A syllabus must contain the following basic information to aid students in successfully completing the course. These items are mandated by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) and Middle States Commission on Higher education (MSCHE):

• Instructor name and contact information
• Office hours and location
• Course description
• Course Objectives
• Prerequisites
• Credit hours
• Time and location of classes
• Required course materials
• Timeline for course (e.g., exam dates, lecture schedule, due dates for assignments)
• Overview of assignments

New York State Education Department (NYSED) requirements can be found on NYSED's department expectations: curriculum page.

Syllabus Policies

These policies must be included on all syllabi to meet College guidelines that students understand expectations for coursework and have access to needed resources to complete this work:

• Academic honesty – Instructors are asked to include academic honesty information on their syllabi, and templates are available for a variety of types of courses. Syllabi should also identify how these policies apply specifically to the course in certain respects (e.g. what is considered plagiarism, what constitutes appropriate collaboration on group projects).
• Disability resources – Use/modify the syllabus statement provided by the Office of Disability Resources.
• Credit hour policy – See below for policy outlining contact hour requirements for courses, including language to be used on syllabi.
• Final exam dates – Instructors are expected to indicate on the syllabus if there is a final exam. The final exam date should occur at the time prescribed by the registrar. If this isn’t possible, the alternative time for the final exam should be noted on the syllabus. If the final exam time changes, then students should be notified as soon as this is known.

These additional elements have been found to be useful to students and the College recommends their inclusion in a syllabus when applicable:

• Attendance policy (course-specific) – expectations
• Auditing policy (course-specific) – when allowed and under what conditions
• Policy for missed exams/makeup exams – when possible and under what conditions
• Regrades and resubmissions – when possible and under what conditions, especially related to timeline for submitting
• Late assignments – penalties (if any)
• Use of technology in classroom – when can be used and under what conditions
• Inclusion statement

Below are some recommended resource links to key university services:

• Learning Center resources – full listing of support for student learning available on the Learning Center website
• University Counseling Center – information on resources provided by the center can be found on the counseling center's website
• Laboratory Safety Unit

It is recommended that instructors provide syllabi to students on or before the first day of class, and post it to blackboard or the equivalent.

Attendance Policy

Each instructor sets the regulations regarding attendance for each class. See class attendance for information on the College’s class attendance policy.

Guideline on Scheduling Courses After 5 p.m. 

For a significant number of College students, participation on varsity athletic teams is an important part of their education. Given academic schedules and space limitations, teams maintain regular practice schedules between 5 and 9 p.m. on weekday nights. The College strongly encourages faculty and departments to schedule courses required for a major to assist these students in effectively balancing their academics and participation on athletic teams.

In practice, this means scheduling all components of these required courses (lectures, lab/lectures, labs, recitations, workshops) to end prior to 5 p.m. In the case of courses with multiple components, at least one set of components would need to be scheduled in this way, with additional offerings scheduled as determined by the department.

This guideline does not apply to electives or other courses not required for a major. These courses may be scheduled at any time of day.

Students are responsible to indicate to faculty early in the registration process that they will need to take the earlier section, so that appropriate accommodation can be made.

Postseason Athletics

Unlike regularly scheduled season games, students do not know in advance if their team will be selected for post-season play.  However, if a team is doing well, students are in a position to let their instructor know there is a possibility of post-season play.  Students are expected to communicate this information to a faculty member as soon as it becomes a possibility, and then, more specifically, once a student knows that their team is scheduled for post-season play.

At the University, athletic conflicts with the final exam schedule are more likely to occur during the spring semester, rather than fall.

The College expects that faculty will permit their athletes to participate in post-season play without penalizing them for missing a final exam. Coaching staff are able to proctor exams for students when they are participating in away games. Other arrangements can be made as well.

Religious Holidays

Please review the religious holidays calendar to avoid potential schedule conflicts involving large numbers of students.

If an instructor changes academic policies during the semester (e.g. allowing students to drop their lowest homework grade), they must communicate this change clearly to students as soon as possible, including how this new policy differs from the previous policy. This change should be reflected in the syllabus if possible.

Blackboard is the University’s learning management system, which instructors are encouraged to use.

See University IT’s blackboard page for more information and assistance. You can also see AEFIS page for information and assistance.

Grading Standards

The College recognizes the importance of instructors setting their own standards for academic success in their courses. The following sections outline some best practices and College expectations for organizing graded assignments in the course and assigning grades. The suggestions are meant to increase transparency between instructors and students in assigning grades.

The College encourages incorporating numerous assessments into a course (e.g. exams and other assignments), rather than one or two “major” tests, to determine grades. This provides students with multiple opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and reduces test anxiety. In addition, it allows students to seek assistance if early assignments are considered inadequate.

Grading Schemas

Instructors must provide a clear statement of how students will be graded in the course. This must include a breakdown of how each assignment contributes to the calculation of the final grade.

