Online courses, in general, should follow the same guidelines as all CSUN courses. A full discussion about syllabi can be found on the New Faculty Syllabus Preparation page.
Mandatory university policy is as follows:
Written Syllabi for All Undergraduate Courses
To better inform students about the requirements, content and methodology of the university's undergraduate curricula, all faculty teaching undergraduate courses will distribute a written syllabus to each student in the course and/or post it on-line no later than the second week of classes.
Any syllabus should contain the following information:
- Course objective(s).
- A brief list or summary of topics or projects covered.
- Course requirements and methods of evaluation.
- Grading criteria including whether or not the plus/minus system will be used.
- Contact information (instructor's name, office hours, office location, and campus phone number).
- For a General Education course, the syllabus should describe how it meets the currently approved goals of the General Education section in which it resides.
Online Syllabi Additions:
- Contact information is crucial and needs to include email and/or chat office hours directions.
- How long the instructor will take to answer email. The students need to know whether to wait 2 days or 2 months.
- A clear, well organized schedule is also crucial. Links to assignments could be put in a separate calendar.
- Hardware/software requirements. This may be put in a separate online readiness self-test.
- Technical support should be the instructor, student workshops and guides, and ITR's Helpdesk at (818) 677-1400.