Every semester as I prepare to welcome new students into my classroom, I catch myself reminiscing about the syllabi of yesteryear. I can still recall the excitement (nerd alert) of sitting in a lecture hall at ASU as a stack of syllabi was passed, hand to hand, around the room. I can still picture the document with dense text in Times New Roman detailing the professor’s name and office location as well as a list of the semester’s readings and a handful of due dates. I’d bring it back to my dorm and, because it was a single page, I’d hang it on my bulletin board to reference throughout the semester.
Sigh. I pull myself back to the current decade, and I see the four-thousand word behemoth that is my own syllabus staring me down from my computer screen. Every semester, I post it in Canvas and require students to read it, but I know most of them do so with the gusto of someone acknowledging a new user agreement for their smartphone. I also know that not one of them is going to display this beast in their workspace.
As a composition teacher, I ask my students to consider purpose and audience when they write. A question nags at me: Am I following this essential writing advice when it comes to my syllabus?
What is it that I want my students to get out of reading the syllabus? I want the syllabus to be easy to navigate so that they know where to find important information regarding course policies. I want to connect them with campus resources and help them understand their rights as students… But this is also one of the first pieces of communication shared between me and my students; Shouldn’t it also reflect the vibe I want to establish in the classroom and begin to build our classroom community?
In an effort to put an end to this recurring struggle, I’ve begun crafting a syllabus that considers purpose and audience. Here are the three biggest shifts I am working on this week:
- Foremost, I converted my syllabi to the Simple Syllabus (Syllabus+) platform. I know that as a representative of the CTLE, this does sound like a shameless plug, but embracing Simple Syllabus truly does help me create syllabi with my students in mind! I love how a table of contents sits neatly on the left-hand side of the students’ view. I appreciate that I no longer need to worry whether I am consistently using headings and texts that are compatible with screen readers, and I am grateful that any required changes that come up during the semester (such as the update to Title IX verbiage in the fall) will automatically populate in my syllabi without any further effort on my part. Using Simple Syllabus ensures that the document I provide my students, though long, is, in fact, designed with them in mind.
- Next, I have been working on warming up my tone, keeping my purpose and audience in mind. In past iterations of my syllabi, my tone was dry and formal, in no way reflecting how I actually communicate with my students throughout the semester.
Here is a passage about support resources on campus that I recently warmed up:
College is challenging, and you don’t have to do it alone! GCC has many resources on campus to support you. You probably knew we offer tutoring in all subjects, but did you know that we have a food pantry, counseling services, and peer success coaches?
Check out the resources available to you on campus by clicking on the “Student Resources” link on the left side of the screen in Canvas. You may also like to read tips from past Gauchos on the “I Wish I Knew” page and the Basic Needs page where you can get information on housing assistance, the food pantry, and bus passes.
If ever you need support and you don’t know what resource fits your situation, or if you just need someone to walk with you to the person who can help, please reach out. I am here for you.
Instead of writing “Click here to learn about resources available on campus,” I feel that my warm tone conveys my passion for supporting students when they find themselves struggling.
- Finally, Simple Syllabus allows me to break up blocks of text in my syllabi with videos, images, and, if I want to channel my inner Polly, even Bitmojis! Last semester, I added a colorful banner at the top of the page and my headshot next to my name and contact information. I also created a quick video explaining the meaning and purpose of instructional contact hours in my Hybrid ENG 101 Syllabus. As I wrap up my syllabi this week, I am also adding a quick video explaining my policies regarding generative AI and Google Translate, and I am looking for more opportunities to add images and color.
The days of the one-page syllabus may be behind us, but I believe that we can (and should) create syllabi that enable us to connect authentically with students in these crucial first weeks of the semester.
Have you been working to humanize your syllabi? I’d love to hear from you! Would you like help getting started with Simple Syllabus? I’d be happy to meet with you one-on-one, or you can catch one of the Syllabus+ workshops offered through the CTLE!
