Syllabus Policy and Curricular Matters Requiring CIC Review, Action, and Approval
The School of Nursing course syllabi are essential documents in describing, organizing, documenting, and maintaining the integrity of the SoN curriculum. As such they are approved through the SoN governance process, first by the program-level Curriculum Instruction Committee and then by the SoN faculty as a whole through SNO.
Faculty are obligated to maintain the intent, purpose, and approved components of the courses to which they are assigned. Faculty are also obligated to submit their course syllabi annually and to participate in completing the annual course review at the end of each academic year or as required for program review purposes. Additionally, faculty are obligated to provide syllabi and course review materials intact to the next person who will be teaching in the course, should they no longer be assigned to teach in a given course.
The following syllabus components are approved through the program-level CIC and SNO, documented in the course syllabus, and may not be revised by the faculty without prior approval by the Program Lead:
- Course Title and Number
- Course Description
- Credits awarded and allocation to classroom, lab, seminar, and/or clinical
- Placement in the curriculum and pre-requisite courses
- Course Delivery Format (face-to-face, online, or hybrid)
- Course Objectives
- Alignment with AACN Essentials, SoN Program Outcomes, and other Professional Standards and Guidelines
- Required Course Materials (textbooks, software, technology, equipment, or other required purchases)
- Content Outline
- Clinical Requirements and Experiences
- Clinical Competencies
- Lab/Simulation Components
- Clinical Competency testing
- Assignments
- Other Major Course Assignments
- Evaluation Methods used to determine student achievement of each course objective
- ATI Testing (if used)
The following syllabus components may be revised by the faculty member with collaborative agreement of the course team. These components are shared with the Program Lead for information purposes:
- Minor revisions to course delivery format (affecting less than 20% of the course)
- Added course content
- Method of delivery for lab components
- Minor revisions to assignments and other major course assignments
- Added course materials
- Minor revisions to student evaluation methods
The following syllabus components may be revised by the course faculty without notifying the Program Lead:
- Course schedule
- Selection of specific course readings from the approved textbooks
- Faculty-developed teaching materials
- Didactic, Lab, and Clinical materials provided to the students
- Test questions, based on the approved test plan for the course
- Faculty-developed grading rubrics (except Program Outcome Self-Reflection paper)
Syllabus Template Policy
The School of Nursing utilizes shared templates for content and structure of course syllabi. This template is not meant to remove the faculty member’s academic freedom or professional responsibility for a course but to ensure consistency, maximize communication coherence, and aid in data collection for program evaluation.
Undergraduate Program Syllabus Template:
Course syllabi must include (in this sequence):
- Course name, semester, year, and number of credits
- Verbatim course description from the catalogue
- Cohort placement in the curriculum (i.e. Junior I, Senior II, etc.)
- Class schedule and classroom
- Course instructor contact information (For lead and supporting faculty)
- Name
- Office phone & [optional (your preference): cell phone]
- Office location
- Office hours
- SNO approved course objectives from Sakai
- Instructional materials and technologies
- Required books, software, technology
- Recommended books, software, technology
- Course content & schedule
- Evaluation Methods
- List all assignments and percentage of grade for each assignment
- Description of assignments
- Final course grade break down
- Course academic policies
- Specify course policy for each of the following
- Attendance/tardiness
- Class participation [classroom, forum, discussion board expectations, etc.]
- Submission of assignments
- Taking tests/exams
- Late assignments
- Missed tests or assignments
- Labeling of files
- Course communication between student and faculty
- Technology and electronics
- Professional behavior
- Specify course policy for each of the following
- University and School of Nursing Academic Policies
- See Appendix D for mandatory language related to
- Academic integrity
- Academic accommodations
- Essential qualifications
- Performance Progression Alert
- The list of reasons for giving a Performance Progression Alert should be updated based on the individual course
- See Appendix D for mandatory language related to
- PLU Academic Support Services
- Supplemental Content:
If there is no additional supplemental content to add to your syllabus, state “no additional content”
Additional content may be added to the end of the syllabus. This content can include
- Topical Outline
- Instructional Strategies
- Semester Course Schedule with readings and assignments (if you use a separate course schedule with readings and assignments, please submit a copy to the Administrative Assistant with your course syllabus each semester)
Required: Course syllabi will be posted on Course Learning Management System site and available to the students by the first day of class each semester. The syllabus template is available in the SoN Sakai site in the resources folder or by contacting the prelicensure program lead.