Building a Syllabus

Faculty are required to prepare a syllabus for each of their courses. The syllabus must be distributed to each student and to the relevant division dean no later than the end of the first week of classes.

You can access the current DCE syllabus checklist here. Below is a brief summary and explanation of the basic information an instructor must include in his/her syllabus.

Your syllabus must contain a minimum of the following items consistent with the relevant collective bargaining agreements:

  1. Your name (we suggest office location as well; some faculty also include a phone number; however, faculty should be very cautious about sharing personal telephone numbers. The suggested practice is to provide the telephone number of the faculty secretary, your MCC voice mail number, and/or your MCC email address)

  2. The course name and number (we suggest indicating the section as well, e.g., PSY 101-55, Introduction to Psychology)

  3. General course description. The course descriptions are listed in the online academic catalog.

  4. List required readings (texts and other materials) including the name of the publisher and the edition used.

  5.  Course Topics and/or assignments and/or required and/or supplemental reading

  6. A brief description of your teaching procedures.

  7. Your instructional objectives (listing them is fine). They should give students a clear indication of what you expect them to learn/master in the course. Many faculty find it easy to start their objectives with the sentence stem "Students will be able to...."

  8. The basis for student grading. The clearer you make this, the less room for "interpretation" there will be. (Exactly what must students do? How much will exams count? How much will homework count? Will there be a term paper; how much will this count?)

  9. Your procedure (criteria) for student grading. (What do you look for? What are your standards?)

  10. Your tentative schedule for tests and assignments. Remember, there is no special final exam time scheduled for evening courses. (Some instructors include a make-up policy.)

  11. Your attendance policy. (If you have any question on how rigorous you may be concerning attendance, please contact your division dean.)

  12. Interaction Plan. If you teach online, you must also include an interaction plan.


Department Syllabi Requirements and Support

Paralegal: Click here to login to the Paralegal Curriculum Materials Blackboard page. For the Paralegal Syllabi Checklist (with additional Bar associate requirements, click here.

English: Click here to login to the English Instructor Resources Blackboard page.

Rubrics: https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/strategicplanning/islo.aspx

Last Modified: 4/23/24