The most effective syllabi communicate essential information about the course and instructor, learning objectives, required materials, and assessments, and a link to a course calendar.
Along with essential information, syllabi communicate teacher presence, attitude, and orientation toward students and student learning. Interestingly, whereas many faculty prefer the brief “one-page” syllabus of days gone by, Saville et al. (2010) found that detailed syllabi inspired higher perceptions of instructor effectiveness than did brief syllabi. The Montclair Syllabus template below provides instructors with an outline of the various elements to be included in the document along with tips for crafting the messaging.
Consider the tone of your syllabus as well. Using positive, transparent, and friendly language to convey information and expectations for student behavior also helps students feel welcome and sets the stage for better classroom relationships and engagement. Avoid including long lists of warnings and admonitions that may inadvertently communicate an anti-student, hostile attitude. See Warming up Your Syllabus for strategies.
Montclair Syllabus
The Montclair Syllabus is a template, updated each term, that ensures instructors provide all the essential elements for their students in a consistent way so that students understand the expectations for each course they are taking and can find the information they need more easily. The Montclair Syllabus also contains links to campus resources that are updated regularly so that you can direct students to them without needing to research them yourself–or copy and paste bad links from past terms.
To work on your syllabus in a google doc in advance, use one of these writable google doc templates:
Beginning Spring 2025, Montclair Syllabus as an integrated tool is the default option in Canvas and should be used by all instructors. Visit ITDS’s Montclair Syllabus for implementation support.
Note: If you “course copy” from a previous semester, be aware that this may overwrite the new template unless you either selectively course copy or enable the course syllabus in the navigation after you perform the course copy.
If you’d like more help in planning your course and your syllabus, you may find OFE’s Guided Course Planning template helpful. This template follows a backward design framework to support creating a well-aligned, organized course and syllabus. In addition, we invite you to meet with one of our faculty developers or to use our Syllabus and Assignment Review service for additional discussion and feedback.
Creating A Weekly Schedule Calendar
See Montclair’s academic calendar and OFE’s Teaching FAQs webpage for scheduling details. For details of the scheduled terms upcoming, see the add/drop calendar on the Registrar’s website. For administrative deadlines for students, see Important Dates.
Full Term Calendar (14 weeks)
Beginning Spring 2025, a regular full term “Session A” course is 14 weeks in length. Due to holidays and other irregularities, to reach 14 full weeks for classes regardless of what days classes are held, the calendar runs for 15 calendar weeks — from January 17, 2025 (a Friday running on a Monday schedule) to May 5, 2025 (a Monday running on a Friday schedule).
Half Term (7 weeks) and 4-week Calendars
In addition to regular full terms, the University now also offers 7-week half terms: “Session B” (first half term) and “Session C” (second half term), along with 4-week sessions starting Summer 2025 (Sessions D, E, & F) .
Spring 2025 Dates
- January 17:
- First day of Session A (full term) – Classes meet on a Monday Schedule
- First day of Session B (first half term) – Classes meet on a Monday Schedule
- January 20: Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday (No classes)
- March 7: Last day of Session B (first half term)
- March 8 – 16: Spring Break (No classes)
- March 17: First Day of Session C (second half term)
- April 18 – 20: Easter Holiday (No classes)
- May 5:
- Last Day of Session A (full term) – Classes meet on a Friday Schedule
- Last Day of Session C (second half term) – Classes meet on a Friday Schedule
Weekly Schedule Templates
Self-enroll in OFE’s Sample Course Material Canvas course to find weekly schedule templates to use for your courses. Or contact OFE at faculty@montclair.edu to request a template. Use Rice University’s Generic Syllabus Maker to quickly populate your course schedule dates.
Adapting a previous 15-week or 8-week course to a 14 or 7-week schedule? Visit ITDS’s Shifting Your Course to 14 to 7 weeks webpage for assistance.
Fuentes, M. A., Zelaya, D. G., & Madsen, J. W. (2021). Rethinking the Course Syllabus: Considerations for Promoting Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Teaching of Psychology, 48(1), 69–79.
Gurung, R. A. R., & Galardi, N. R. (2022). Syllabus Tone, More Than Mental Health Statements, Influence Intentions to Seek Help. Teaching of Psychology, 49(3), 218–223. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628321994632
Harnish, R., & Bridges, K. (2011). Effect of syllabus tone: students’ perceptions of instructor and course. Social Psychology of Education, 14(3), 319–330. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-011-9152-4
Harnish, R. J., McElwee, R. O. B., Slattery, J. M., Frantz, S., Haney, M. R., Shore, C. M., & Penley, J. (2011, January 11). Creating the foundation for a warm classroom climate. Association for Psychological Science. Retrieved July 13, 2022, from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/creating-the-foundation-for-a-warm-classroom-climate.
Saville, B. K., Zinn, T. E., Brown, A. R., & Marchuk, K. A. (2010). Syllabus Detail and Students’ Perceptions of Teacher Effectiveness. Teaching of Psychology, 37(3), 186–189.
Last Modified: Thursday, January 2, 2025 4:44 pm
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