Your syllabus gives students a first impression of what to expect from your course and fosters curiosity and interest. A comprehensive syllabus helps you to structure and articulate your course expectations in support of student learning.

Syllabus template: Consult our Canvas resource, Create a Student-Centered Syllabus, which contains sample language that you can adapt for your course. 

The Functions of a Syllabus

An effective course syllabus fulfills several important functions. In particular, it:

• sets the tone for the course.
• communicates what, when, and how students will learn.
• clarifies expectations in terms of student responsibilities.
• avoids misunderstandings about course policies and grading.
• puts your course into a broader academic context by explaining how this course builds on what students have learned in prior classes or where your course fits into the big picture.
• provides contact information for you and your teaching assistants and explains how students can get help.
• helps students plan their semester by giving them dates and instructions for readings, assignments, exams, and other course components.

Getting Started with Writing a Syllabus

• Check how your course contributes to your department, program, or graduate field curriculum and learning outcomes. Certain programs may have requirements set by their accrediting organizations (e.g. ABET in Engineering).
• Familiarize yourself with the requirements for credit hours in the credit hour policy.
• Review syllabi for the same course from previous instructors. Consider meeting with them to discuss how they have taught the course in the past, what has gone well, and what has been challenging for students to learn.
• Find out which students typically enroll in this course (year, major) and how many.
  Search online for sample syllabi for the same or similar courses created by colleagues at other universities. Some disciplinary societies provide online resources for common subjects in introductory courses.
• Schedule a meeting with one of the instructional designers at CTI who can talk with you about your course design, assignments, assessments, and policies (email us at cornellcti@cornell.edu to make an appointment).

How to Motivate Students to Refer to the Syllabus

• Introduce the syllabus in class as a learning activity. Ask students to quiz each other, or use a classroom polling technology (i.e. iClickers, Poll Everywhere) or a Canvas quiz. 
• Ask students to contribute to the syllabus. Have them review the syllabus in class and make suggestions for changes; consider leaving some class topics or readings open to student suggestion or ask students to vote on various assignments, grading options or deadlines.
• Print important class materials on different colored paper to make them easier for students to find.

Additional Resources for Preparing Your Syllabus

• Instructors should attach their syllabi to the Cornell Class Roster,which displays course details for a specific semester. This resource is only open to the Cornell community and is accessed via your NetID. Including your syllabi online, even in an initial draft form, gives students a sense of your course experience and helps them make informed decisions when registering for classes. 
• To use Canvas features to automatically add dated assignments to the course schedule part of your syllabus in Canvas, please consult the Canvas Syllabus Tool walkthrough in the Canvas@Cornell Resource Library and/or contact the CTI with questions.
• When creating your course schedule, consult the Cornell calendar, religious holidays of all faiths, as well as your own schedule (conferences, grant deadlines, etc.). The Faculty Senate strongly discourages scheduling assignments that require students to work over a university break (e.g., Thanksgiving, Spring Break, etc.).
• Your University Library liaison can help you find online course resources and navigate copyright rules and fair use guidelines.
  • There may be Cornell University Research Guides that are useful for your course. To create a new research guide for your course (a website with organized class and subject-specific resources for your course), contact your library liaison.
• The Cornell Academic Materials Program (CAMP) is a university-wide program that provides undergraduate students taking undergraduate courses at Cornell with access to their required digital textbooks and course packs for a single flat-rate cost per semester. You should receive an email asking for your book order. If you did not receive an email or have questions, you can contact textbooks@cornell.edu.