The syllabus statement

A syllabus statement is normally issued to students at the beginning of the unit. The purpose is to give students all necessary information in one document, including telling them how they will be assessed. It must be written down and your supervisor would normally approve it and file a copy in the institution's records.

Syllabus statements usually contain at least the following:

1. The name of the institution and the department or program
2. The name of the instructor
3. The code and title of the unit
4. The dates of the semester
5. The purpose or goal of the unit
6. The topics to be covered
7. Any textbooks or reading material
8. The details of the assessment
9. How to get help
10. Any specific rules or requirements for the unit.

You might not need to write it from scratch:

1. Has a syllabus statement has already been written?
2. Is there is a previous version that you only need to revise?
3. If not, and you have to write a complete new statement, is there a template or example to follow?

Either way, if you write a new version, a department head or academic dean will probably need to approve it.

Students don't always read unit descriptions carefully and sometimes lose them, so be prepared to remind students of its contents from time to time. You can also put a copy on a notice board or on the website.

Syllabus statements can also include other information, although some of it might be included in your college's catalog and other general student information and policies:

• pre-requisites and co-requisites
• a schedule of sessions (perhaps with a topic for each session)
• the rationale behind your approach
• standards for higher levels of achievement
• rules or shedules for specific equipment, and any specific safety procedures
• support services
• any specific legal or ethical responsibilities
• access and equity matters
• appropriate behaviour
• attendance rules

It sounds a lot, but unit statements are not that difficult to write, especially if your organization has a good template. They are a public document, need version numbers, and must be lodged with your administrator. If your institution has a website with a student area, the unit statement may be posted.

Your new syllabus statement might go through multiple drafts. If you need to fix a mistake, now is the time to fix it. This is also the stage to check with your superviosr get final approval from your supervisor.

Keep all your documentation somewhere accessible in a useful form. A separate folder for each unit works for most people. After you've used the unit statement each time, you can use the feedback from students and others to update it.