What Is a Syllabus?

The syllabus is defined for the purposes of the Middle States Accreditation as the document distributed by the instructor of a course to students in a course at the beginning of a semester, outlining the work and expectations of the course or section for the semester. The syllabus for each course section must be available in the department. It consists of the following items:

• Title of course, number and section, student credit hours
• Current semester offered; meeting times and place
• Faculty member’s name, office hours, navigate link, telephone number and e-mail address
• Department and secretary’s telephone number and e-mail address
• Required texts or materials, suggested readings, and other materials for study
• Course objectives (minimally, those that appear in the Course Outline)
• If applicable, identify whether the course satisfies UCC (specify which area), Technology Intensive or Writing Intensive requirements.
• Student learning outcomes (defined as "statements of actual, measurable performance expected of students as an outcome of the teaching/learning process,” e.g., By the end of this course students will be able to …); all student learning outcomes included in the official, approved course outline must be included in each syllabus.
• Topical outline of the course content with tentative schedule of assignments & activities
• Course activities (e.g., presentations, projects, field trips, etc.)
• Course expectations:
• Course assignments, reading assignments, other required work
• Tentative timeline for submission of written assignments or other work
• Attendance
• Participation in out-of-class activities (e.g., in labs, workshops, performances, etc.)
• Examinations (tentative dates, make-up policy, etc.)
• Class participation requirements
• Course Calendar (Topics, Readings, Activities, Assignments, and Tests by week or by date)
• Grading and other methods for assessing student academic performance
• Additional information such as Academic Integrity Policies, accessibility resources, diversity and inclusion in the classroom, availability of academic support services, tutoring, etc. 
• A statement about the level of Generative AI students may use.

Here is a fantastic syllabus template created by the College of Arts and Humanities to use while revising or creating your course syllabus. 

Additionally, consider adding a Basic Needs Statement, such as: