Syllabus Guide

Include:

• Office Location
• Phone Number(s) (when to use and not use, how fast you can be expected to respond to a voice mail)
• E-mail address(es) (plus wording on your response time to student email)
• Any other information on how you prefer to be contacted
• Office hours (reference department policies on minimum office hours required per class)
  
  • If holding virtual office hours, please describe how you want that to work, consider encouraging students to use Outlook meetings or Microsoft Bookings

Course Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this class the students are expected to have learned:

• Outcome 1
• Outcome 2

If your course is a required or elective course in a program, you may want to discuss how this course supports one or more of those learning outcomes. For example:

Any and all required resources should be included towards the beginning of the syllabus, including:

• Textbooks and other required readings
• Subscriptions
• Software (Provide details on how students are supposed to access software, whether via purchase, computer lab, or a virtual computer lab if applicable.  Be as detailed as possible in how to access software.
• Course management resources (i.e., D2L), describe what materials are available on D2L
• Access to textbook or external online learning tools
• Course Reserve (Info and procedures for faculty here)

This optional section is your chance to set expectations on how you will communicate with students, and how students communicate with you.  Be as specific as possible, for instance: "please check your email the day before each class session for any updates" or "students are required to notify the instructor via email 24 hours in advance of class if ... "

To begin, please read the latest info from the Provost's Office on the unique circumstances each semester may present.

Next, be sure to familiarize yourself with the University's official attendance policy as written in the Bulletin (consider including a link to this in your syllabus)

This word document contains the University's recommended language on attendance.

Finally, check with your department or college for any special attendance policies that may pertain to your program(s).

Key points:

1. With few exceptions, no distinction is made between excused and unexcused absences.
2. Instructors determine if work (including tests and examinations) may be made up as a result of one or more absences.
3. University offices do not provide documentation of absences.
4. Students may be withdrawn from a course as a result of excessive absences.
5. Lack of participation in an online course may lead to the recording of an absence for the student.

Minimal language (see document above for more detailed language):

Students are responsible for attending all class meetings for courses in which they are registered. Any absence, regardless of the reason, prevents students from getting the full benefit of the course and as such, no distinction is made between excused and unexcused absences, with the following exceptions:

• Active duty, with appropriate documentation, or short-term military call-up, as outlined in the Military Call to Active Duty or Training policy in this bulletin.
• The day(s) of religious observances, as listed on the Campus Ministry website.
• Participation in Division-1 athletics or other university-sanctioned events. This activity must be documented and provided to the faculty in advance of the activity. The documentation must be verified by an official of the University, who is directly related to the activity (e.g., Division-1 athletics representative; musical group director; student development representative, etc.).

Please see the Office of the Registrar's guidance on class attendance for additional information (https://www.marquette.edu/central/registrar/faculty-staff/guidance-on-fall-2023-class-attendance-withdrawal-grading.php).

Be particularly clear and specific on how you will assign grades for class participation, participation in online discussions, and/or group project components of your course.

• These three items are the ones that tend to lead to the most grade appeals.
• A "best practice" is to post your participation grades in the D2L gradebook regularly so that students can discuss them with you in the case they disagree with your assessment and have the ability to do something about improving their participation grades over the remainder of the semester.
• Be clear on how both the entire group and each individual in the group will be assessed and graded as part of a team project. Be clear if you will incorporate any feedback from members of the team in determining individual grades.
• This is a good place to include statements on classroom etiquette, including usage of phones, laptops, devices.  Consider including etiquette guidelines for online discussions if applicable.

Best practices for faculty - provost's office

The bulletin serves as the "contract" with students.  You may want to link to the full policy in your syllabus: https://bulletin.marquette.edu/policies/academic-integrity/

Sample syllabus text:

Academic Honesty

An Academic Honesty Policy is now applicable to all courses. (https://bulletin.marquette.edu/undergrad/academicregulations/#academichonestypolicy).  The Bulletin serves, in effect, as the University’s contract with its students. Accordingly, we are obligated to adhere to the protocol described in this new policy. Acts of academic dishonesty may include, but are not limited, to the following:

• Copying material from a Web page and submitting it as one’s own work.
• Quoting extensively from a document without making proper references to the source.
• Copying answers from the quiz or examination paper of another student.
• Plagiarizing (submitting the work of another as one’s own ideas) or falsifying materials or information used in the completion of any assignment, which is graded or evaluated as the student’s individual effort.
• Intentionally interfering with any person’s scholastic work (e.g., by damaging or stealing laboratory experiments, computer files or library materials).
• Submitting the same work for more than one course without the consent of the instructors of each course in which the work is submitted.
• Using another student’s clicker in class or handing your clicker to another student to have them answer for you.

