Preparing to Teach
7 Syllabus
Jennifer Smith and Alexandra Bitton-Bailey
A good syllabus that is thorough, yet concise can help reduce the amount of email that you and your TAs receive. A quality syllabus helps your students find the information they need quickly. The state of Florida requires syllabi for all courses to be posted on a public website a minimum of three days prior to the first day of classes. Each college may choose whether to post on a single site or by the department. The syllabi must be available for three full semesters, with summer counting as one semester.
- An index of college and departmental syllabi pages can be found on the Provost’s website: http://syllabus.ufl.edu/.
- View UF’s policy on course syllabi.
Syllabus Tips | Student Support | UF Religious Observances Policy | Mobile Devices | Online Teaching
Syllabus Tips
Organize syllabus elements to guide students to the information they need. The practices described below will help to make your document accessible to those who may have visual or mobility disabilities.
- Use headings and subheadings to lead students to each topic.
- This makes it easy for students to refer to the syllabus throughout the semester.
- This also supports accessibility requirements.
- Convert large chunks of text to bullet points.
- Bold and italicize words for emphasis so that the convention of underlines can be reserved for links.
- Keep the syllabus as short as you can.
- Yes, it needs to be thorough, but is there some information that could be provided as a link?
- If your assignments will be submitted through Canvas, you can publish deadlines using the “Course Summary” feature in the Syllabus tool.
- The Canvas Assignments tool makes short work of managing your assignment deadlines.
- View the Canvas Guide: How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
- Be sure to check with your department/college for specific syllabus requirements.
- UF Syllabus Policy
How Do You Get Students to Read the Syllabus?
- Use images to identify key elements
- Make your syllabus interactive
- Use the “Course Summary” within the Canvas Syllabus tool to automatically list assignments and deadlines (this feature is mobile-friendly for any time, anywhere access).
- View an example of a Canvas Course Summary that was created using Design Tools.
- NOTE: Design Tools is available to all UF faculty and staff within Canvas, however, it is not centrally supported by e-Learning or CITT.
- If you like this format, please request a consultation with the Center for Teaching Excellence for a template and setup help.
- Include a link to an accessible PDF or Word version of your syllabus (a Word version is more easily read on a phone).
- Use a free app such as Adobe Express or Google Sites (UF Google Account required) to create a mobile-friendly “liquid syllabus.”
- Watch Creating a Liquid Syllabus (1:11:19) to learn how to create your own engaging syllabus.
- Use the “Course Summary” within the Canvas