New Syllabi Requirements — Public Access to Course Information

Dear faculty members,

Due to COVID-19 and its attendant challenges, we have a number of special requests relating to your Fall 2020 syllabus.

Resources
Full Fall 2020 disclosure language • Syllabus Checklist (PDF) • Sample Syllabus (PDF) • Syllabus Template(Word) • An Effective Syllabus (Faculty Innovation Center)

Special Requirements for Fall 2020

Upload Syllabi to Canvas by August 17th, 2020
Your Canvas class is available to you now, and students need to know how you plan to run your class this fall so that they can make the course decisions that are right for them in this environment. Please post your syllabus to Canvas as soon as possible and at the latest on Monday, August 17th, one week prior to the final fall registration period.

Fall 2020 Syllabi Disclosures
Everyone teaching an in-person or hybrid class is required to include mandatory disclosures in their syllabus about the following topics.

  1. Safety and Class Participation/Masks
  2. Sharing of Course Materials is Prohibited
  3. FERPA and Class Recordings
  4. COVID Guidance

Please find the complete list of disclosures with more detailed information here.

HB 2504 Requirements

Pursuant to regulations in the General Information Catalog and the Texas Administrative Code the following guidelines must be observed by instructional faculty each semester:

Requirement — Provide Syllabus to Students By First Meeting Day
In addition to posting your syllabus on Canvas by August 17, as discussed above, please note that course syllabi and instructor-of-record CVs are due in departmental or dean’s office no later than August 26, 2020.

Public Access To Course Information
Documents should be uploaded to Access Syllabi and CVs system by departmental or dean’s office by: September 2, 2020.

Full details about HB 2504 requirements →

You are also required to include the following in your syllabus, and all of this must be disclosed in the syllabus, to the extent practicable, no later than the first day of class:

  1. the course number and title
  2. the instructor’s name, office location, and office hours (note: office location is optional for the public version)
  3. the names, office locations, and office hours of any teaching assistants (note: do not include in the public version)
  4. an overview of the class including prerequisites, subject matter of each lecture or discussion, and academic/learning goals for the course and how they will be assessed
  5. grading policy, including the means of evaluation and assignment of class grades, including whether plus and minus grades will be used for the final class grade and whether (and how) attendance will be used in determining the course grade
  6. a brief descriptive overview of all major course requirements and assignments, along with the dates of exams and assignments that count for 20 percent or more of the class grade
  7. a list of required and recommended digital and printed materials, such as textbooks, image collections, audio and audiovisual materials, supplies, articles, chapters, and excerpts as appropriately identified by author, title, and publisher
  8. final exam date and time (when available)
  9. the class website, if any, and Canvas site; and
  10. a notice that students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE), Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at http://ddce.utexas.edu/disability.

Sincerely,

Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost
The University of Texas at Austin

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