The UNL Syllabus Policy lists the information that must be included on all course syllabi. The policy was first approved by the UNL Faculty Senate and ASUN Student Government in April 2007, and has been revised in March 2017, April 2020, and most recently in October 2021.
The required information has included statements on the university's academic honesty policy, accommodations for students with disabilities, and resources for students seeking mental health services. These statements, which are university-wide policies, are identical for all courses and may have distracted from critical course-specific information instructors need to convey to students. Moreover, timely communication of updates to these statements, such as a change of location for student resources, has been difficult to convey effectively to all instructors.
To alleviate these concerns, the Faculty Senate voted to give instructors the option to include the required university-wide information by providing the link: go.unl.edu/coursepolicies. Hosted by the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor, this webpage will be updated regularly and includes the following information for students:
- university-wide attendance policy, applicable if no course-specific policy has been identified
- academic honesty policy
- services for students with disabilities
- mental health and well-being resources
- final exam schedule and 15th week policy
- on-campus emergency procedures
- diversity and inclusiveness statement
- Title IX policy
- other relevant university-wide polices as needed
The Faculty Senate also voted to approve a fillable syllabus template that faculty can use if they wish. This template includes spaces for all required course-specific information and the following suggested language for directing students to the new course policy website:
UNL Course Policies and Resources
Students are responsible for knowing the university policies and resources found on this page: go.unl.edu/coursepolicies.
More details at: https://go.unl.edu/syllabuspolicy