Syllabus Design
Overview
For many students, the syllabus is their first encounter with a course. What that document says, and how it says it, can shape a student's earliest sense of whether a course will be one they can succeed in and whether the instructor is someone they can approach with a question.
A well-designed syllabus, then, is doing several things at once: it is a record of your course, useful to you and to colleagues who want to understand how a course has developed over time. It is an agreement between you and your students, setting clear expectations that help prevent misunderstandings later in the term. And, perhaps most importantly, it is a learning tool in its own right. The syllabus is a document students can return to throughout the semester to orient themselves, double check a policy, or see how different components of the course connect to each other (Parkes & Harris, 2002.)
Every Berkeley classroom brings together students with very different paths to that room: first-generation students, transfer students, international students, students with disabilities, parents, veterans, and many others. This page offers guidance for building a syllabus that serves every student who walks through your door.
Before You Begin Drafting
Before drafting or revising a syllabus, it can help to step back and reflect on what kind of document you already tend to write. Researchers who study syllabi describe a few recurring patterns: some syllabi function primarily as a contract, spelling out every possible policy in detail; others emphasize the acceptable student behavior; others focus on communicating course content and structure; and others are written as an invitation to collaborate, treating the course as something instructor and students build together over the term (Fornaciari & Dean, 2014.)
None of these approaches is right or wrong on its own. What matters is that the choice is intentional. Many syllabi settle into a particular pattern gradually, often as new policies are added over time in response to specific situations. Taking a moment to notice your syllabus's current tone, and to consider whether it still reflects the relationship you want to build with students, is a useful starting point for any revision.
How Tone Shapes a Syllabus
How a syllabus communicates its content is just as important as the content itself. Ken Bain describes the strongest syllabi as "promising" documents: rather than emphasizing what will happen to students if they fail to meet expectations, they describe what the course will help students become able to do, and how instructor and students will know that learning is happening (Bain, 2004). This distinction shows up in small, everyday choices. A policy that reads, "Late work will not be accepted," and one that reads, "I ask that work be submitted on time because timely feedback is part of how you'll improve as the course goes on...here's what to do if something comes up," communicate the same expectation, but they invite very different relationships with students. Research on syllabus tone confirms this too: students who read a syllabus written in a warm, approachable voice rate the instructor as more motivated to teach and easier to work with than students who read an otherwise identical syllabus written more formally, and this holds true without any loss of perceived rigor or competence (Harnish & Bridges, 2011; Richmond et al., 2016.)
This doesn't mean every syllabus should sound the same. A course involving lab work or specialized equipment may call for precise, direct language when describing safety procedures; and a seminar built around discussion may call for something more exploratory. What tends to matter most, across disciplines, is that policies are paired with their reasoning. Students usually feel more confident and more willing to engage with a course when they understand why a policy exists, not just what it requires of them.
With tone as a guiding thread, the sections below walk through the elements most syllabi include, along with what research and practice suggest about writing each one in a way that is clear, welcoming, and useful to students.
Core Elements of a Syllabus
Course Learning Objectives
Course-level learning objectives tell students what they will be able to do, understand, or produce by the end of the course. They work best when they are few in number (three to six is a reasonable range) and written from the student's perspective, meaning they describe what students will be able to do rather than simply what will be covered. They should also be built around a concrete action verb and a specific, observable outcome. For example, "By the end of this course, students will be able to create a marketing plan for a non-profit organization focused on a new product launch", names what students will do (create a marketing plan), for what purpose (a non-profit product launch), and gives both instructor and student a clear way to tell whether it happened. (Model borrowed from Duke's Center for Teaching and Learning.) Our Establish Course-level Learning Objectives page offers detailed guidance for drafting objectives that are student-centered, actionable, and measurable.
Also, learning objectives are most useful to students when they aren't confined to the top of the syllabus. Returning to them later, when introducing an assignment or an exam, helps students see the connection between what they're being asked to do and what the course is ultimately working toward.
Course Calendar
The course schedule gives students a real sense of how the semester will unfold, and it can do more than list dates and topics. Organizing weekly content around a guiding question or theme, rather than a chapter number alone, gives students a framework to connect new material to as the term progresses.
When building the schedule, it's worth checking it against the academic calendar as well as major religious holidays that may not appear on that calendar. Including these dates signals to students that their varied backgrounds and commitments have been considered in the design of the course, and it can prevent avoidable conflicts later in the term.
