I just reviewed a previous comment suggesting the incorporation of the syllabus as a viewable document in the class site. I strongly support this feature; furthermore, I recommend this development as a means of accommodating document standardization within each college.
Background: The instructor of each course at TSBC is responsible for developing the syllabus, submitting it to the Academic Dean for approval, then posting the document as an attached file on the Course information tab. The instructor has freedom to develop certain fields in the syllabus, but other fields are pre-determined by academic administration (description, credits, policy statements, etc.) to maintain uniform policy statements within each syllabus. We believe Populi is the best location for this standardized process, for the majority of the syllabus information is already built into the course information. The additional policy statements (attendance, bad weather, ADA statement, plagiarism) could be created in an administrative-only page, automatically availing it for the syllabus of any course.
Recommendation: Develop a report that pulls all information from within the course to easily produce a viewable/printable syllabus from the course site, including:
1. The instructor, location, time, etc. shall be collected from the course site itself.
2. Create a section in the Course Information tab to specify texts, additional materials, goals and objectives.
3. Create a protected section in the Academics tab for the school's mission statement and policies that are applicable to all courses.
4. Create a report that draws the course description from the course catalog, plus incorporates items 1-3 above.
5. Name the report "Syllabus", or establish the information within its own tab.
David Lambert
Tristate Bible College
