| Original Policy Source | APPM Section III Item 3 |
| Policy Approval Authority | Faculty Senate |
| Responsible Officer(s) | Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies |
| Contact Person | Alicia Schatteman |
| Primary Audience |
Faculty
|
| Date Submitted to Policy Library | 05-29-2020 |
| Status | Active |
| Adoption Date | 06-01-2020 |
| Last Review Date | 04-27-2026 |
| Policy Category/Categories |
Faculty & Academics
|
The course syllabus is a guide that operationalizes teaching and learning, establishing clear expectations and accountability between instructors and students.
The course syllabus is an essential component of a course and should be precise, clear and accessible. A syllabus is often the first means of communication between faculty and students. A well-designed, accessible syllabus follows principles for inclusive and accessible learning design and benefits all students. A syllabus serves as a resource for students throughout the course to understand expectations and the available resources outside the classroom to support their well-being and student success. A syllabus toolkit for faculty is available as a resource.
Instructors of record are required to develop a syllabus for every course, regardless of delivery method (e.g. face-to-face, online, hybrid, etc.), and distribute the syllabus to students enrolled in the course in an accessible format.
Per the Graduate Course Requirements and Scheduling Policy, courses offered for graduate credit must contain material at a more advanced level or must require greater intellectual or creative performance than do undergraduate courses in the same subject area. For any courses that have a combined undergraduate and graduate course meeting together, each group of students must receive a distinct syllabus. The graduate syllabus must provide evidence that graduate students are required to demonstrate advanced knowledge skills, and abilities.
For non-lecture courses (e.g., theses, dissertations, independent studies, and internships), the syllabus may be replaced by a learning contract and/or proposal providing it includes the required syllabus items below.
The syllabus must be distributed in class or posted in the learning management system (e.g. Blackboard) on or before the first scheduled day of the class. Course meeting dates/times or modality reflected in the MyNIU student system cannot be changed once the course begins. This excludes situations where there are extenuating circumstances requiring short-term changes (e.g., weather, illness, university-directed change). For other course-related items in the syllabus, the instructor(s) will make a reasonable effort to follow the course syllabus once the course begins, only making changes for extenuating circumstances. Where substantial deviations are made, students should be given appropriate written notice in advance of the change. As per the policy Procedures for Appeals of Course Grades by Undergraduate Students, ordinarily no changes to student assessment and grading guidelines can be made after 25% of the course is complete.
The Higher Learning Commission’s Policies, developed to enforce the U.S. Department of Education’s requirements, necessitates that a syllabus be available for review for each course taught. The following information is required for all course syllabi in accordance with the Higher Learning Commission and NIU policies.
Include name, contact information such as email address, phone number, office location and office/student hours when the instructor is available for students. If there is a teaching assistant for the class, include their contact information and availability to students.
Instructors are expected to maintain regular office hours and include their office hours in the syllabus as per College and Unit/Department policy.
As per NIU’s Curricular Definitions policy and United States Department of Education regulations, one credit hour reasonably approximates not less than one hour of class and two hours of out-of-class student work per week over a semester.
For asynchronous online courses, contact hours can be calculated based on estimates of student time spent on viewing recorded lectures, participating in interactions with the instructor on discussion boards, completing quizzes, or participating in any other activity that replaces an in-class assignment. In the syllabus, include a statement about the number of contact hours and what all for the specific course is included in that calculation (e.g. Contact Hours: 3 hours/week of students reviewing PowerPoint materials, watching related video content, completing quizzes, and taking exams.)
Full semester (15 weeks), 8 week or another dynamic course length. If this is not included, it will be assumed that the course is a full semester course.
Student learning outcomes demonstrate the level of rigor appropriate to the program level. Student learning outcomes also assist with evaluating courses taken outside of NIU for equivalency, as well as understanding how the course fits into the program’s curriculum. To adhere to federal guidelines, student learning outcomes should be consistent across all sections of the same course
How a student will demonstrate proficiency in achieving the student learning objectives. This includes a brief description of assignments, examinations, and other required activities that will contribute to a course grade, and the weight to be given to each activity’s contribution to that grade. Grades assigned in each course are intended to reflect achievement relative to a defined level of competence. Include expectations for missed deadlines, late submissions and the consequences. For courses with Honors mini-sections within a standard course, the syllabus must include any specific requirements for Honors students enrolled in the Honors mini-section. Assessment types (e.g. quizzes, exams, journals, observations, performances, etc.)
Students have the right to request disability-related accommodations for any course after registering with the Disability Resource Center, whether or not such a statement is included in the syllabus. Faculty may use the sample statement or create their own, providing it includes similar content.
The Public Higher Education Act (Public Act 103-0871, HB 5655, Sec. 5) requires that all faculty accommodate any member of the National Guard of any state, the District of Columbia, a commonwealth, or a territory of the United States or any reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States who is participating in a drill or other military obligation, whether or not such a statement is included in the syllabus. Faculty may use the sample statement or create their own, providing it includes similar content.
Syllabi for undergraduate courses which fulfill general education requirements must include the General Education statement identifying which of the three General Education Knowledge Domains the course will help fulfill. Faculty may use the sample statement or create their own, providing it includes similar content.
Information from course syllabi will be used internally and for accreditation-related purposes and will not be disseminated publicly. Colleges will maintain records of course syllabi or equivalent documents as deemed necessary to document compliance with any applicable accrediting bodies.
Policy Library
815-753-5560
policy-library@niu.edu
Comments
There are no comments to show.