Syllabus Criteria
The course syllabus is a contract between the instructor and the student. Therefore, it is very important for the syllabus to address as many issues as possible and be written in a manner that is very easy to understand. A complete course syllabus should include but not be limited to the following:
- Semester
- Course title and number
- Instructor’s name
- Instructor’s office hours, office phone number, and class meeting time
- Textbook(s) required and optional
- Tentative calendar of activities, including dates for papers, projects, tests, and field trips
- Course description
- Course objectives
- Attendance/absence policy, including penalties
- What procedure to follow in the event of Holloman Air Force base closure (only for base classes)
- Exactly what items are required for grades for the course (how many exams, term papers, reports, etc.) and when these items are due
- What weight is given to each item in determining the final grade
- Grading scale for course grade (including an “S”)
- Late/incomplete assignment policy, including penalties
- Makeup policy for missed/late/incomplete assignments/tests, including penalties
- What consequences does the student suffer because of cheating, plagiarism, absences, tardiness or other breach of class discipline
- NMSU-A Mission Statement (you may copy and paste the following statement): The mission of the New Mexico State University at Alamogordo is to provide quality learning opportunities for individuals in the diverse community we serve.
- ADA Statement (you may copy and paste the statement on the ADA Statement web page)
- What a student does “In Case of Emergency” (you may copy and paste the following statement) If someone in your family needs to contact you in an emergency, the person calling should know the class you are attending and use the following telephone numbers:
- Alamogordo Campus, Daytime: 439-3700 (Admissions Office)
- Alamogordo Campus, Evening: 439-3761 (Science Center Secretary)
- Holloman AFB, Daytime: 479-4318 (NMSU-A/HAFB Coordinator) or 572-3971 (Base Education Office)
- Holloman AFB, Evening: No emergency number is available.
Insure that your class building, room number, and time of class is available to any individuals that need to contact you in case of emergency.
- Classroom conduct including NMSU prohibition of smoking in classroom (you may copy and paste the following statement) No eating, drinking, or smoking in NMSU classrooms. Any student engaging in disruptive behavior will be required to leave the class.
Other areas to consider, if applicable:
- Student’s responsibility to obtain missed information when absent
- Professionalism in occupation/technical and business fields
- Student’s responsibility when withdrawing from course
- Instructor’s limited prerogative to change syllabus in writing or by announcement
- Special data concerning programs, such as non-transferability of OEBU, etc.
- Prerequisites or co requisites, if exist
- Lab safety and/or hazardous material statement, if applicable
- Important dates such as last day to withdraw, especially for classes with a different schedule
