Alamo Colleges District

Editing and Publishing a Syllabus

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Simple Syllabus makes it easy to add content using a single-page editor which auto-saves your changes as you go. Once the required information has been filled out and submitted to the content management system, changes will automatically "roll" (or propagate) into your course's other section syllabi for the current and future terms, saving you time on having to enter the information again onto each new document.

Getting Started in Simple Syllabus

It's important to note that syllabus content will only roll forward—never backwards—based on the given part-of-term's start date. Therefore, it is recommended that you fill out your first syllabus for any given course starting with the earliest part-of term you will be teaching.

Parts-of-term will appear in descending order within the Simple Syllabus Library. To ensure the content you enter into your syllabus propagates to subsequent syllabi, select each header link below to view the parts-of-term from earliest to latest.

Fall/Spring Academic Parts-of-Term
Banner Code Simple Syllabus Term
[Blank]
Open Term
WM (Spring only) Wintermester
DCE  (Spring only) Dual Credit Early Start
DCY (Fall only)
Dual Credit Full Year
DCR (Spring only) Dual Credit Regular 18-Week
DC Dual Credit Full Term
1 Full Term
S1 SDEV 16-Week Full Term
F1 8 Weeks Flex I
SF1 SDEV 8-Weeks Flex I
51
1st 5-week
41 Mini Session 1st 4-Weeks
14 Start II--14 Week Session
S14 SDEV Start II 14-Week Session
12
Last 12-Weeks
42 Mini Session 2nd 4-Weeks
52 2nd 5-week
F2 8 Weeks Flex II
SF2 SDEV 8-Weeks Flex II
43 Mini Session 3rd 4-Weeks
53 3rd 5-week
44 Mini Session 4th 4-Weeks
Summer Academic Parts-of-Term
Banner Code Simple Syllabus Term
[Blank]
Open Term
MM Maymester
S81 Summer I - 8 Week
D81 SDEV Summer 1 - 8 Week
SUT Summer - 10 Week Session
S82 Summer II - 8 Week
D82 SDEV Summer II - 8 Week
SU1 Summer - First 5 Week Session
SS1 SDEV Summer-First 5 Wk Session
S83 Summer III - 8 Week
D83 SDEV Summer III - 8 Week
SU2 Summer - Second 5 Week Session
SS2 SDEV Summer-Second 5 Wk Sessn (sic.)

If more than one part-of-term has the same start date, syllabus content may not roll forward as expected. When this occurs, you can replace or import content from the published syllabus.

Components

Components are blocks (or sections) of information inserted into the syllabus for you to organize and add content, and they have been designed to meet criteria for Texas HB 2504.

When editing a syllabus in the publisher, editors will see their syllabus broken up into the different components outlined on the template. 

  • Components that are not editable at the user's assigned level will be visible, but they will not be able to make any changes to these components. An example of this would be Learning Outcomes.
  • Components that have been made editable at the user's assigned level will be available for them to customize. An example of this would be Instructor Information.

The following components will auto-populate with information from Banner data feeds that run twice a day at 1 AM and 1 PM:

  • Header - Contains the college, course title, subject-course-section, term, and part-of-term start/end dates
  • Course Information - Contains CRN, instructional method, part-of-term, credit hour breakdown, meeting location(s), and class meeting times
  • Description - Catalog description of the course, including any course pre-requisites
  • Learning Outcomes

The remaining components will be filled in by your college's Academic Success office, department administrator, and the instructor assigned to the course. 

Changes to the Banner course schedule will reflect in Simple Syllabus when the next daily feed runs.

Rich Content Editor

Simple Syllabus provides plain text entry fields and a Rich Content Editor (RCE) to customize text formatting, apply heading structure, add rich media, or organize items into tables. 

The RCE toolbar in Simple Syllabus allows you to apply:

  • Basic Formatting - Bold, italicize, or underline text. Apply subscript or superscript to characters and numbers.
  • Rich Formatting - Select a different font family or font size. Apply color to text and backgrounds.
  • Paragraph Formatting - Apply heading structure and alignment to text, or create an ordered or unordered list. You will also find the options to indent paragraphs or insert a quote to emphasize a block of text.
  • Insert Objects - Insert a hyperlink; upload or link to an image; link, embed, or upload a video file; and insert a table. Emoticons are also available to insert into (or emphasize) text.
  • Special Actions - Insert special characters, undo/redo an action, or clear formatting from selected text. Select the Help button [question mark icon] to view a list of keyboard shortcuts.
  • Blocks - Insert a block of information that will be auto-populated with data from Banner feeds (instructor, section, and course information) as well as attributes within Simple Syllabus (term, subject, and college information).

