Syllabus Guidelines

When crafting your syllabus, confirm that you are adhering to the credit hour policy in your course design.

Per the Academic Affairs Board, all transcripted courses (i.e., courses that appear on a student’s transcript and where at least one student is enrolled during the course offering) must upload a syllabus to FAR to provide continual support for our students and alumni. Syllabi must be uploaded by the second Friday of each term. Please consult the Steps for Uploading Syllabi for instructions. 

Part-time instructors do not have access to FAR. If you are part-time at Hope, please send your syllabus to your office manager. If you don't have an academic office manager or if your office manager is unavailable, send your syllabus to the systems administrator, Hillary DeBoer (deboerh@hope.edu). Office managers and the systems administrator can upload the syllabus for you.

View syllabi and course design resources on the CTL website  

Essential Elements of Hope College Course Syllabi

Identifying and Contact Information

• Hope College's name
• Semester
• Course title and number with section number
• Course meeting times and location
• Name of instructor
• Instructor's office location, phone number, school email and office hours

Course Description & Preparation

• Course description from current course catalog with credit hours
• Pre-requisites/co-requisites
• Required materials
• Methods/modes of instruction
• Student Learning Outcomes for the course, program and general education

Evaluation

• Major course assignments and weight or value of assignment toward final grade
• Grading scale (grading policy; description of how final grade will be determined)
• Specific course attendance/ participation policy
  • Note to instructors: Throughout the semester, if you are ever concerned about student behavior or attendance in a course, share your concerns through a behavior report. If students miss an excessive number of classes, encourage the student to consider withdrawing from a course and taking it at a later semester to preserve the integrity of the educational experience.
• Final exam date
  • Note: According to the Hope College Faculty Handbook, "Unless some other form of assessing student progress is appropriate, all courses end with a final examination that is to be given in the two-hour block provided in the examination schedule published by the Registrar's Office. In fairness to students and other faculty, all faculty members are required to hold final examinations at the scheduled time; any variation from this requirement shall be granted only in severe emergency and with the express approval of the Provost. In the cases of individual students with schedule conflicts known in advance or students who have been prevented by illness or emergency from taking the examination at the scheduled time, their final examinations may be rescheduled at the faculty member's discretion."

Schedule

• Topics by weeks or dates
• Readings and assignments by weeks or dates

Policies

• Accommodations Policy: Disability and Accessibility Resources (DAR) has a very helpful faculty and instructional staff resource guide. In this guide are a few examples of syllabus statements. Here is one of the example statements:

  Hope College is committed to providing equitable learning environments to all students. If you have a temporary or permanent condition that requires accommodation(s) (including but not limited to: mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical,or health-related), you may call Disability and Accessibility Resources (DAR) at 616.395.7925 to schedule a meeting with a specialist or visit the DAR website to request accommodations. Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process among you, your instructor(s) and DAR. You may request accommodations at any point in the semester, but DAR encourages you to initiate the process early, as accommodations are not granted retroactively. Your course instructors will receive an email from DAR verifying the approved accommodations.

• Academic Integrity
  Statement from the Loading...:

  Academic Integrity is based on the principles of honesty and individual responsibility for actions. As these principles are applied to academic life at Hope College, it follows that a student will not:

  • Give, offer, or receive aid on examination other than that specifically allowed by the professor.
  • Do course work in a manner that is inconsistent with the standards of conduct set forth by the professor.
  • Falsify or fabricate data. This has particular application to laboratory work and research.
  • Engage in conduct that destroys another person's work or hinders another in their academic endeavors. This has particular application to computer files, library resources, and laboratory or studio work.
  • Knowingly represent the work of others as one’s own. This includes plagiarism

Academic Integrity statements are also a part of the student handbook and faculty handbook.

• Excessive Absence Policy 

  Hope College encourages students to regularly attend class and allows faculty to develop their own classroom attendance policies. Attendance and participation in class are vital components of a residential college experience.

View the entire Excessive Absence Policy. 

