Senate Bill No.: 0809-01
UNIVERSITY SENATE
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Introduced by: Undergraduate Academic Council
Date: October 20, 2008
Revision of the Syllabus Requirement
IT IS HEREBY PROPOSED THAT THE FOLLOWING BE ADOPTED:
1. That the following sentence be added to the Syllabus Requirement printed in the Undergraduate
Bulletin:
Instructors who do not intend to use the full A-E grading scale, including plusses and minuses,
must include the scale that will be employed on the syllabus.
2. That this proposal be forwarded to the President for approval.
Rationale:
Instructors establish the standards for awarding grades in the courses they teach. Since each grade on the UA
scale is assigned a value for purposes of calculating a student's GPA, students expect that intermediate grades
such as A- or D+ will be assigned if they are merited. It is possible that not all grades will be used in a
particular course because of how the students perform. However, if it is the intention of an instructor to never
award certain grades, students must be told this in advance. The purpose of such notification is to clarify
procedures for the course and to avoid the filing of grievances.
Current
Undergraduate Bulletin
Text with proposed addition underlined*
Syllabus Requirement (from the on-line Undergraduate Bulletin)
The instructor of every section of an under-graduate class at the University at Albany shall provide
each student in the section a printed or web-published copy of the syllabus for that section distributed
during the first week of the class (preferably on the first regularly scheduled day the section meets).
This syllabus must contain at least the information defined below. Each instructor retains the right to
modify the syllabus and give notice in class of any modifications in a timely fashion. Students are
responsible to apprise themselves of such notices. This requirement became effective with the fall
2002 semester.
Minimum Contents of a Class Syllabus:
Catalog number and title of the course
Term and class number of the section
Location(s) and meeting times of the section
Instructor’s name and title
If applicable, name(s) of teaching assistants in the class
Instructor’s contact information (e.g., e-mail address, office phone number, office location, fax)
Instructor’s office hours
Course description, overview and objective(s)
If applicable, General Education category/categories met by the course and how the course
fulfills those General Education objectives
Prerequisites of the course. The instructor should specifically indicate those prerequisites that
are critical to success in the class and that are enforceable.
Grading scheme: Whether the course is A-E or S/U graded and overall method by which
grades will be determined (“weights” of exams, class participation, etc.) Instructors who do not
intend to use the full A-E grading scale, including plusses and minuses, must include the scale
that will be employed on the syllabus.
Course requirements, including but not limited to: Required textbooks; other required
materials, purchases; fees (when applicable)
Projected date and time of class exams, papers, projects, midterm, and final; Attendance
policies for the class; General paper, project, and test requirements; Requirement of Internet
for course work, when applicable
Safety policies (when applicable)
The course syllabus may also include such additional information as the instructor deems
appropriate or necessary.
* NOTE: the underlining is only to assist the reader. The additional text will not be underlined in the
Undergraduate Bulletin.
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