Syllabus & Courseworks

The course syllabus sets the tone for the semester - for students and faculty.

The best syllabi have solid course descriptions with a list of learning objectives. They detail the assignments, which should track back to the learning objectives. Syllabi should present the themes for each week and the topics of conversations for each class session, with reading lists and assignment deadlines.

A student should be able to look at the course syllabus and know what is expected of them at any given moment, and why they are learning the material. 

For faculty, a well-organized syllabus helps use your time more efficiently, and you can better prep for classes. 

For best practices on building a syllabus, see the J-school's Guide to an Effective Syllabus.

For policies the university recommends you include in your syllabus, see Suggested Syllabus Language.

Syllabi should be posted to Courseworks, the university's course-management system, prior to the class starting. Every class has a Courseworks site associated with it. You'll be able to access yours about a month before the start of your class. 

It can take time to create a really great Courseworks page but once you have one, with modules for each week or class session, plus assignment submission prompts and discussion boards, you can roll that page over and use it as a template for other classes (with the appropriate updating, of course).

If you post assignments, the deadlines will automatically feed into the students' calendars. They can submit work via Courseworks and professors can leave feedback there. 

Many of our students used Courseworks or other course-management systems when they were undergraduates. They are comfortable in the system, and some may have high expectations.

For greater assistance with Courseworks, such as an explanation of its features and help learning to use them, or instructions on how to build a syllabus within the site, contact the university's Center for Teaching and Learning. You can see their guides here.

Please be aware that we have an assessment system that we employ to measure the effectiveness of our programs. See here for more information about assessment.