Please
submit all syllabi to jessica.heath@umb.edu
Guidelines
for Syllabi
The
provost sends out a memo each year which sets guidelines for syllabi.
The list of items to be included in a syllabus from the Provost's
memo is below. Added suggestions are italicized and enclosed in
brackets.
- your
course objectives [course goals, course description, and
session by session timeline and assignments]
- your
expectations and any special requirements for papers, projects,
lab reports or exams [e.g., if you expect all papers to
be word-processed, whether work must be submitted in person
or can be sent by e-mail attachment]
- your
attendance policies
- your
grading and/or evaluation criteria and the approximate weight
of each course requirement in the final grade or evaluation
- your
examination schedule and any make-up or rescheduling policies
[assignment due dates, deadline for submission of work
for end of semester evaluation]
- your
office, phone and mailbox numbers [e-mail address, office
hours and classroom location].
Additional
guidelines for CPCS syllabi
At
CPCS our syllabi should make appropriate references to the following:
- we
are competency-based;
- portions
of the communications portfolios (writing, speaking, computers)
might be demonstrated through a CPCS course; additionally, developing
quantitative reasoning is integrated into several competencies.
- we
have overarching themes which during our curriculum development
process we agreed should be "threaded through" the design and
delivery of our curriculum. Some of these are:
- teamwork
skills/cooperative work methods
- participatory
methods
- worker/labor
issues
- valuing
diversity
Consequently,
each syllabus should:
- link
readings and assignments to specific criteria and standards
of the competency (ies) you are addressing;
- highlight
the ways in which a student might develop work in the course
for demonstration of part of the communication portfolio;
- suggest
ways in which students will address appropriate ones of the
overarching themes.
Disability
Additionally,
each syllabus might say something about disability accommodation.
The following is suggested phrasing:
Disability
Accommodation:
If
you require accommodation based on disability, you should contact
the UMB Center for Disability Services, which is located on
the First Floor of McCormack Hall, Room 401, Tel: 617-287-7430;
TTY: 617-287-7431; Fax: 617-287-7466.
Plagiarism
A
syllabus should say something about plagiarism. The Healey Library
website has an excellent tutorial on plagiarism, to which we will
be referring all new students. We suggest that reference to that
website be included in your syllabus as well as some excerpts
from the introduction to that tutorial, as below:
Plagiarism
The
Healey Library has an excellent tutorial on plagiarism which
can be accessed at:
http://www.lib.umb.edu/webtutorial/module6/Module6-1.html
The
following is taken from the introduction to that tutorial:
What
is Plagiarism?
- "To
take ideas from another and pass them off as one's own."
-Webster
- Submitting
someone else's work (in whole, part, or paraphrase) as one's
own without fully and properly crediting the author.
- Submitting
as one's original work materials obtained from an individual
or agency.
- Submitting
as one's own original work material that has been produced
through unacknowledged collaboration with others.
What
is Cybercheating? (Hint: It's another form of Plagiarism)
- Cutting
and pasting someone else's webwork and submitting it as your
own.
-
Downloading essays, papers, speeches etc. from the web and
turning them in as your own.
-
Buying essays, papers, speeches etc. from the web and turning
them in as your own.
Other
things to include
Here's
some additional suggestions we have received:
- snow
or inclement weather/emergency University phone number/website
- relevant
competency statements
- required
out-of-class time
- guest
lecturers, if any
- off
campus agency visit dates and directions, if any
- guidelines
for reference citation
