Syllabus Policy

Effective: January 3, 2011

Last Updated: Approved by EPC April 28, 2010; amended and approved by Campus Assembly November 9, 2010, updated & approved by EVCAA April 28, 2017; revised by TLC 10-31-18; approved by EVCAA 1-10-19; approved by TLC 4-20-22, approved by EVCAA 7-13-2022

Policy Owner: Academic Affairs

Each academic department is responsible for creating and maintaining indefinitely a digital archive of its syllabi for accreditation purposes and for historical records of classes taught; these archives are not publicly accessible. All faculty teaching UMD classes are responsible for providing an electronic version of their syllabi each term by the end of the second week to their department for its digital archive¹. Current and former UMD students requesting syllabi from their previous classes are directed to the departments offering the classes.

During the first week of class, regardless of delivery mode, each instructor is required to provide a course syllabus in written or electronic form to every student in each section of each course taught (including individualized courses). In order to help students complete the course to the best of their abilities, the syllabus must contain:

Course subject designator, number, section (if applicable), credit hours, and title, and the current semester.
Class meeting times and location(s).
Instructional staff (including TAs) names and contact information: office hours, office location, and e-mail address.
Course pre-requisites and/or co-requisites, as applicable.
Required and supplemental course materials such as textbook(s), online readings, software, and computer use.
If the course is in the Liberal Education Program, a statement of the category (or categories) that the course fulfills.
Student learning outcomes for the course, which includes Liberal Education Program category student learning outcomes as applicable.
Type of each graded course component (e.g. exams, quizzes, homework, papers, presentations, participation in discussion, blogs, attendance) with the relative weight and the identification of student learning outcomes measured by each component. Approximate dates should be included recognizing that certain revisions may occur if necessary.
Final exam date, time, and location (when available). If a “common” final exam is to be given, date, time, and location should be announced as soon as the common exam is officially scheduled.
Special outside-of-class requirements as applicable (e.g. field trips, performances, service learning, exams outside of regular class time).
Attendance requirements and penalties for non-attendance.
Statement on participation by students needing academic accommodations, and availability of disability support services.
Statement about the availability of mental health and stress management support at UMD Health Services.
Instructor’s policies on late and make-up work, extra credit, and appropriate and inappropriate use of technology in the classroom.

Additionally, it is recommended that all syllabi include links to the following policies:

Recommended syllabus statements can be found at: Recommended Policy Statements for Syllabi

¹UMD’s syllabus management tool is available for faculty to create syllabi electronically and automatically store them within the tool as PDFs for departments to download for their archives.