Syllabus Guidelines
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NCC faculty members are to be as thorough as possible in providing
students with the information they need to be successful in our courses.
In addition to the many sound pedagogical reasons for this practice,
it is important to provide a record of our plans for others who might
teach the course in the future and a clear statement of policies and
expectations to assist in assessing student concerns or grade appeals.
The following components are to be included our course syllabus when
appropriate or applicable:
1. Name and contact information
a. Instructor’s name
b. Location of office
c. Phone number
d. Email address
e. Office Hours
2. Course Title, Description, and Learning Objectives (Student Learning Outcomes)
a. Title
b. Brief description
c. Course equivalencies (if appropriate, with Dean’s approval)
d. Prerequisites, co-requisites, or courses for which it serves as
prerequisite, if appropriate
e. Any skill-level expectations
f. Goals and Learning Objectives
3. Textbooks and other course materials
4. Assignments and Grading Policies
a. Clear measures for assessment (selected examples listed at the
end of this document)
b. Plan for determining final grades (points or percentages for each
activity)
c. Policy on participation
d. Policy on extra credit
e. Policy on late assignments
f. Policy on group grades (peer grading? Individual components? Etc.)
g. Identification/brief description of major assignments
h. Separate, detailed handouts for each assignment (can be handed
out later)
5. Tentative Weekly Course Schedule
6. Student Support
a. Disability Support Services
b. NCC’s Homepage (www.ncc.gmu.edu)
c. Writing Center (writingcenter.gmu.edu)
d. On-line Writing Guide (classweb.gmu.edu/nccwg OR www.ncc.gmu.edu
and click on Student Resources, then Writing Guide)
e. Counseling Center
7. Writing Intensive Requirement (all 300-400 learning
communities must satisfy this requirement)
a. At least 3500 words of writing
b. At least one revision of a written product, based on faculty feedback
c. Some in-class attention to teaching writing, e.g., peer read-arounds,
workshops on writing styles or development of writing criteria, etc.)
d. Graded work only (e.g., journals not graded don’t count)
e. Suggestions for fulfilling this: journals, research papers, peer
read-arounds, portfolios, integrative essays, written book reviews
f. See wac.gmu.edu for details. The following are instructions and an example statement.
Example Statement on the Writing Intensive Requirement:
The following sample is not intended as a template, merely as one MINIMAL
way of fulfilling the intent of the Senate motion. We expect that individual
teachers will develop unique ways of meeting the criteria and we encourage
faculty to go into more detail than this sample does in describing the
assignments or procedures.
This course fulfills GMU’s Writing-Intensive Requirement. It
does so through the 1000-word paper on _______ due _______, the 1000-word
analytical report due ______, and the 2500-word research report. The
research report will be completed through a draft/feedback/revision
process. The first draft will be due _______. I will provide commentary
on the draft, and the revised draft will be due on ______.
8. Honor Code
a. Clear statement on individual versus group work
b. University requirement
c. The following example paragraphs are from an NCC syllabus. It has
been commended by the GMU Honor Committee during hearings. Please
use it verbatim or edit it to meet your needs.
Example Statement on the Honor Code and Academic Integrity
The integrity of the University community is affected by the individual
choices made by each of us. This is especially true in New Century
College. GMU has an Honor Code (see attached) with clear guidelines
regarding academic integrity. Three fundamental and rather simple
principles to follow at all times are that: (1) all work submitted
be your own; (2) when using the work or ideas of others, including
fellow students, give full credit through accurate citations; and
(3) if you are uncertain about the ground rules on a particular assignment,
ask for clarification. No grade is important enough to justify academic
misconduct. If you feel unusual pressure or anxiety about your grade
in this or any other course, please talk with us or to a trusted friend
or counselor to get your situation in perspective. The University
provides a range of service to help with test anxiety, writing skills,
study skills, and other related concerns.
Some projects are designed to be undertaken individually. For these
projects, you may discuss your ideas with others or ask for feedback;
however, it is not appropriate to give your paper to someone else
to revise. You are responsible for making certain that there is no
question that the work you hand in is your own. If only your name
appears on an assignment, your professor has the right to expect that
you have done the work yourself, fully and independently.
As in most learning communities and in many other classes, your
final integrated group project in this unit is designed to be completed
by a study group. With collaborative work, names of all the participants
should appear on the work. Over the course of the six weeks you may
find that it is necessary for different group members to take the
lead on various assignments leading up to the integrated final group
project. However, the faculty do expect that all group members will
contribute equally and that the pieces will be conceptually integrated
in the final end product.
Using someone else’s words or ideas without giving them credit
is plagiarism, a very serious offense. It is very important to understand
how to prevent committing plagiarism when using material from a source.
If you wish to quote verbatim, you must use the exact words (including
punctuation) just as it appears in the original and you must use quotation
marks and page number(s) in your citation. If you want to paraphrase
ideas from a source, that is, convey the author’s ideas in your
own words—you must still cite the source, using MLA or APA format.
The re-use of papers, presentations, etc., from one course in another
course is not appropriate. In every NCC course, faculty expect that
work that is submitted has been done only for that class. An exception
is made for materials included within course and year-end portfolios.
9. Learning Community Principles (if your course is
a learning community, be sure to provide a brief explanation of what
a learning community is and show some examples of how you will teach)
a. Competencies to be emphasized
a. Experiential learning, if appropriate (associated issues such as
release form, disability compliance, special costs or fees)
b. Evaluation and assessment (see below)
c. Writing genres
d. Active learning
e. Group work
f. Knowledge integration
g. Team-taught
h. Guest speakers
10. Examples of Student Assessment Techniques
a. Student portfolios
b. Exams and quizzes
c. Research papers
d. Oral presentations
e. Reflective writing
f. Journals
g. Mid-course corrections (faculty/student)
h. Peer evaluations
i. NCC evaluation forms
11. NCC Diversity Statement. Please consider putting
this statement directly on your syllabi to remind students and faculty
that New Century College puts great value in promoting diversity in
this college. The statement reads as follows:
Commitment to Diversity Statement:
New Century College is an intentionally inclusive community that
celebrates diversity and strives to have faculty, staff and students
that reflect the diversity of our plural society. We do not discriminate
on the basis of race, class, linguistic background, religion, gender
identity, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, or physical ability.
If you have or plan to develop a course web site, please talk with NCC’s
webmaster (Lesley Smith, lsmithg@gmu.edu or Donna Sadler, dsadler1@gmu.edu)
about linking it to NCC’s web page. You will need to provide a
paper copy of the syllabus and major course assignments to NCC’s
Associate Dean (or NCC’s Office Manager) for college records.
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