Syllabus Requirements Updated in Academic Courses Policy

[social_share/] [social-bio] There were a number of changes to the Academic Courses policy at the University of Saskatchewan this year, including several related to the syllabus. As such, I want to take this opportunity to remind our readers at the U of S about what must be in your syllabus regardless of your college or department, which may have additional requirements.

All of the information shown below is included in the syllabus template and guide that can be found on our web site. You are not required to use the template, but it can be handy to use as a checklist for your own syllabus. It also contains additional information that we recommend you include in your syllabus.

The Academic Courses policy requires the following elements to appear in your syllabus:

• type and schedule of class activities;
• if the class is offered online, through distance learning, or off-campus, any additional or different expectations around any class activities and requirements;
• expected learning outcomes or objectives for the class;
• the type and schedule of term assignments;
• the type and schedule of mid-term or like examinations;
• notice if any mid-term examinations or other required class activities are scheduled outside of usual class times, with College permission;
• the length of the final examination in hours as well as its mode of delivery;
• relative marking weight of all assignments and examinations;
• consequences related to missed or late assignments or examinations;
• whether any or all of the work assigned in a class including any assignment and examination, or final examination, is mandatory for passing the class, or whether there are any other College-level regulations that specify requirements for passing the class
• attendance expectations if applicable, the means by which attendance will be monitored, the consequences of not meeting attendance expectations, and their contribution to the  assessment process;
• participation expectations if applicable, the means by which participation will be monitored and evaluated, the consequences of not meeting participation expectations, and their contribution to the assessment process;
• experiential learning expectations if applicable, the means by which experiential learning will be monitored and evaluated, the consequences of not meeting experiential learning expectations, and their contribution to the assessment process;
• contact information and consultation availability;
• course or class website URL, if used;
• notice of whether the instructor intends to record lectures and whether students are permitted to record lectures
• explanation of Copyright where it relates to class materials prepared and distributed by the instructor
• location of the Academic Courses policy as well as the regulations and guidelines for both academic and non-academic misconduct and appeal procedure;
• information regarding support services that are available to students through the Student and Enrolment Services Division, Student Learning Services at the University Library, and the Colleges.

In addition, there are two subsequent points of importance:

After distribution the following changes are NOT permitted:

• Methods & modes of assessment for all assignments and exams must remain as stated in syllabus
• No major graded assignment or examination is to be newly assigned in a class
• No changes to already set dates or the stated grade weighting of graded assignments or examinations

Changes are allowed after distribution if no student objects and the department head or dean (in non-departmentalized colleges) is notified.

Plus, “Once the Registrar has scheduled final examinations for a term, instructors wanting to change the date and/or time of their final examination must obtain the consent of all students in the class according to procedures established by the Registrar, as well as authorization from the Department Head, or Dean in non-departmentalized Colleges.”