You may also want to consider including the following honor code and/or pledge:

It is largely up to the instructor to set a late work policy for the course.

Please be as specific as possible on how you will penalize late work to avoid conflict or grade appeals down the road.

In developing your grading policy, it is essential that your syllabus accurately and completely identify the following:

• The assignments/quizzes/exams/projects/ participation, etc., that will be used to determine student grades.
• The weights or points assigned to each of the above in the course of determining student grades.
• A grading scale!

Grading Scales

If you do not have a grading scale and there is a grade appeal by the student, there is a higher chance that the student's appeal will be upheld.

Marquette's grading system is now consistent with most other institutions that use plus and minus grades instead of half-letter grades. Thus, undergraduate grades are now A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D and F. You are free to set your own cutoffs and there is some variability across faculty. However, the following percentage cutoffs are "representative" of the cutoffs that have been used over the past several years, and now been translated to the new classifications.

Below is a typical grading scheme for a undergraduate class:

A detailed list of all assignments, quizzes, discussions, and all graded activities must be provided either in the syllabus or in D2L in a way that students can see all that will be expected from them at the beginning of the course.

If you use D2L, make sure all assignments are visible at the start of the course (for instance, all dropboxes, discussions, and quiz titles are visible, even though they may not accept submissions until a certain date)

Assignments, quizzes, and other course components should not significantly deviate from what is laid out in the syllabus or D2L at the beginning of the semester.

Familiarize yourself with accessibility resources at Marquette.

See Disability Services resources for faculty

Recommended disability statement for syllabi:

"If you have a disability and require accommodations, please contact me early in the semester so that your learning needs may be appropriately met. You will need to provide documentation of your disability to the Office of Disability Services.  If you are unsure of what you need to qualify for services, visit the Office of Disability Service's website at www.marquette.edu/disability-services or contact the Office of Disability Services at 414-288-1645."

Recommended language:

The Office of the Provost will determine if weather conditions warrant school cancellations. This is not up to the individual instructor to cancel courses. Should the school remain open during poor weather conditions, please contact the instructor as soon as possible (i.e., when you are safe) if you are unable to attend class and arrangements will be made. University closings due to weather will be sent via email and posted on marquette.edu

Resources for faculty:

• Active shooter response
• Safety tips from MUPD
• Refer to a placard in each classroom indicating shelter areas and fire exits, consider reviewing this together during the first class meeting

The Offices of Risk Management and MUPD ask us to include the following wording in all course syllabi:

It is strongly recommended you include info on resources Marquette provides to students to aid in their academic success and well-being.

• Well-being and support services (mental health, campus ministry, victim advocacy, and more)

Consider including the following language:

Research support

Marquette’s Raynor Memorial Libraries and Ray and Kay Eckstein Law Library support the university’s teaching, research and service mission by providing access to vast collections of recorded knowledge as well as a variety of research services, friendly expertise, technology tools and collaborative spaces. For more information, visit https://www.marquette.edu/library/.

Writing support

The Ott Memorial Writing Center offers free one-on-one consultations for all writers, working on any project, at any stage of the writing process. Marquette's writing center is a place for all writers who care about their writing, because every writer can benefit from conversation with an interested, knowledgeable peer. Writing center tutors can help you brainstorm ideas, revise a rough draft, or fine-tune a final draft. You can schedule a 30- or 60-minute appointment in advance (288-5542 or www.marquette.edu/writing-center), but walk-ins (in 240 Raynor or our other satellite locations) are also welcome. The Ott Memorial Writing Center also offers free workshops and hosts writing retreats.

Tutoring

The Office of Student Educational Services offers tutoring free of charge for Marquette students (1000-2000 level courses only) for a wide variety of undergraduate courses including many science, mathematics and foreign language courses.

The tutoring program offers small group tutoring only. Small groups meet for one hour each week and are divided by subject/instructor. Three requests for the same subject and instructor are necessary to form a group. In addition, groups are formed based on availability of tutors and student schedules.

To sign up, go to the Coughlin Hall, Room 145, and complete a Tutor Request Form.

Please see this page for more info and potential syllabus language

Another optional section to consider, some relatively brief statements summarizing Marquette's Jesuit values and "Cura Personalis"

• Incorporating Ignatian Values (from Dr. Jen Maney)
• Cura Personalis statement (from Dr. Melissa Shew)