Creating a Syllabus

A successful General Education syllabus will accomplish several things:

• Be informative
• Explain how the course engages proposed learning objectives
• Involve students and welcome their assessment
• Celebrate the value of the Gen Ed experience

An ideal syllabus will:

• Explain in detail how the course achieves the overall Gen Ed learning objectives and the specific learning objectives of the curriculum area designation of the course
• Clearly link learning activities with these objectives
• Review the Exemplary General Education Statements for examples of how to work gen ed language into your syllabus and communicate learning objectives to students

Faculty who design a course as a Gen Ed should also consider its relation to other courses, both those within the faculty member’s department and within the Gen Ed curriculum areas as a whole. For example, in some cases, courses may count as prerequisites. In others, intellectual links may be forged between a community of Gen Ed faculty.

It is recommended that instructors follow four stages in creating a syllabus and moving it towards the formal approval process:

1. Review the Learning Objectives for all Gen Ed courses
2. Review the Curriculum Areas and Designations to determine the category best suited for the course
3. Construct a syllabus
4. Consult the Course Approval Process for instructions on submitting the proposal

For further information, contact the General Education Council.