¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ

• Consider basic logistical issues, such as how your course fits into the major or department’s curricular goals, how many class meetings times and hours there will be, and what type of classroom space is available. How large is your class? How many credit hours? What time of day will you be teaching? Which delivery mode will you be using (face-to-face, online, hybrid)? What technology is available to you? Is there certain content or other material you must address?
• Understand your ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs. What prior knowledge or preparation might they have for your course? What is their personal and intellectual level of development or maturity? How might the cultural differences among your ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs impact your teaching? What generational experiences and expectations might your ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs have?
• Identify your learning objectives or outcomes. Which knowledge and skills do you want your ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs to acquire by the end of the course? Phrase your objectives using action verbs, such as “Apply theorems to solve problems. Make sure the objectives are measurable so that you will know whether ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs accomplished what you hoped. If your course is a Miami Plan course, be sure to consider the outcomes for the requirement it meets as well as the four pillars. 
• Align your assessments with your objectives. Examinations, papers, projects, homework assignments, and classroom activities should be crafted to advance and measure the objectives.
• Identify appropriate teaching approaches, such as discussions, case studies, service-learning, writing, group or individual projects, or lectures which will promote ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs' achieving course learning objectives.
• Consider your course content and schedule. Will holidays or breaks affect your meeting times?

Follow a few basic steps to help ensure your syllabus is more accessible by individuals with disabilities:

• Use a sanserif font (e.g. Arial).
• Create headings and subheadings using the built-in heading features of the authoring tool. This enables screen reader users to understand how the page is organized and to navigate effectively.
• Try to present data in bulleted or numbered lists, rather than tables. 
• Try not to convey information solely through color. Colors that are used should have sufficient contrast.
• If you add an image to your document, provide alternative text for the image that describes it. Users unable to see images depend on authors to supplement images with alternative text.
• If you provide a hyperlink in your document to a website, provide text that describes what the user will see when they click on the link.

• Introduce the syllabus on the first day of class as a learning activity. Have ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs review it in class, and create questions or make suggestions for improvement.
• Refer to the syllabus frequently and direct ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs to particular sections as the syllabus content becomes relevant throughout the semester.
• Be strategic about where you place the syllabus on the Canvas course site so that ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs can find and access easily.
• If ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs ask questions that the syllabus answers, ask a ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ who has the course syllabus to find the answer on the spot.

Course number, title, term, year, meeting times, and location. You may want to include a course description, whether from the General Bulletin or a more developed version of your own. Give a brief explanation of how the course fits into the larger curriculum: Is this course for majors? Does it meet Miami Plan requirements (and which one[s])? 

Specify any prerequisites or co-requisites.

Clarify the relevance, purpose, and scope of the course.

Faculty are advised to include this information on the syllabus:

Course materials provided to you, including presentations, tests, outlines, and similar materials, are copyright protected by the faculty member(s) teaching this course.  You may make copies of course materials solely for your own use.  You may not copy, reproduce, or electronically transmit any course materials to any person or company for commercial or other purposes without the faculty member’s express permission.  Violation of this prohibition may subject the ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ to discipline/suspension/dismissal under Miami’s Code of Student Conduct or Academic Integrity Policy.

State your plans for communication and interaction with ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs. To help your devise your communication plan, .

Books, course packets, calculators, art supplies, etc. Let ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs know what materials are required and where they can purchase or access them.

Please note: Books purchased via iTunes are not refundable.

Course outcomes should be tied to the SLOs of the major or degree program and, if applicable, those of Liberal Education. If you know that assignments for your course may be used for program assessment, please notify ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs that their work may be used for this purpose. The following language is suggested:

In addition to being evaluated by your course instructor, this academic work may be:

• Viewed by designated ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ personnel to gauge broader program achievement within ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ.
• Included in assessment reports, such as short quotations from your work that do not identify you.

Any work that can be connected with you will not be shared with a public audience nor will it be used for other purposes, such as published research, without your explicit written consent.

Assessment data are used by the university to determine how effective we are at cultivating successful ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs and achieving learning goals, not to evaluate your work as an individual ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ.

If you have expectations for how the ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs will conduct themselves in class, articulate them in the syllabus. This is the place to include information about your expectations for attendance, tardiness, personal use of technology, safety procedures in laboratories, class participation as well as return of ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ work, make-up examinations, and late work.

You may also wish to explain your expectations relating to an inclusive classroom by referring to the Code of Love and Honor.

