Syllabi
Course syllabi are documents outlining the topics of assessment of a particular course. While most outlines have a fairly standard structure, McGill has a few policies regulating what must be included.
Course syllabi, or “course outlines”, describe how students will be evaluated in each course. They must include:
- access information for the instructor (office hours, office location, contact information),
- topics to be considered in the course,
- a list of required and recommended readings or other materials,
- a description and explanation of the means of evaluation,
- expectations for all assessment tasks, including participation and how grades can be earned,
- due date of each assignment,
- weight of each assignment,
- structure of the assignment,
- mode of delivery of assessments,
- penalties for assignments submitted late,
- pedagogical justification for any assessment task that must be completed to pass the course,
- a statement regarding the right to submit graded written work in English or French
Changes
Changes to course syllabi are permitted without much regulation. The University reserves the right to change assessment tasks “in the event of extraordinary circumstances, provided students are sent adequate and timely communications regarding the change”. —PASL 6.3
However, if the means of assessment is modified after add/drop, you have the right to choose whether you wish to be assessed according to the new or old assessment method (PASL 6.4).
If you feel changes have been made to a syllabus or evaluation scheme arbitrarily or without sufficient notice to the class, contact studentrigths@ssmu.ca.
Distribution
Instructors are required to distribute a course syllabus during the first week of class (PASL article 6.1). This can be done electronically (for example, uploading it on to MyCourses) or in print.
If you have encountered difficulty receiving a course syllabus in a timely fashion, contact studentrights@ssmu.ca.