It may also include information on grade percentage cut-offs (e.g. 90-100% for a grade of “A”), curving and/or fixed distribution of grades, and other pertinent information.

Instructors should also indicate on the syllabus whether students will be graded as a group or receive individual grades for collaborative assignments.

Course Auditing

Full-time undergraduates in the College may audit courses under certain conditions. See the audit policy for more information on instructor and student rights and responsibilities.

Timeline of Grading

All assignments, exams, and other academic items should be graded and returned to students within a three to four-week period whenever possible; or, in the case of exams within several weeks of each other, at least one week before the next exam.

For any assignment, exam, or academic item that students turned in or completed within the reading period, the instructor must specify a reasonable timeframe in which students may see their exam.

Grading for Participation

Instructors using participation as a factor in grading must outline clear criteria for calculating this portion of the course grade. Additionally, it is highly recommended that instructors provide students a mid-semester “check in” on how they would grade individual students’ participation whenever possible, including feedback on improvement as applicable.

Teaching Assistant Grading Consistency

In order to ensure students are graded fairly and consistently on assignments, exams, and other academic items which are graded by persons acting on behalf of the instructor (e.g. teaching assistants), steps can be taken to enhance the fairness of this process.

For instance, clear rubrics or some other uniform grading scheme should be used by all graders for any given academic item, the same graders should each be given the task of grading a designated portion of an exam or academic item, and academic items should ideally be submitted with only the student’s University of Rochester identification number to avoid personal bias when grading an individual’s work.

Mid-Term Warnings

The Registrar’s Office solicits mid-term warning from instructors between the fourth and tenth week of the semester. The College strongly encourages instructors to submit these warnings when solicited.

This mid-term warning information is of great value to the College as it is used to more quickly identify and support students who may be struggling in their courses. These early interventions make a significant difference in helping students improve their performance in class. You can find details on how to access the mid-term warning system in the mid-term warning email to faculty (PDF).

Regrading and Resubmissions

If there exists a regrading policy of exams, assignments, and other academic items in which students may lose points upon resubmission, this should be communicated to students beforehand. If there are restrictions on when or how a student may resubmit an academic item for regrading, instructors should also communicate this to students. Instructors must provide access to grades for resubmitted items.

Assigning Letter Grades for Courses

Instructors have an obligation to assign a range of grades to accurately reflect the quality and amount of work completed by the students, and students should know the basis on which grades are assigned.

Letter grades that are available for use by the faculty are: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, and E. (NOTE: The letter grades D+ and D- are not authorized in engineering courses.) Letter grades S and F should NOT to be assigned by faculty. The Registrar’s Office will assign an S or an F for students who have elected the S/F option.

Other letter grades, including W, N, I and WD can also be assigned for administrative purposes:

• W: Assigned by the registrar if a student has officially withdrawn from a course.
• N: Assigned when instructed to submit a grade of N by the Board on Academic Honesty or if the student has:
  • Never appeared in class.
  • Attended but did not complete the course and did not arrange for an “incomplete” with the instructor.
• I: Assigned when a student did not complete the course due to circumstances beyond their control (e.g. illness or personal emergency). Forms for this purpose are available in the College Center for Advising Services.
• WD: If the student’s writing is regarded as deficient by the instructor. Students will be notified of this assessment and encouraged to use the services of the Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program (WSAP).

For more information see Assignment of Grades and Related Matters (PDF).

Proctoring

See proctoring guidelines for guidance on how to organize proctoring for exams.

Visit the academic honesty instructor page for a complete guide to instructor requirements related to academic honesty. This page provides information on resources for instructors relating to academic honesty, outlines the Board of Academic Honesty structure and procedures for reporting cases, and summarizes course-specific policies (e.g. honor codes, use of electronic devices) and best practices to prevent cheating and other academic honesty violations.

Questions about reporting suspected academic honesty violations can be directed to the chair of the Board on Academic Honesty at college.honesty@ur.rochester.edu. 

The Office of Disability Resources works with students requiring accommodations and provides instructors with information on students with documented disabilities at the beginning of each semester. Instructors are strongly encouraged to make reference to disability accommodations on their syllabi, using this template as model.

The College’s Credit Hour Policy outlines contact hour requirements for courses, following NYSED and US Department of Education guidelines. This policy was passed in 1962 by the College faculty, and the policy was recently clarified to apply to the current structure of College courses. Most importantly, the policy provides required boilerplate language that must be used by faculty on their course syllabi. This language clarifies the contact hour requirements for the course, especially in cases when course might meet fewer times than expected for its credit hours (e.g. four-credit courses that meet three times per week).

Memos: 

• First Day of Class Memo
• Assignment of Grades and Related Matters
• Mid-term Grade Reporting
• Electronic Devices in Examinations