    Banner feeds run twice a day at 1 AM and 1 PM, so allow approximately 12 hours for changes to the course schedule to reflect in Simple Syllabus.

Blocks cannot be overwritten. If information feeding from Banner is incorrect, please contact the Academic Chair, Program Coordinator, or Faculty Lead for your department.

Fields marked with a dashed border can have rich content applied to text when you select or highlight it with your cursor. These fields appear within the Instructor Information component [Office Location and Hours, Preferred Method of Communication, and Faculty Profile (CV)] and Materials component [Additional Information] of a syllabus.

User applies bold formatting to selected text in the "Preferred Method of Communication" field

Required Components

If a component is required, a dark orange line will encompass the section for editors to easily identify areas that require their attention. Syllabi cannot be submitted without adding information into these required components.

An empty component is highlighted in dark orange indicating it is a required field

If an editor submits a syllabus without entering information into a required component, the Submit button will be unavailable, and a list of the components requiring their attention will display. Select the component link to go back to that particular section and enter information.

User is unable to submit their syllabus because a required component has not been filled in

Editor Roles

Components are assigned to editors in two roles within Simple Syllabus: Departmental Editor and Instructor.

Departmental Editors

Users in a Departmental Editor role will be responsible for adding information to a template prior to the syllabus due date:

  • College-Level Templates- entered by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Success (or designee)
    • College Policies
    • College Priorities
  • Department-Level Templates - entered by the Academic Chair, Program Coordinator, or Faculty Lead for the subject/course
    • Department Information
    • Program Policies (Optional)

Designated departmental editors can access template components through the Templates link [A] found within the navigation bar of their Simple Syllabus account. To begin, select the part-of-term for the template you wish to edit from the Term dropdown menu [B], then select the Edit button [pencil icon] next to your college or department's template [C].

Enter information on a template starting with the earliest part-of-term. This will ensure the content "rolls" forward to templates for subsequent terms.

College- and Department-level templates must enter and submit information into their required components in order for section syllabi to publish to the Simple Syllabus Library.

In the editing interface, you can Copy + Paste text from an external document into required components, but you will need to re-apply formatting using the rich content editor. This is to ensure syllabus content is accessible to all users.

Additions or edits to template components will auto-save as you enter your information, and when you are ready for your changes to be published, scroll down to the bottom of your template and Submit your changes.

If Program Policies are not needed, Departmental Editors can leave this component blank so it will not appear on published syllabi.

Instructors

Users in an Instructor role will be responsible for adding section-level information to the remaining five components on a syllabus. Your Academic Chair, Program Coordinator, or Faculty Lead can provide guidance for what information to include in each of these sections, or you can choose to import content from another instructor's syllabus.

Select each header link below to view how to edit each of these components:

Instructor Information

Instructors can make edits to the information that has been pre-filled from their Simple Syllabus Profile, and they can also complete any fields that did not auto-populate.

To edit this component, simply click the Edit button [pencil icon] to the left of the scheduled instructor's information.

In the editing interface, fields marked with a dashed border can have rich content applied to selected text.

The following fields are required and indicated with a * [red asterisk]:

  • Name
  • Email
  • Office Location and Hours - Adjuncts should enter "TBD"
  • Preferred Method of Communication
  • Faculty Profile (CV)

The remaining fields are optional and will not appear on a published syllabus if left blank:

  • Title
  • Pronouns
  • Phone
  • Photo - This image is separate from the headshot you can upload to your Simple Syllabus Profile, and it will be viewed/printed as part of the public syllabus document.

Once the your information has been entered, click Save to add it to the component.

Instructors must fill in all of the required fields to "Save" the entry and add their information to the syllabus.  

To add an additional instructor to the syllabus, click the Edit button to the left of Add new instructor. The minimum required information will need to be filled in and saved for the new instructor.

If more than one instructor is listed for the class, they can be reordered by selecting the Drag and Drop button [navigation icon] next to their information.

Adding a new instructor to a syllabus will not give this user editing access to the document. 

If another instructor requires editing access to a syllabus, contact [email protected] with the following information:

  1. 5-digit course CRN or Subject-Course-Section (e.g., ENGL-1301-123)
  2. Semester and/or Part-of-term
  3. Name and ACES username of the instructor requiring editing access

Changes made to the assigned instructor in Banner will reflect in Simple Syllabus when the next daily feed runs.

