Every section of every course should have a course syllabus developed by the instructor of record. These should be distributed to the students during the first week of class. A copy should also be on file in the dean's/provost's office.
Your syllabus should address the following:
- Behaviors considered unacceptable.
- Plagiarism. What are the consequences of a student committing plagiarism in your class?
- Cheating. What are the consequences of a student found cheating on an exam or inappropriately collaborating with another on a project?
- Poor behavior. You have the right to ask a student to leave the class if his/her behavior is disruptive or otherwise violates the student code of conduct (found in the
DMACC Student Handbook.)
- Cell phones. Do you want cell phones turned off in the classroom? See
DMACC's cell phone use statement in policies and procedures.
- You may want to refer to Loading... and
Loading... for more information about academic misconduct, nonacademic misconduct, and discipline. You can view the
Student Conduct Website.
- Hours of work typically required outside of class.
- Teaching methods to be used.
- Assessment and grading.
- Attendance policies and expectations of class participation.
- Procedures governing missed exams or make-up assignments.
- Description of major assignments and when they are due.
- Procedures for contacting the instructor outside of class--office hours, phone number, and/or e-mail address.
- Include an Americans with Disabilities Act compliance statement.
It is the policy of DMACC to accommodate students with disabilities. Any student with a documented disability who requires reasonable accommodation should contact the special needs coordinator at (515) 964-6850 voice or (515) 964-6810 TTY.)
- Include the following weather related statement:
If the college (and/or specific campus) is officially open, classes should be held as scheduled. However, if circumstances (e.g., travel, distances, rural road conditions, etc.) dictate the cancellation or postponement of a specific class (with input from the appropriate dean/provost and/or group leader), it is the responsibility of the faculty member to notify their students through some predetermined means as detailed either in the class syllabus or class portal page.
The Online Syllabus
DMACC has online syllabi templates available for each campus. There is also a generic syllabus that will be appropriate for courses taught on the ICN, online, or at multiple campuses. The templates have been approved by the Academic Standards Commission and contain all the essential elements mentioned earlier in this section. They are Word2003 documents that are easy to use, may be customized for your classes, and may be accessed through Microsoft Outlook. Instructions for the syllabus templates are available
online.