• Student Complaint

  Hope College is committed to the appropriate resolution of complaints as efficiently and effectively as possible. We believe that providing a mechanism for complaints to be heard gives us the opportunity to improve our services.  Students are encouraged to speak directly to other members of the Hope community in an effort to resolve conflict and/or seek an informal resolution of the dispute directly with the other community member(s) whenever possible. Please use this form in circumstances where such resolution is not possible.

• Explanation of expected hours working on class assignments
  Instructors should ensure that instructional time (in and outside of scheduled class hours) is reflected on the syllabus. It is useful to consider our credit hour policy.
  
  Additionally, the Boerigter Center for Calling and Career is excited to partner with faculty to offer asynchronous or in-class sessions. These 30-60 minute sessions are facilitated, they cover content related to calling and career readiness, and often offer optional assignments for your in-class use should you choose. With additional questions or for more information, please visit the Boerigter Center's faculty webpage or email Shannon Schans at schans@hope.edu.
  
  
• Safety & Emergency Preparedness
  

  Students should dial 911 (the United States’ primary emergency response system) from any phone if they or someone else experiences a medical or mental health emergency.  Students can also contact Hope College’s Campus Safety Office (616.395.7770) in any kind of emergency situation, and Campus Safety will contact the necessary emergency response service. View instructions for specific emergency situations. Students can sign up for emergency text message alerts at plus.hope.edu.

• Inclement Weather
  

  Campus Safety sends emergency notification texts, including notice of weather-related closures, via the HOPE ALERT system. A decision to close campus offices and cancel classes is typically announced prior to 6:30 a.m. Find more information regarding inclement weather notifications.

Statement on Academic Assistance

The Academic Success Center (ASC) offers a variety of free services (e.g., tutoring, testing strategies, time management resources) for all students.  The ASC is located in Van Zoeren Hall — immediately adjacent to the Van Wylen Library second-floor entrance. To contact the ASC send an email to asc@hope.edu or call 616.395.7830. 

Disclaimer

• Syllabus/schedule are subject to change
• Include how students will be notified & how changes will be communicated

Optional

Diversity & Inclusion
Websites with examples of DEI and antiracist statements:

• Brown University
• Appalachian State University

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
Students may experience stressors that can impact both their academic experience and their personal well-being. These may include academic pressures, relationship challenges, alcohol or other drugs, financial concerns, identity development, body image, etc.

If you are experiencing similar concerns, we encourage you to seek support. Hope College Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is a free and confidential resource. Call 616.395.7945, or visit the top floor of the Bultman Student Center to find the right form of support for you

If the source of your stressors is academic, please contact us or academic advising so we can find solutions together.

Generative AI Policy Guidance
Absent a clear statement from a course instructor, use of or consultation with generative AI shall be treated analogously to assistance from another person. In particular, using generative AI tools to substantially complete an assignment or exam (e.g., by entering exam or assignment questions) is not permitted. Students should acknowledge the use of generative AI (other than incidental use) and default to disclosing such assistance when in doubt.

Individual course instructors are free to set policies regulating the use of generative AI tools in their courses. Course instructors should set such policies in their course syllabi and clearly communicate them to students. Students unsure of policies regarding generative AI tools are encouraged to ask their instructors for clarification.

View the entire Generative AI Policy Guidance (doc).

Van Wylen Library
The Library connects students to information in all forms through books, articles, multimedia, special collections, and both lendable and lab-based technology. In addition to offering in-class instructional sessions, librarians are available to provide one-on-one personalized research support — simply visit the Research Help Desk on the first floor or email askalibrarian@hope.edu. Numerous study spaces throughout the library are designed for both individual and group work.

Syllabi Examples

These syllabi provide examples of course content and student learning outcomes (SLOs). Please ensure that you also include the essential elements of Hope College course syllabi.

• Arts Syllabus Example
• Humanities Syllabus Example
• Natural & Applied Sciences Syllabus Example
• Social Sciences Syllabus Example
• Online Asynchronous Syllabus Example