Syllabus Format

Syllabi submitted for review by the CAPC will be evaluated with respect to this Syllabus Format.

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Please review the following recommendations to prevent your proposal from being returned for revision.

• Course number and title
• Instructor information
• Course information / Credit Hours, Prerequisites, and Repeatability
• Course description
• Learning outcomes
• Course materials
• Assessments
• Grades
• Course policies
• Late work and make up policies
• Course schedule
• Assessment rubrics

• Make sure the first digit of the Course Number accurately reflects the intended audience. Appropriate level of course for undergraduate freshman is 1xx, sophomores is 2xx, etc. 
• For new courses, check with the Registrar to ensure that the course number you have in mind is available.
• Pick a title that accurately reflects the content of the course. See Course Title Guidelines before selecting your title.
  

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Instructor information

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Course information

Number of Credit Hours: 

• Number of credit hours associated with the course should accurately reflect the amount of expected work. See Credit Hour Definition

Prerequisites: 

• Evaluate prerequisite courses for curricular alignment and student learning and submit supporting evidence in CIM form. 
• New courses: provide evidence to justify which courses, and the minimum grades required, are being proposed as prerequisites. See Catalog Prerequisites.
• Course changes: provide evidence, supported by data, to justify maintaining the current prerequisites. Typical evidence includes D/F/W rates for both the course under review and its prerequisites course. To evaluate course D/F/W rates, access Argos file OURDB191 or use SFASLST (CRN required) in Banner.
• Undergraduate courses may not be used as prerequisites or corequisites to Graduate courses.  
• Only test scores and completed courses may be used as prerequisites (PR); courses in progress may be used as corequisites (CONC).  
• Some courses may be used as either PRE (completed) or CONC (taken at the same time).
• Always enter the minimum grade required for the prerequisite as a minus (C-, D-).
• If you propose changing the prerequisite for a current course, please provide data demonstrating student performance outcomes, including evidence of both success and challenges.

Repeatability: 

• Courses may be designated as “repeatable” by checking the appropriate box in CIM.
• "Repeatable" means that the course can be counted for credit multiple times for a program.
• Example of Repeatable Course: A student enrolls in ENGL 495 (Independent Study) during fall semester and earns a grade of ‘A’, receiving 3 credit hours. The following spring, the student enrolls in ENGL 495 again and earns a ‘C’, receiving 3 additional credit hours for a total of 6 credits in ENGL 495.
• Example of Non-Repeatable Course: A student takes ENGL 101 in the fall semester and earns a D, receiving 3 credit hours. In the spring, the student retakes ENGL 101 and earns a C. While the new grade replaces the previous one for GPA purposes, the student does not earn additional credit hours.

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Course description

• Longer and more detailed than the catalog description

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Learning outcomes

• Specific: Clearly state what students are expected to know/do. Phrase correctly.
• Measurable: Use action verbs (e.g. analyze, describe, create, etc.) appropriate to the course level. See Bloom's Taxonomy - verb chart and Fink's Significant Learning Outcomes - verb list.
• Achievable: Appropriate in number - enough to provide meaningful assessment, but not too many as to make assessment unwieldy.
• Focus on Higher Order issues and not enumerating tasks that will be completed.
• Time-bound: Include when the outcome should be achieved. 
• Ordered from least to most complex.

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Course materials

• Required text and supplies (if applicable) and where students can find them. For all courses, especially GEF courses, consider adopting an open-source text.
• List all optional text and supplies.

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Assessments

List for all major assignments/assessments and a brief explanation of the grading criteria for those assignments/assessments. Assignments/assessments and learning activities should be sequenced, varied, and suited to the level of learning. Each course should include multiple formative assessments where students are provided feedback aimed at improving their performance in the graded/assessed competencies and outcomes.

• Participation: Indicate how participation will be graded (in class activities, quizzes, performance—with a rubric, etc.), how many days the student can miss, and how can the student make up the missed assignment(s).
• Homework assignments: Indicate how many assignments and how many points each of them are worth. Also provide a general description for each assignment.
• Papers: Indicate how many papers and how many points each of them are worth. Also provide a general description for each paper.
• Exams: Indicate how many exams and how many points each of them are worth.
• Final Exam: Indicate the day and time at which the final exam will be administered. See Schedule.

Note: If any readings or assignments are not from the required texts, indicate if they will be provided on eCampus or another method/platform. For all aforementioned items, there should be rubrics available to students and an indication of where the rubrics can be found/provided.

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Grades

Standards of evaluation: A student or reviewer should be able to understand the grading criteria for each assignment and exam on a first read through. Provide a rubric for every assignment. Indicate when applicable that additional evaluative standards will be shared later through eCampus or in a handout.

Grade Scale

Final grading scale: There should always be a chart showing how a range of points or percentages corresponds to the final letter grade.

Note: WVU does not currently weight +/- letter grades in the GPA.

Midsemester Grade

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Course policies

• When creating course-specific policies, ensure the are fair, supportive of all students, and realistically enforceable.
  • Example of unenforceable policy:
    Students who earn an ‘F’ on the final exam will automatically fail the course.
  • Example of enforceable policy:
    The final course grade is calculated using a simple mathematical formula based on all grades earned during the semester.
• All syllabi must include the University Syllabus Policies and Statements link. To avoid outdated wording or broken links in your syllabus, include a single statement that directs students to the following link (copy and paste complete URL address):
  University Syllabus Policies and Statements: https://facultysenate.wvu.edu/resources/syllabus-policies-and-statements

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Late work and make up policy

To promote attendance without imposing multiple penalties for absences, a best practice is to make attendance count via in-class assignments and participation-based activities, making it one graded component of the final course grade.

Examples include short in-class quizzes, small attendance-based assessments, or group activities completed during class sessions.

Be sure to include a clear late work policy that aligns with WVU’s attendance policies. It is best to specify whether late work will be:

• accepted without penalty,
• accepted with a point deduction, or
• not accepted.

Avoid deducting points solely for attendance or adding extra penalties in addition to existing late work policies, as this can be difficult to manage fairly.

For courses (in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, and Statistics) that fall under the Foundational STEM Collaborative see - Course Policies and Best Practices

If participation is part of the final grade, include a participation rubric in the syllabus (or indicate that one will be provided) to explain how in-class performance will be evaluated.

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Course schedule

• See detailed examples here – Syllabi & Course Schedules.
• Ensure the course schedule includes the full number of instructional weeks, the final exam week, and all university closure dates.
• Each class session (TR, MWF, or another meeting pattern) should include planned activities or topics.
• Format the schedule so that due dates are clear, unambiguous, and easy for students to follow.

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Assessment rubrics

A detailed rubric must be provided for every major assignment/assessment worth 25% or more of the Final Grade in the course. Sample rubrics - PSYC 487 (see pgs. 5-6), SOWK 520 (see pgs. 5-6), WRIT 502 (see pgs. 3-4)