Simple Syllabus Resources

Complete the syllabi for each course you are teaching. The following are required component areas to be edited by the faculty member:

• Instructor Information 
• Communication Policy
• Learning Outcomes
• Grading Policy and Course Evaluation 
• Course Topics and Assignments
• Table of Assignments 
• Attendance Policy 
• Policy on Late and Make Up Work

You may add additional component areas based on the course you are teaching and the specific needs for the course, material, and/or students. The following are optional component areas that may be edited by the faculty member:

• Welcome Message
• Course Specific Instruction
• Required Instructional Materials
• Recommended Instructional Materials
• Minimum Technology Requirements
• Instructor Feedback to Students
• Policy on Extra Credit 

Approve all syllabi for courses and sections within your department (not a new process – replaces the emailing of syllabi versions). You will need to ensure that the content meets or exceeds the expectations of your department and college. You will review the items submitted by the faculty within Simple Syllabus; syllabi are no longer emailed to you or the college.

All items required and/or edited by faculty will require approval.

Required Component Areas:

• Instructor Information
• Communication Policy
• Learning Outcomes
• Grading Policy and Course Evaluation
• Course Topics and Assignments
• Table of Assignments
• Attendance Policy
• Policy on Late and Make Up Work

Optional Component Areas:

• Welcome Message
• Course Specific Instruction
• Required Instructional Materials
• Recommended Instructional Materials
• Minimum Technology Requirements
• Instructor Feedback to Students
• Policy on Extra Credit

* You may need to review any additional component areas that faculty add to the syllabi (will be the last items). 

Yes, Simple Syllabus is the tool that has the official UHCL syllabi for all courses. In the event of a student grievance, the approved syllabus in the Simple Syllabus tool on Canvas will be the only syllabus used. Therefore, faculty are required to use Simple Syllabus. 

Simple Syllabus is directly connected to each course via the Canvas shell. Once a shell is produced for the course, you can start working on the syllabus. You can also use the SSO (go.uhcl.edu) to find Simple Syllabus.  

Faculty are not required to work on syllabi before they are on contract for the fall semester. However, the Simple Syllabus tool is available in Canvas and through SSO.  

Department chairs approve syllabi to ensure compliance with university requirements. According to the section on responsibilities of department chairs and under course coordination and scheduling, "Review, approve, and monitor textbook selections, course syllabi, office hours, and other course-related items to ensure compliance with university requirements."

Simple Syllabus does not pull the content from Canvas over (like Modules, etc.). The "Table of Assignments" section automatically displays assignments pulled from the course's Canvas Gradebook. It provides students with an overview of graded work and due dates for the course. 

Components are the building blocks for the syllabus tool that create sections within the syllabus. Components can be pre-populated with information from the information system, Canvas, or a template. Components can be required or optional. Faculty can create new sections in their syllabus to fit their course and content. 

Simple Syllabus is directly connected to each course via the Canvas shell. Once a shell is produced for the course, you can start working on the syllabus. You can also use the SSO (go.uhcl.edu) to find Simple Syllabus.  

No, see above FAQ on requirement to use Simple Syllabus. 

An instructor only completes one syllabus, even if there are multiple sections, within the Canvas shell. Students in all courses/sections will see one syllabus. Faculty edit the syllabus directly within the cross-listed Canvas shell for approval. However, an instructor will need to complete the separate syllabus/syllabi for the other course(s), and they do so within their Simple Syllabus dashboard (logging in from go.uhcl.edu). Simple Syllabus receives every individual section, and a syllabus is created for it and will be in the “to do” list until submitted. Faculty can copy the approved content for these courses from the main course built in Canvas (aka the content does not need to be different). For the imported table of assignments component, a notation using the "add new item" in the assignment table component creates content as required for submission.

The required instructional material data is populated from the Follett database. If the materials section is missing or inaccurate, check with the Follett interface to ensure that the expected material(s) is listed there. There is a possibility that the data needs to be refreshed, and it may occur overnight. For Fall 2025 this field is editable and can be updated to reflect the approved materials.