Assessment and Grading
Kevin Gannon describes the assessment section of a syllabus as an opportunity to tell a course's "pedagogical story": what students are learning, how well, and how that learning will be recognized (Gannon, 2018.) A syllabus that explains not only what is being assessed but why each assessment connects to the course's learning objectives tends to reduce confusion and disagreement later in the term, since much of what feels unfair to students is often, on closer look, simply unclear.
This same principle (making the purpose and expectations of an assignment explicit rather than assumed) is at the center of the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework. Developed by Mary-Ann Winkelmes, TILT asks instructors to make three things explicit for every assignment: its purpose (what skill or knowledge it builds, and why that matters beyond the assignment itself), the task (concretely what students need to do, step by step), and the criteria for success (what distinguishes strong work from weak work, often through a rubric or example). In a multi-institution study, students whose assignments were redesigned this way reported greater confidence, a stronger sense of belonging in the course, and better ability to plan their own work — with the largest gains among first-generation, low-income, and historically underserved students, who are more likely to be navigating academic expectations that haven't yet been made explicit to them.
Course Policies
Policies on attendance, late work, collaboration, technology, etc. are often the parts of a syllabus most in need of revisiting, simply because they tend to accumulate gradually over time. A few practices can help keep this section clear and welcoming. Pairing each policy with a brief rationale, for example explaining why regular attendance matters for a discussion-based course, helps students understand a policy as part of the course's design rather than as an arbitrary rule. Also, building in some flexibility lets students know in advance what their options are if something unexpected comes up during the term. And where possible, designing policies with the full range of students in mind from the outset (flexible deadlines, multiple ways to demonstrate learning, accessible formats for materials) means that fewer individual accommodations need to be requested and negotiated after the fact.
On artificial intelligence. A statement about how generative AI tools may or may not be used in a course has now become a standard element of syllabi, and it's entirely appropriate for this policy to vary by discipline, and even by assignment within a course. A policy that names concrete examples of appropriate and inappropriate use tends to serve students better than a blanket statement in either direction. Our guidance on navigating GenAI offers a starting point for thinking through what fits your course.
Instructor and GSI Information
Letting students know how, when, and through what channels they can reach their instructor and GSI can really contribute to how comfortable students feel seeking help. Being explicit about expected response times, and about the purpose of office hours, is especially valuable for students who haven't yet had the chance to learn these academic norms. Many first-generation and international students, in particular, benefit from a clear invitation.
Resources to Support Student Success
Alongside describing how you and your teaching team will support students, the syllabus is a natural place to point students toward broader campus resources — academic support like the Student Learning Center, Disabled Students’ Program, and the library, and wellbeing resources like Counseling and Psychological Services and Basic Needs support. Presenting these as resources available to any student, rather than services reserved for students already in difficulty, helps normalize their use and signals that supporting student success is a shared value of the course. UC Berkeley's Academic Accommodations Hub and Supportal are useful starting points, and the Student Learning Center supports academic needs across disciplines.
Designing for Accessibility from the Start
The elements above describe what a syllabus says; accessibility is about how that content reaches students in the first place. Building accessibility into a syllabus from the beginning, rather than addressing it only when a specific need arises, tends to result in a document that works better for everyone.
A few practices make a meaningful difference:
- Using built-in heading styles, rather than bolded and enlarged text, allows screen readers to navigate the document as intended.
- Offering the syllabus in more than one format gives students the flexibility to use whichever works best for them, including through UC Berkeley's Ally tool, which allows students to download course materials as PDF, HTML, EPUB, or audio.
- Adding alt text to images and charts, and structuring any tables so they remain legible to assistive technology, extends this same care to every part of the document.
For further guidance on accessibility best practices, please refer to our Accessibility in Teaching & Learning hub.
Statement Language You Can Adapt
On accommodations and flexibility
If you need to request flexibility or an accommodation (for a disability, a hardship, a scheduling conflict, or another circumstance) please reach out as soon as it's practical for you. The Academic Accommodations Hub has information about your rights and options, and Supportal can help connect you to the right campus resource.
Note: Berkeley's Instructor Guide to DSP Accommodations offers additional language options for presenting your accommodation policy accurately and setting clear expectations and procedures for students.
