The Simple Syllabus Implementation Committee has been meeting as a group and as sub-committees to discuss the legal and policy implications of this mandate, faculty expectations for the use of Simple Syllabus, and various university syllabus requirements. They have also engaged with Learning Systems staff to create a robust and adaptable syllabus template, to configure the system to meet Ohio State’s needs, and to identify training needs.
Simple Syllabus is currently in the configuration and technical testing phase. Starting March 4, a small group of instructors began testing features in active spring courses, allowing for real-time student and faculty feedback. Simple Syllabus will become available to all instructors before the end of the academic year to allow time to prepare for autumn courses.
The course templates available in Simple Syllabus will prioritize pedagogical autonomy for instructors while meeting the requirements set in SB 1. The public-facing syllabus for courses numbering 5000 and below will be limited to the elements required by law: the instructor’s name and professional qualifications, the course description, the course calendar/topics, and the required/recommended readings.
The template will include sections for instructors to include all the additional course details traditionally included in a syllabus. Most of these sections will be optional; all of these sections will be visible only to students and instructors. Instructors of graduate-level courses (6000 and above) will have access to Simple Syllabus, but no sections of those syllabi will be public.
To ease the administrative load, Simple Syllabus is designed to pull existing data directly from the Registrar's system and CarmenCanvas to pre-populate some fields. Learning Systems also expects to be able to provide elevated access to unit administrative staff who can pre-populate sections on behalf of instructors. After adding their own content to the remaining fields for the first time, instructors will be able to copy syllabi into other sections of the same course in the current or future semesters.
On-demand support resources will be available as Simple Syllabus launches in the spring. Instructors may start using Simple Syllabus for summer and autumn term classes as soon as it becomes broadly available.