Designing your Syllabus

Your syllabus is a vital component of your course and serves several important purposes. It lays out goals and expectations for your students, helps students organize their learning, and sets the overall tone for your course.

In order to avoid common student problems we recommend that you highlight the following policies in your syllabus:

1. Academic integrity/plagiarism: Please remind students of the university’s academic integrity policy by saying something like "Students are required to abide by Northwestern University's academic integrity policy, which can be found at http://www.scs.northwestern.edu/student/issues/academic_integrity.cfm. Failure to adhere to this policy will likely result in a failing grade in the class and / or expulsion from the University."
2. Required attendance: Let students know how you will handle absences. You can determine your own policy regarding attendance, but we strongly urge you to use it in your final grade calculation in some capacity. The following is an example policy statement regarding attendance: “Students may miss 1 class with no penalty, assuming that the explanation meets my approval. The second absence, regardless of explanation, will cost the student 5% on the final grade. The third will reduce the grade by an additional 15%, which translates into a maximum possible grade of about a B-/C+. A student who misses four or more courses will fail.”
3. Late work: Please clearly state whether you will accept late work and, if so, the grade penalty. Again, your call on how you want to do this - just make sure to tell students whatever it is you decide via the syllabus.

The more clearly you lay out your expectations in your syllabus, the better the experience for all. After the term has started, please keep modifications to a minimum and ensure that all students are fully aware of any changes well in advance and are able to comply.

Below are additional program-specific guidelines.

Graduate Courses

An electronic syllabus, emailed as an attachment to the academic coordinator or program director, is required from each instructor no later than two weeks before the start of the term. We also require that you post a copy of your syllabus on your course Blackboard site two weeks before the first class meeting. Syllabi are required for program auditing purposes; they are also posted to assist students in choosing suitable classes. They are an important vehicle for creating interest in your upcoming class and thus increasing the likelihood it will secure sufficient enrollments to be held.

Syllabi must contain a clear set of procedures, expectations, goals, and evaluation criteria (percentages of work on which the final grade will be based), and the calendar of meetings and assignments. Click here for a sample graduate syllabus.

Online Courses

The Office of Distance Education will provide faculty with a baseline copy of the syllabus. Working with the Office of Distance Education, faculty may edit the baseline syllabus to align with changes they make to the course. We recommend that your syllabus follows the template provided by SCS.

Undergraduate Courses

A syllabus, submitted by email only, is required from each instructor no later than two weeks before the start of the term. Returning faculty should email syllabi to Jamilee Polson at j-polson@northwestern.edu. New faculty should email syllabi to Megan Powell at m-powell2@northwestern.edu. To include important dates such as holiday breaks and start and end dates in your syllabus, you can simply consult the SCS academic calendar. Please label your file according to the course number (eg. "SOCIOL 202 fall 2005.doc").

Please format your syllabus according to the template provided by SCS.

Information about creating syllabi and other aspects of teaching is available on the SCS Faculty Development webpage. In addition, faculty development workshops on the syllabus as a learning tool are also available.

Both instructors and students can access syllabi archived by SCS. Also, syllabi are required for program auditing purposes, and they are helpful to students in course selection. Syllabi can also help an instructor create interest in his/her upcoming class.