Course Syllabus Guide
This page provides faculty with guidance and best practices for developing course syllabi that clearly communicate expectations, support student success, and create a strong foundation for learning.
The university uses Simple Syllabus to promote consistency across course syllabi and ensure that all required university components are included. By providing a standardized framework for common syllabus elements, the platform simplifies syllabus development and helps faculty efficiently create syllabi that meet university standards while incorporating course-specific information.
Functions of a Syllabus
Syllabi can serve multiple functions throughout the course that benefit you and your students (Gauthier et al., 2025; Eslami et al., 2024; Lopez et al., 2024; Ganon, 2023; Wagner et al., 2023).
- Course Road Map: It provides details of course content and requirements; learning activities; resources; and expectations and responsibilities for both the students and instructors.
- Learning Contract: It is an agreement between the instructor(s) and students about how the course will function. This contract includes a promise of what students will learn during the course and how they will demonstrate that learning.
- Learning Tool: It identifies the critical course resources and tips needed for student success.
- Course Tone: As one of the first course materials the students interact with, it sets the tone for the course and instructor-student interactions. The tone should be positive, respectful, inviting, and directly address the students as a competent, engaged learner.
- Diagnostic Tool: Students can use the syllabus to gauge their readiness for the course.
Your syllabus should be:
- Valuable to students
- Useful in supporting student success
- Effective in communicating your enthusiasm for the course
- Concise and well organized
- Accessible to students 24/7
How to make your syllabus relevant throughout the year
Many times, course syllabi make their entrance into a course at the beginning of the semester and quickly find itself filed away never to be seen again by students and instructors. However, syllabi should act as a resource that are referenced and accessed throughout the course. So, how do you motivate students to read and utilize the syllabus? Here are some tips that can help encourage your students to access the syllabus more often:
- At the beginning of the semester stress the importance of the syllabus to your students
- Continually reference the syllabus when discussing assignments and assessments linking each to outcomes assessed
- Include a course schedule of dates and times of class meetings, assignments, assessments, recommended preparation, and include teaching methods (e.g. TBL, PBL, etc.)
- Highlight sections that are of most importance to the students
Strategies and Techniques
Whether you are creating a new syllabus or revising an existing one, the resources below provide guidance, strategies, and best practices for developing a clear, engaging, and effective course syllabus. Select a topic to explore additional resources and recommendations.
References
Cornell University, Create a student-centered syllabus, Accessed from https://canvas.cornell.edu/courses/8720
Eslami, M., Denaro, K., Collins, P., Sumarsono, J. M., Dennin, M., & Sato, B. (2024). How syllabi relate to outcomes in higher education: A study of syllabi learner-centeredness and grade inequities in STEM. PLOS ONE, 19(4), e0301331. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301331
Gannon, K. (2023). How to create a syllabus: Advice guide. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Accessed from https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-create-a-syllabus/ on 6/10/2026
Gauthier, G., Banner, J., & Winer, L. (2025). What is the syllabus for? Revealing tensions through a scoping review of syllabus uses. International Journal for Academic Development, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2025.2465363
Wagner, J. L., Smith, K. J., Johnson, C., Hilaire, M. L., & Medina, M. S. (2023). Best practices in syllabus design. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 87(3), Article 8995. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe8995