Materials

To help with the transition from Concourse to Simple Syllabus, instructors can request to have the Materials component loaded with information from the Barnes & Noble College database. Please see this article for more information.

To add or edit materials, instructors can click the Edit button [pencil icon] to the left of the item or Add new material. In the editing interface, fields with a dashed border can have rich content applied to selected text.

For textbooks, instructors can manually input the information into each field, or they can use the Book Search field to search for their textbook on Google and auto-fill the data. Any data that populates into these fields can be edited or removed.

Once all required fields have been completed, the instructor can click Save to add the item to the component. Instructors can repeat this process for each material they'd like to add to their syllabus such as a specific calculator, Blue Book, or other course supplies.

Instructors must fill in the required field to "Save" the entry and add the item to the materials list.

If more than one item is listed in the Materials component, they can be reordered by selecting the Drag and Drop button [navigation icon]. 

Only the Title or Material Name field is required for each item, but it is recommended that you provide as much detailed information as possible. 

Materials appearing on a syllabus will be compiled into a Materials List for students each semester.

Evaluation

The Evaluation component is where you will list your grading policies for the course.

To begin adding information to this component, place your cursor in the text entry field. You can Copy + Paste text from an external document, but you will need to re-apply formatting using the rich content editor. This is to ensure syllabus content is accessible to all users.

Additions or edits to this component will auto-save as you enter content.

Schedule

Instructors have two options for entering their course schedule into the syllabus, but at least one must be filled in to submit the document. 

The first Schedule component utilizes Simple Syllabus's "Class Scheduler" tool to sync in Canvas assignments, due dates, points, and the type of assignment (i.e., an assignment, quiz, or discussion) into the section. View the following guide for more information on syncing in your Canvas assignments, discussions, and quizzes into the Schedule component of the syllabus.

The second Schedule component allows you to enter free-form content. To begin adding information to this component, place your cursor in the text entry field. You can copy and paste text from an external document, but you will need to re-apply formatting using the rich content editor. This is to ensure syllabus content is accessible to all users.

Additions or edits to the latter Schedule component will auto-save as you enter content.

Mark the unused Schedule component Invisible so it does not display on the published syllabus.

Course Policies

The Course Policies component allows you to list your student expectations for the course as well as any classroom or laboratory policies. 

To begin adding information to this component, place your cursor in the text entry field. You can copy and paste text from an external document, but you will need to re-apply formatting using the rich content editor. This is to ensure syllabus content is accessible to all users.

Additions or edits to this component will auto-save as you enter content.

Enter information on a course syllabus starting with the earliest part-of-term. This will ensure the content "rolls" forward to other section syllabi for subsequent terms.

Publish Your Syllabus

Once you have finished editing your syllabus and are ready to make it public, you will need to scroll down to the bottom of the document and Submit your changes.

A syllabus will not publish unless information has been entered into each required component, including content entered by departmental editors.

Once a syllabus has been submitted, you can track which students have read and acknowledged the syllabus through the Student Engagement report.

Comments

Comments are a place for Instructors and Departmental Editors to leave notes for themselves. This field is optional, and what you type here can only be seen by other editors at your level or the Simple Syllabus system administrators.

To use the comments, place your cursor into the plain text entry field and start typing. The notes will appear in the version History once you Submit the syllabus.

Comments can be used to detail what information was updated since the last submission.

History

The History thread on a syllabus shows editors a list of previous changes to a syllabus since it was first published. The thread will only show you the submission history (and comments, if used) from other editors at your level.

Students can choose to "follow" a syllabus that will alert them any time the syllabus has been resubmitted. However, it will not reveal details such as comments or exact changes that were made to the syllabus from the previous submission.

Preview Your Syllabus

After a syllabus has been submitted by the instructor, a Preview link will display for you to see the final syllabus from the student (or public) point of view.

  • Syllabus URL contains a link to the public-facing syllabus for your course.
  • Syllabus PDF URL allows a user to print or download/print a copy of the syllabus for viewing offline.
  • Copy Embed Code provides you the iFrame coding you can plug into the HTML of any web page (including Canvas) to display the syllabus within the page's framework.

View the following guide for sharing a syllabus with students.

For more information about replacing components with information entered into another course syllabus, please see this guide for replacing or importing content from another published syllabus.

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