On disability services
If a physical, learning, or psychological disability may affect your work in this course, I encourage you to register with UC Berkeley's Disabled Students' Program (DSP) and to let your instructor and GSI know, through course email, what accommodations would be helpful once you have a Letter of Accommodation on file. Course materials are also available in multiple formats through the Ally tool, so you can access readings as PDF, HTML, EPUB, or audio, whichever suits how you learn best. Watch Ally Alternative Formats Tutorial for Students at UC Berkeley to familiarize yourself with this tool.
On community and diverse perspectives
Consistent with UC Berkeley's Principles of Community, we are each responsible for creating a learning environment where diverse perspectives, shaped by race and ethnicity, culture, gender identity and sexual orientation, political and social views, religious and spiritual beliefs, learning and physical abilities, language, age, and more, are recognized and valued as a source of strength. We welcome your perspective as an individual, and we ask that you extend that same respect to everyone else in this course. Your suggestions for how we can build this kind of environment together are always welcome.
On wellness
Do your best to take care of yourself throughout the semester. Eating well, staying active, getting enough rest, and taking time to recharge, all support your ability to do your best work in this course and beyond it. Support Resources lists campus resources for emotional, physical, and basic-needs support, the Student Learning Center offers academic support, and Berkeley's Office of Emergency Management provides guidance on emergency preparedness
On academic integrity
As a member of Berkeley's academic community, you're joining a tradition built on the balance between the free exchange of ideas and respect for the intellectual work of others. Please cite your sources carefully, and complete your own work unless an assignment specifically states otherwise. If you're ever uncertain whether something — a collaboration, a citation, the use of an AI tool — is appropriate for a given assignment, we encourage you to ask before submitting rather than after. You can read more about Berkeley's Honor Code and consult the Library's guidance on avoiding plagiarism
On collaboration
Discussing course material and studying together are things we encourage. However, for assignments submitted for a grade, we ask that your work reflect your own independent effort unless an assignment specifically calls for group work, in which case that will be made clear.
Syllabus Template
Download or print a template to guide your thinking as you design a syllabus from scratch or revise an existing one. Download a version to edit [doc].
References
Bain, K. (2004). What the Best College Teachers Do. Harvard University Press.
CAST. (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines (Version 3.0). https://udlguidelines.cast.org
Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning. (2021). Designing an Inclusive Syllabus. https://ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/resources/designing-inclusive-syllabus/
Duke Center for Teaching and Learning. Writing Effective Course Learning Objectives. https://ctl.duke.edu/creating-a-learner-centered-syllabus/writing-effective-course-learning-objectives/
Fornaciari, C. J., & Dean, K. L. (2014). The 21st-century syllabus: From pedagogy to andragogy. Journal of Management Education, 38(5), 701–723.
Gannon, K. (2018). How to Create a Syllabus: Advice Guide. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Georgia Tech Center for Teaching and Learning. Developing Your Syllabus. https://ctl.gatech.edu/syllabus/
Germano, W., & Nicholls, K. (2020). Syllabus: The Remarkable, Unremarkable Document. Princeton University Press.
Grunert O'Brien, J., Millis, B. J., & Cohen, M. W. (2008). The Course Syllabus: A Learning-Centered Approach. Jossey-Bass.
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.
Harnish, R. J., & Bridges, K. R. (2011). Effect of syllabus tone: Students' perceptions of instructor and course. Social Psychology of Education, 14(3), 319–330.
Helmer, K. (2021). Six principles of an inclusive syllabus design. In R. Kumar & B. Refaei (Eds.), Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education: Strategies for Teaching. University of Cincinnati Press.
Pacansky-Brock, M. (2021). Liquid Syllabus. https://brocansky.com/humanizing/liquidsyllabus
Parkes, J., & Harris, M. B. (2002). The purposes of a syllabus. College Teaching, 50(2), 55–61.
Richmond, A. S., Slattery, J. M., Mitchell, N., Morgan, R. K., & Becknell, J. (2016). Can a learner-centered syllabus change students' perceptions of student–professor rapport and master teacher behaviors? Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 2(3), 159–168.
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, 186–189.
Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning. CTL Syllabus Template. https://ctl.stanford.edu/faculty-lecturers/course-curriculum/syllabus
Taylor, S. D., Veri, M. J., Eliason, M., Hermoso, J. C. R., Bolter, N. D., & Van Olphen, J. E. (2019). The social justice syllabus design tool: A first step in doing social justice pedagogy. Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity, 5(2), 132–166.
UMass Amherst Center for Teaching & Learning. Inclusive Syllabus Design.https://www.umass.edu/ctl/resources/inclusive-syllabus-design