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Regulations and Policies

Regulations & Policies

Academic Affairs - Faculty


I. OBJECTIVE & PURPOSE

This policy statement articulates the official position of the University of North Florida regarding syllabi for courses. This policy applies to all courses regardless of delivery method.

II. STATEMENT OF PROCEDURES

Although uniformity in style is not required, all syllabi must contain certain elements to (1) provide students with necessary information regarding their courses, (2) comply with accreditation standards, and (3) allow the University to meet State of Florida and Board of Governor regulations. Per Board of Governors Policy 8.003, syllabi for general education core courses as outlined in Florida Statute 1007.25 must be publicly posted and accessible at least 45 days before the first day of class each term.

This policy identifies the minimum required components/contents of UNF syllabi. Instructors of record are responsible for ensuring that their students are provided with a copy of a syllabus for each of their courses no later than the second week of the semester in which the course is taught. Instructors of record must also provide their department with copies of their syllabi no later than the second week of the semester in which the course is taught.

III. CONTENTS

All UNF course syllabi must contain the elements in sections A through J below.

  1. Basic course information, including:
    1. Course number, course reference number (CRN), & title
    2. Semester & year of delivery
    3. Meeting dates/times, location(s)
    4. Course delivery modality
    5. Pre- and/or co-requisites of the course
  2. Instructor and teaching assistant information, including:
    1. Names
    2. Contact information
    3. Office hours (dates/times and location)
  3. Description of the course content, scope, and/or purpose
  4. Goals and learning objectives or outcomes including any relevant program, department,
    college, professional, or accreditation standards and student expectations.
  5. The course curriculum (i.e., list of course topics and schedule/calendar with clearly identified
    due dates for assignments, readings, etc.)
  6. An explanation of how student performance will be measured, including:
    1. List of materials/assignments/exams and/or assessments, including an indication of which
    are optional if appropriate
    2. Weights or proportion of final grade determined by each assessment type
    3. Grading scale, schema, curve, &/or rubrics
    4. Attendance policy
    5. Policy on late work and/or missed exams
    6. A description of how and when students will receive their graded work
  7.  A list of all required and recommended textbooks, including:
    1. ISBN for each required and recommended textbook,
    2. Title,
    3. All authors listed,
    4. Publishers,
    5. Edition number,
    6. Copyright date,
    7. Published date.
  8. Specific information about items such as classroom response systems, online tools, and other
    items that are required or recommended
  9. A course continuity of instruction plan
  10. For General Education courses, be sure to include the relevant General Education competencies https://www.unf.edu/catalog/degrees/gened/General-Education-Program-Requirements.html

IV. CHANGES TO SYLLABI 

If an instructor finds it necessary to make substantive changes to a course after it has started, such as changes to schedule, assignments, and performance measures, a revised syllabus shall be distributed to all of the students in a timely manner.

V. SYLLABUS ARCHIVE

  1. In order to serve the needs of alumni and former students, UNF archives course syllabi in a centralized repository. Each college will monitor the process that ensures compliance, maintain files, archival of syllabi in centralized repository, and provide a copy of the syllabi policies to Academic and Student Affairs.
  2. Syllabi Repository Access

    The syllabi repository is designed to enable UNF to serve the needs of its alumni and former students. Only faculty and a limited number of administrators will have access to the syllabi repository.

    1. All faculty have access to view and upload a syllabus for each of their courses.
    2. Department chairs and their administrative staff have access to the view and upload syllabi for the courses assigned to their department.
    3. Deans and associate deans have access to view the syllabi for their college.
    4. The SACSCOC Liaison and his/her designee have access to the syllabi repository to assure compliance with regard to SACSCOC instructor of record credentialing guidelines. The syllabi repository is linked to the Roster of Instructional Staff (a secure, password protected resource) used for meeting SACSCOC compliance.
    5. If a department wishes to provide access to another individual (e.g., library liaison), the department chair will send the Director for Academic Programs a request to grant the individual access to the department's syllabi.
  3. Syllabi Archiving
    1. A course syllabus is required to be archived in the syllabi repository for all courses, irrespective of delivery mode, except for the following course types:
      1. Directed Independent/Individual Studies
      2. Independent/Supervised Research
      3. Internships/Co-ops
      4. Practicums/Residency
      5. Thesis/Dissertation/Doctoral Project
      6. International Exchanges
    2. Syllabi must be formatted as a PDF and archived into the centralized repository no later than four weeks after the start of classes.
    3. Syllabi can be uploaded as soon as the schedule is set, even in the prior term.
    4. Instructions for utilizing the centralized repository are located at: (future webpage in Academic Degree Programs, with new link under Requirements)
  4. Syllabi Archival Monitoring
    1. Departments will communicate with instructors of record and monitor the syllabi
      repository to make certain instructors of record archive syllabi into the syllabi
      repository within four weeks of classes starting
    2. Colleges will communicate with Departments and monitor the syllabi repository to make certain Departments archive syllabi into the syllabi repository within four weeks of classes starting.
    3. Academic Affairs will communicate with Colleges five weeks after classes have started to resolve any syllabi that have not been archived into the syllabi repository in accordance with this policy.
  5. Additional Syllabus Guidance
    1. The Office of Faculty Enhancement has a webpage providing information on syllabus creation https://www.unf.edu/ofe/resources-syllabi.html
    2. The Graduate School has implemented policy 2.0930P, Cross-Level Listing of Graduate and Undergraduate Courses.

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