Step 1. Creating and Uploading Your Syllabus
The syllabus acts as a common academic guide for students, instructors, advisors, and reviewers. It outlines course expectations, learning objectives, evaluation methods, and any required institutional details.
Course syllabi shall contain the following items of information:
- Course Name
- Course Prefix and Number
- Course Section Number
- Course Description (from catalog)
- Required Course Materials for Purchase
- Student Learning Outcomes or Objectives
- Assessment of Student Performance – Grading Scale
- Assessment of Student Performance – Major Assignments and percentage of final grade
- Assessment of Student Performance – Attendance/participation if portion of final grade
- Statement of Engagement with Diverse Scholarly Perspectives
Instructions for Creating Your Syllabus
To download a partially completed template with information from the Course Catalog for the course section(s) you are teaching, navigate to the Syllabus Manager; you can also download the blank version of the syllabus template below. Complete all fields in the template by entering text in the designated areas. The title field should include a unique title like “Syllabus for MATH 1065.” This is required to make the document accessible.
Template Download Process
Syllabus templates can be downloaded for your courses by clicking the Download Templates button. The Download Templates button is driven by the course filters you have selected. When no filters are selected, it downloads templates for your courses that haven’t been approved or missing course descriptions.
You will be prompted to confirm you want to proceed with the download, and the confirmation window will inform you how many templates will be downloaded and how many will be skipped due to their approval status or missing course description status. Once you proceed, a zip folder of templates will be downloaded and can be accessed through the browser download section or in your Downloads folder.
Extract the files in the zip folder to the location of your choice. Those templates can then be updated with your syllabus content and uploaded in Syllabus Manager for review.
The document should be saved as an accessible PDF file by following the instructions on the Digital Accessibility webpage.
Instructions for Uploading Your Syllabus
The Syllabus Manager application in PiratePort allows you to view and upload your syllabi that are published on a public-facing website. Faculty and designated reviewers have access to this app.
Term Selection and Course Overview
The selected term defaults to the upcoming main campus term, but you can swap to another term using the Term Selection dropdown field. Dental and Medical courses are categorized as a different semester and faculty teaching those courses may need to switch the term using the dropdown menu provided.
You are given a course overview that includes how many courses you have access to, how many have an uploaded syllabus, and how many have been fully approved.
Access
View your course list and see the status of a syllabus for your courses. For each course, you will have the ability to upload/view a syllabus. Once you upload a syllabus, it must be reviewed by the Syllabus Manager Admin for your department prior to it being made available to the public.
Upload Process
Only PDF files can be uploaded in Syllabus Manager. Once you are ready to upload a syllabus PDF, click the Upload button for the appropriate course and select a file. You can drag and drop a file or click in the file area to open file explorer.
Approval Process
Department reviewers will approve or deny the PDF syllabus. Sample approval and denial emails are shown below.
Approved Email
Denied Email
