Memo from Chancellor Gary Thomas to General Faculty about Syllabus Preparation

Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 10:39:42 -0500

Reply-To: "Thomas, Gary"
Sender: General Faculty
From: "Thomas, Gary"
Subject: Preparing for New Semester
To: GENFAC-L@mst.edu

Dear Colleagues:

As we get ready for the beginning of the new term, it is a good time to reflect on what students want and expect from each of the classes they take, and what our professional responsibilities are to these students.

Students need to plan their studies so they can get the most from each course as well as get the best grade they are capable of obtaining. This means they need to know the scope of each course before it begins. They need to know what reading material is required and the dates by which they should have read the material. With this information in hand, they can plan their study periods and accomplish the reading and homework assignments necessary for every class they are taking -- not just in the one you are teaching. Similarly, if students know when examinations are scheduled, they can allocate their time to review the material covered in a more effective way. If they know the scope and dates when major papers, projects, examinations and homework assignments are due, along with the weight each will be given in determining their course grade, the student will be able to plan their studies accordingly for all of their classes.

In addition, the Board of Curators has established a policy on English proficiency that recommends that each instructor identify a person to whom a student may go if he/she is having difficulty with the communication skills of the instructor. Accordingly, I ask that you prepare and distribute by the end of the first week of classes, a course schedule and syllabus that contains at least the following information:

Required Reading (Give dates by which each assignment should be completed)

Homework (Give the policy - e.g. homework is assigned after each class and is due at beginning of the next class period - and the weight homework will have in the course grade)

Midterm Examination(s) (Give the approximate dates, the portion of the course covered, and the weight the midterm examinations will play in the course grade)

Major Papers, Projects, etc. (Give the due dates and the process for approval of the topics)

Classroom Participation (Give the contribution of classroom participation to the course grade)

Final Examination (Give the scope and weight of the final examination in the course grade)

Available Resources (Identify the resources available to students to help them understand the material covered. This could include faculty office hours, tutoring center hours, extra class sessions, study groups, etc.)

Contact Persons (Give names and addresses of the department chairperson and the dean so students can contact them if they have problems with the course that cannot be solved by the instructor)

If each faculty member supplies at least this information to the students by the end of the first week of class and posts it on the course Web site, it will be very helpful to Missouri S&T's objective to improve learning and retention.