Alamo Colleges District

Editing a Course Template as a Designer

Updated on

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:

""

Course Templates in Simple Syllabus allow users in a Designer role to enter information onto a syllabus template (such as Materials) that will propagate onto section-level syllabi for a course. 

A department administrator can  request access to Course Templates for themselves or another designated user by emailing the following information to [email protected]

  1. Designated user’s name and ACES ID (for example: Lia Moore-Lamm, llamm2)
  2. College and department the courses are assigned to (SPC’s Communication and Learning)
  3. List of subjects or courses whose course templates they will need access to ("All EDUC" or EDUC-1300, EDUC-1301, EDUC-2301, ENGL-1301, etc.)

How Course Templates Work

In Simple Syllabus, a Course Template is generated for each part-of-term a course is offered at a college, signified by the college's acronym in the course information.

""

When a Designer enters information into the Course Template that is offered for the earliest part-of-term, it will automatically "roll" the content forward to the Course Templates for subsequent parts-of-term for the current semester—and future semesters.

In the example below, EDUC-1300 courses are offered in four different parts-of-term at SPC, and entering the course materials into the Spring 2024 Wintermester template will propagate the items onto the templates for the Full Term, Start II--14 Week Session, and 8 Weeks Flex II Session.

""

A Course Template will not be generated for a course until at least one section has been scheduled in the current or upcoming semester.

Locating a Course Template

Once the Designer role has been assigned to you, log into Simple Syllabus and access your Course Template(s) from the Home link [A] in the navigation bar. If you are also an instructor, both your Syllabi and Course Templates will display on the dashboard. Filter for just Course Template documents [B], then select the Filters button [C] to narrow down your search to the particular Subject in your To Do list.

By default, all documents for current and future parts-of-term will appear on your dashboard, but you can use the Term picklist [D] to help you locate the Course Template for the earliest part-of-term the course will be offered. Once you've located the appropriate template, select the Edit button [E].

""

Editing and Submitting a Course Template

Course Template Designers have access to enter information into the following components:

  • Materials - Adding new materials to this list will add the items to the top of any entries instructors have previously added at the section-level. (In other words: it will not overwrite the information instructors add to the syllabus before template edits have been made and submitted.)
  • Evaluation, Course Policies, and the 2nd Schedule - Unless it's left blank by the Designer, adding information to these components will overwrite information Instructors may have entered and submitted previously at the section-level before edits to the Course Template were submitted. (This includes content that may have rolled forward from a previous semester.)
  • Any additional content components the Departmental Template Editor may have created and provided editing access to Designers to input information.

In the publisher interface, enter the information you would like to populate onto the section-level syllabi for instructors. Once you are finished, Submit [E] the Course Template to propagate the information onto syllabi for the current and future part-of-terms.

""

Entering information into the content components (i.e., Evaluation, Course Policies, and Schedule) will overwrite any information instructors may have input prior to the Course Template being submitted. Therefore, it is recommended you make any necessary edits to the Course Template well before the Course Template deadline.

Course Template Deadline

Because Simple Syllabus is currently set to notify instructors to complete any unpublished syllabi 7 days out from the start of class, Course Template editing should be completed at least 8 days before the part-of-term's start.

For questions or assistance with editing a Course Template, please contact [email protected].

0 Comments

Add your comment

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Previous Article Adding Components to a Department or College Template
Next Article Locating Historical Syllabi (Fall 2013-Fall 2022)
Still Need Help? Contact Us