLs
• Hardware and Software Requirements
  • Also include what students with disabilities will need.
• Syllabus Subject to Change Statement
• Academic Integrity Statement
  • Required by Faculty Senate Within the First 10 Days of Class, Senate Policy 43-00 [2]
  • See also the Policy Section [12]
• Disability Statement
  • It is strongly recommended you have text transcripts available for all audio materials.
  • See also the Policy Section [12]
• Emergency Statement
  • It is strongly recommended you have a statement on what procedures to follow in case there is a University-wide emergency. Please see the Emergency Statement Sample below for suggested information and wording.

In the event of a University-wide emergency course requirements, classes, deadlines and grading schemes are subject to changes that may include alternative delivery methods, alternative methods of interaction with the instructor, class materials, and/or classmates, a revised attendance policy, and a revised semester calendar and/or grading scheme.

In the case of a University-wide emergency, please refer to the following about changes in this course:

    •    Course web page (list address)
    •    Instructor’s email (list address)
    •    Instructor’s chosen emergency telephone number(s) (list numbers)

For more general information about the emergency situation, please refer to:

    •    Web Site(s)
    •    Telephone Number(s)
    •    PSUTXT (http://live.psu.edu/psutxt [13]). This is a service designed to alert the Penn State community via text messages to cell phones when situations arise on campus that affect the ability of the campus - students, faculty and staff - to function normally.

 

 

Course Goals and Objectives

Answers the student’s questions: What will I learn in this class? What will I be tested on?

Please visit the Goals and Objectives section of this community site [14]for more information.

Course Requirements

Answers the student’s question: So what will I have to DO in here in order to do well in the class?

• List of Course Content and Expectations
  • Required by Faculty Senate Within the First 10 Days of Class, Senate Policy 43-00 [2]
• Weekly Schedule
  • Sequence of Activities
  • Assignments and Due Dates
    • Details or Where to Location More Information
  • Quizzes and Tests
    • Dates, times, locations
• Online Technical Requirements (if any)

Miscellaneous

• Course Management System Information
• Sources of Help
  • Help Labs/ Learning Centers
  • Tutors
  • Online Tutorials
  • Workshops for Software Training, Study Skills, Etc.
• Glossary Of Standard Or Necessary Terms
• Related Professional Organizations

If you have been wanting to post materials online, but want to start gradually, creating an online syllabus is an excellent way to ease into posting materials online which will be greatly appreciated by your students. By posting your syllabus on a Web site, students can access it 24 hours a day, and it can be updated if needed. Students who lose a paper copy can still refer to an online syllabus and reprint it.

Some Penn State options for posting an online syllabus include:

 

• Penn State ANGEL Course Management System - http://cms.psu.edu [15]

  Each ANGEL Course includes a "Syllabus" tab in which you can fill out a syllabus template. Alternatively, you can upload your own syllabus file into either the "Syllabus" or the "Lessons" tab.

• Other Penn State Web Spaces

  You can post an HTML or PDF syllabus into COLA Web space [16] or your personal Web space [17]. Once you have a file created, you can post it through the PASS System (login required) [18] or one of the SFTP clients available from Penn State.

To learn how to create Web pages or PDF files, you can attend one the free ITS seminars. [19]

Rules of Thumb - Use:

• Clear 12 point type
• San serif fonts for headings, serif for text
• Bullets for clarity
• Bolding and italics for emphasis
• Two fonts per document, maximum
• Make sure all links are working
• Make sure students can easily print your syllabi.
• Decide if your syllabi will be one long page, or several linked pages
• One long online page is easier to print, but it is easier to become lost in the document.
• Don’t load your syllabi with large graphics, sounds, or videos - It takes too long to load the page

Information and policies about constructing an effective syllabus are also available at:

Penn State Syllabus Policy

• Faculty Senate Syllabus Policy 43: Syllabus [2]
• Evening Exam Request [20]
• Suggestions for Academic Honesty Statement [21]
• Confidentiality, Directory Listing [22] (listing instructor contact information)
• Grading Policies [3]

Constructing an Effective Syllabus

• McKeachie's Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers. 11th edition, 2005. [23] Wilbert J. McKeachie. Published by Houghton Mifflin Co. ISBN-10: 0618515569
• Penn State Schreyer Institute (P.D.F.) [24] - Go to Page 21
• University of Minnesota Syllabus Tutorial [25]
• Brown University Constructing a Syllabus [26]
• Brown Electronic Syllabus Workshop [27]
• Building a Syllabus (San Francisco State ) [28]
• University of Delaware Designing a Learning Centered Syllabus [29]
• University of Southern California Syllabus Design Links [30]

Spaces to Post an Online Syllabus

• ANGEL Course Management System [15]
• COLA Web Space [31]
• Personal Web Space [17]