Simple Syllabus will transition the Alamo Colleges Syllabus site to NewView on January 8, 2024, and the images in this guide have been updated to reflect this new user interface. To get started with NewView, select a guide based on your user role:
Simple Syllabus does not require a separate login to access and edit your syllabi; instructors can reach the platform securely through ACES login or the LTI link in their Canvas course.
Select a link to jump to a section of this article:
Syllabus Availability
Per Texas HB 2504, a syllabus must be available no later than the seventh day after the first day of classes for a semester (or other part-of-term) during which the course is offered.
A due date will be provided in Simple Syllabus to reflect the course start date for each part-of-term, but instructors and departmental editors are strongly encouraged to fill in their details and submit the document before this date.
When does a syllabus become available for editing?
Section syllabi are generated through information pulled from the Banner course schedule as well as updates made to syllabus templates by the District, College, and Department administrators.
Instructors will receive access to edit their syllabi approximately 4 weeks before the upcoming term. Academic Chairs, Program Coordinators, Faculty Leads, and the college's VPAS office (or designees) can also make edits to the college and department templates during this time.
When does a syllabus become archived?
Edits can be made to a syllabus through the part-of-term's end date, although Banner data feeds will cease one week after the final part-of-term begins. This typically occurs at the following points of the semester:
- Fall/Spring Sessions - 3 weeks before the full 16-week term concludes
- Summer Session - 4 weeks before the final summer term concludes
Once a part-of-term concludes, the syllabus will become archived in the Historic term within the Simple Syllabus Library. Documents will continue to reside in the Syllabus Library for at least two years from the semester's end date, if not longer.
How to Access All Syllabi through ACES
To access syllabi for current, previous, or upcoming terms, instructors and departmental template editors can connect to their Simple Syllabus dashboard through ACES.
To begin, navigate to either the Faculty or Employee tab of ACES and locate the Simple Syllabus portlet in the right column. Select the Simple Syllabus logo to launch the website in a new browser tab or window and connect to your user dashboard.
If you do not see your name listed in the top right corner of the Simple Syllabus website, ACES has likely timed out, and you will be required to authenticate again. Select the profile icon in the upper right to Login to Simple Syllabus using your ACES credentials.
Once you've logged into the web-based tool, you will have access to the following areas of the Simple Syllabus website as an Instructor:
Home
The Home page combines your open items and published documents into two lists:
"To Do" List
Your To Do list primarily comprises of syllabi which have not been started, are in progress, or were published and are showing "in progress" again because you made edits to the document without submitting your changes.
Each item in your To Do list will display the following:
- Document type (i.e., Syllabus or Course Template) and status
- Term
- Subject/course/section information and course title
- Due date
- Instructor(s) who can edit and publish the document
Select the Edit button on an item to input content as an instructor, then Submit your changes to publish the most recent version of the document.
"Completed" Items
The Completed list is where your published syllabi go once you have filled in and submitted them for public viewing. These documents will be signified by a green medallion with a white check mark next to the course title.
You have access to View a web version of the syllabus, Print or download a PDF document, and Share the web URL, print URL, or copy an iFrame link to embed the syllabus in a webpage. You can also Edit and resubmit a syllabus through the document's archiving date, or view the Student Engagement report from the item.
Use the Term picklist and Search field/Filters button to locate a syllabus you completed previously once the term has concluded.
Terms
Select the Term picklist to filter for syllabi within specific parts-of-term. Term options include:
- Current - Displays syllabi for parts-of-term that are currently in session.
- Future - Displays syllabi for parts-of-term that have not yet started. (Once a term starts, it will move to the Current term.)
- Historical - Displays syllabi for parts-of-term that have concluded, including ones that ran earlier in the session. (For instance: Wintermester, Maymester, Flex I, Summer 1, etc.)
By default, the list will display all syllabi for current and future terms, but you can select the drop-down arrow to the right of each term to view a list of available parts-of-term to include/exclude from your list.
Search and Filters
You can locate specific syllabi by using the open-entry Search field and Filters button which will provide you more options to narrow down your search by subject, college department, and instructor.
NOTE: Syllabi that were completed in Concourse are available within the Syllabus Library. Please see this article for locating archived syllabi from Fall 2013 to Fall 2022.
Syllabus Library
The Syllabus Library is the central repository of syllabi that have been published for each of the five colleges in the Alamo Colleges District. The search tool allows you to filter down syllabi to a specific term, college, department, subject, course number, or instructor. Additionally, you can do a general keyword search using the Search field.
Historical syllabi from Fall 2013 to Fall 2022 will appear in the Simple Syllabus Library, but only in PDF format. See this article for locating historical syllabi for more information.
Profile
The information you enter into your Profile will auto-fill certain fields within the Instructor Information component of each syllabus. Use this area to update your name, add a prefix or suffix, and enter your curriculum vitae (CV) that comprises your post secondary education, teaching experience, and any relevant professional publication information related to your field of study.
While you do have access to update the information in your Simple Syllabus profile, we recommend you DO NOT edit the Email field or update your password as it may result in connection errors to your syllabi.
Support
Simple Syllabus Help
Selecting the Contact Support button in the left-hand navigation menu [A] will display a Simple Syllabus Help form [B] on the right side of the window that will be routed to Simple Syllabus's IT Support. The Simple Syllabus Help Desk is available Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. CST, and typically responds to support tickets within 20 minutes if they are submitted during business hours.
For faster processing, provide the following information for each ticket you submit:
- Name - Provide your name as it appears on your Simple Syllabus profile.
- Email - List your @alamo.edu address.
- How can we help? - Provide a brief description of the technical difficulty you are experiencing with Simple Syllabus as well as the course/college acronym/section number and the part-of-term the course takes place.
Locating Term and Course Information
Term and course information can be found at the top of each syllabus. In the example below, the term is "Spring 2023 Full Term" and the course is "ACCT-2302-NLC 004."
View the following guide for more information about the parts-of-term in Simple Syllabus for Fall/Spring and Summer semesters.
The Simple Hub
The Support link located at the bottom of the site will take you to the Simple Syllabus support website, The Simple Hub. Users can select the SSO option in order to access these online resources, including articles, video tutorials, and FAQs.
How to Access an Individual Syllabus through Canvas
On Dec. 11, 2022, the Simple Syllabus LTI replaced the Concourse LTI found in the course navigation link titled Course Syllabus. This link appears by default in every new Canvas course shell.
Accessing an individual syllabus through a Canvas course's Course Syllabus link [A] will connect instructors to the syllabus document for that particular section. From here, instructors can edit and submit their syllabus; view or print the syllabus; and pull up the Student Engagement report for the course.
If edits need to be made to a syllabus after it has been published, you can select the Edit syllabus button [B] to reopen and make the necessary updates to the syllabus before submitting it again.
To access all of your syllabi from your Simple Syllabus dashboard, select the View your Simple dashboard link [C] at the top of the application when it is in the publisher (or editing) interface.
The Course Syllabus link is enabled by default in every Canvas course, but instructors can place it higher in the list of links so it will be more prominent to students.
For cross-listed Canvas courses, the appropriate section-level syllabus will display for students when they click on the Course Syllabus link in the course navigation menu. However, instructors will receive a "This course is not currently setup with Simple Syllabus" error message when they select the same link.
To access syllabi for cross-listed Canvas courses, you will need to select the appropriate section syllabus from the list or log into your Simple Syllabus dashboard from ACES.
View the following guide to begin editing and publishing your syllabi. Your Academic Chair, Program Coordinator, or Faculty Lead can provide guidance for what information to include in your syllabus.
0 Comments
Add your comment