Instructors are obliged to follow the class attendance policy in the ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ Policy Library. 

Provide guidance to ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs about what they should do in class rather than what they should not do.

When possible, provide a reason related to the learning environment. Examples:

• It's everyone's responsibility to support learning in this class. Be respectful of your classmates during discussion, as we will be discussing sensitive topics.
• Consume food or drink outside the chemistry lab for your safety. 
• Attendance is vital to your learning, as this is a once-a-week seminar discussion class.

Clarify your expectations regarding attendance, along with citing Miami’s (Policy Library). Be sure to give short assignments during the first few weeks of the course to ensure that ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs are actively participating in the course and also enable you to give meaningful midterm grades to your first and second-year ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs.  Make sure that you use the photo roster to indicate ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs who have not attended or actively participated in the course.

Include a note in the syllabus informing ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs that they need to notify you if they will be unable to attend class due to a religious holiday at least one week prior to the holiday. The following is an example of language that can be used:

¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ recognizes that ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs may have religious observances that conflict with class sessions. Students need to provide written notification of class session(s) that will be missed due to these observances. Notification must be at least one week prior to the holiday date when class will be missed. Please see the University Class Attendance policy website for the detailed policy and the current . Additional information may be found on the Student Life website.

For additional support, refer to Instructor Considerations for Attendance and Participation: Guidelines to Support and Increase Student Learning from the CTE. 

The following language is taken from the website of the Office of Academic Integrity:

As a scholarly community, we must be clear about expectations for academic integrity in the classes we teach. Based on research of best practices for syllabi language, Miami recommends inclusion of the following in a syllabus:

• A personal statement on the meaning and significance of honesty in the classroom. Such a statement might refer to ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs' future work in a job in the respective discipline, personal observations on the importance of integrity, etc.
• Depending on the discipline, a general statement of academic guidelines (e.g., APA, Chicago Manual of Style) that ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs must use in their academic work.
• A statement on if, when, and how ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs may collaborate with one another on assignments, projects, examination preparation, or examinations.
• A referral to this website as well as other resources ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs may use in a particular class.
• A reference to the definitions and penalties for academic dishonesty, located in Chapter 5 of the Student Handbook and on the undergraduate and graduate ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ pages of this website [MiamiOH.edu/integrity].

The Office of Disability Resources suggests that faculty include a statement like this on their syllabus:

If you are a ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ with a physical, learning, medical, and/or psychiatric disability and feel that you may need a reasonable accommodation to fulfill the essential functions of the course that are listed in this syllabus, you are encouraged to contact the Miller Center for Student Disability Services at 529-1541 (V/TTY), located in the Shriver Center, Room 304.

To help ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs to receive mental health support, faculty may wish to include a statement such as:

If you are a ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ who may be experiencing mental or emotional distress, you are encouraged to call Student Counseling Service (513-529-4634). For emergencies outside of business hours, the H.O.P.E. Line is available at all times for Miami ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs at 855-249-5649.

Look up the academic calendar on the Office of the University Registrar’s website so that you are aware of when your class will be meeting. The University Registrar assigns final exam dates. You should find the final exam schedule on the Office of the University Registrar’s website and include the date and time of your final exam on your syllabus.

Identify the key topics, assignments, and exams. Give as much information as you have about the work the ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs will be doing. You may want to tie the listing of the course activities back to the ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ learning outcomes for the course. You may want to include rubrics for major assignments here, or you may want to note here that more detailed information about assignments will come later.

You may wish to note that any of the course activities listed in the syllabus may be subject to change under certain circumstances, such as to enhance ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ learning.

Provide a list of readings (with full information) and where ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs might be able to acquire or access them.

Include a list of assignments, and specify which are graded and how they will be evaluated. Consult the Comprehensive Course Assessment Review and Improvement Tool or CCARIT developed by the CTE and HWCE to help you consider, analyze, and improve the features of assessment practices and materials in your course. 

Build in opportunities for formative feedback, and scaffold assignments carefully. Be clear about how you will calculate the final grade. Is there a set number of points for the semester, or are you using weighted grades? Be sure that what ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs are graded on, and therefore their course grades, will be tied to the course learning outcomes, activities, assignments, and assessments. 

Include a list of resources (including locations and hours) for academic support that can help ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs to succeed in the course, such as the Rinella Learning Center and Howe Center for Writing Excellence.