Syllabus Guidelines

At Cal State San Marcos

To assist faculty in creating syllabi with clearly defined course objectives and goals, the Academic Senate recommends that all syllabi contain the following: 

1. Course Number
2. Course Name, as it appears in the catalog
3. Semester
4. Meeting times
5. Instructor(s)
6. Office hours
7. Faculty contact information (email address and campus phone number)
8. Course description, which may be taken verbatim from the catalog
9. Prerequisites and/or co-requisites
10. Course learning objectives that communicate what students can expect to learn
11. Materials required/requested/recommended for purchase to complete course
12. Course requirements (number of exams, assignments, etc.)
    • Include any special requirements such as attendance at outside events or Service Learning activities.
13. Grading standards, including any schemes for indicating relative weight of assignments, and attendance policies
14. Policy on late work and/or missed exams
15. If this is a General Education course, include a statement on how the writing requirement is satisfied in the course
16. Schedule: give sufficient detail so that students understand what percentage of the course is spent on various topics
17. Readings
18. Academic Honesty statement as required by the Student Academic Honesty Policy
19. ADA Statement Example:  Students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations must be approved for services by providing appropriate and recent documentation to the Office of Disabled Student Services (DSS).  This office is located in Craven Hall 5205, and can be contacted by phone at (760) 750-4905, or TTY (760) 750-4909.  Students authorized by DSS to receive reasonable accommodations should meet with me during my office hours in order to ensure confidentiality.