About the Template

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• Edit your syllabus to meet the requirements of your School, Department, and/or Program. Suggested text and required text are designated as such.

• Sections

  • This syllabus template has many sections-- you don’t need to include all of them

  • Place sections in an order that makes sense for your course

• Sample language

  • You can use the sample language as-is or revise it to be consistent with your voice

  • Students respond best to language that is authentic, warm, welcoming, and encouraging

  • Avoid punitive language or alarmist text styles (such as bold, red, and underlined styles)

• Formatting and images

  • Keep in mind that this is your syllabus, so feel free to change the layout, fonts, etc. to your liking

  • Read each line carefully and be sure to fill in the blanks, remove the annotations and instructions

  • Refer to the why and how to use images page to learn about adding them to your syllabus

    • The Free Stock Images page is a good place to search for resources

    • Make sure to include alt text on all images to meet accessibility needs

• Voice and Consistency

  • For consistency and approachability throughout the syllabus, refer to the reader as “you” rather than “the student”, or “students”

  • Setting a positive and excited tone at the beginning of your syllabus can make it easier for students to approach you with questions/ideas

Document and Text Legend

• Purple text: Customize, reuse as-is, or delete, as preferred

• Black text: Recommended language for consistency

• Images: Using images gains students' attention and connects with their emotions

  • Provide attributions as specified on the hosting site

• Tables: Tables can be difficult to read on a mobile device and by screen readers-- consider other layouts

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The Online Syllabus Editing Checklist is available to help guide you in editing your syllabus.

File Format Options (When Complete)

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Option A: Download this Google Doc syllabus as a printable Microsoft Word (.docx) file

• Follow these instructions to ensure that it is an accessible document

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Option B: Download the Google Doc syllabus as a PDF document

• If making a PDF, also include a version in Microsoft Word (.docx) file

• Note: PDFs are great for printing, but are difficult to read on a phone and not always accessible for a screen reader

Option C: Share a link to this Google Doc

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If you choose to leave the Google Doc version linked, make sure you change the share access to View- Anyone with the link

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and choosing a file format for your syllabus.

Template Section Annotations

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