Requirements for First-Year Writing Syllabi

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The First-Year Writing Program director staff reviews syllabi for all first-year writing faculty. Once reviewed, current syllabi are kept on file in the English department office. On the first day that veteran faculty meet their classes, they need to give the English department secretary a paper copy of their syllabi. New faculty should prepare a draft syllabus for the August seminar; final copies will be due the following Monday. All syllabi will be reviewed; if there are omissions or concerns, faculty will be contacted. If you hear nothing, your syllabus is in great shape.
A good syllabus introduces students to the instructor and course, provides practical information and guidance, and ultimately serves as a kind of contract between student and teacher. You are welcome to use, revised or not, any of the syllabi that you find on the main Teaching Writing web site. Below are some guidelines to use to help you in developing your syllabus.

Please note that for several categories, you can and should refer your students to the Prefatory Chapters of MSU's custom edition of the Hacker Handbook rather than duplicating the information on your syllabus.

REQUIREMENTS:

Basic information about you. Include your name, office location, email address, and office hours. Also, please include the English Department web page (english.montclair.edu) and let students know that if your class is canceled they will find this information on the web site. (A mass email via Blackboard also makes sense.) It follows that if you are going to have to miss class, be sure to call the department secretaries as much in advance as possible so that they can post the cancellation on the web site and make a note of the absence for our records.

Required texts. See Textbook selection guide on the teaching writing website.
MSU’s custom edition of Diana Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference is a required text. It may be necessary to remind your students before or on the first day of class that MSU’s custom edition is not available for purchase online and must be purchased from the campus bookstore. Further, students need to be reminded to bring their handbook to class.

Purpose of the course. To develop this section of your syllabus you should look over the description of your course from above, and then adapt into your own language.

Course requirements. Cover such issues as length and number of essays and other writings, expectations for readings; requirements on revision, peer review, attendance, participation, timeliness, etc. Although you want to be clear about your requirements, you do not need to take on a punitive tone. See prefatory material in A Writer’s Reference.

Writing expectations. Using the Essay Criteria as defined on pages MSU 7-8 of A Writer’s Reference, describe what competencies or writing outcomes you expect your students to achieve in this class.  Outcomes or expectations for individual assignments are better found on individual writing assignments.  Please work to use the language of the program (central claim, development, organization, analysis, clarity of prose) so that students receive a consistent message in all the classes and when they visit the Center for Writing Excellence. This criteria can be used in peer review and as a kind of rubric in comments and evaluation, and it can help students gain an understanding what it is that they do well and not.

Reading and writing schedule. While you may make some changes to such a schedule, students need to have a schedule of reading and writing for the semester, all laid out in black and white. Include readings, due dates (including drafts) and assignments, and ideally, topics covered. Be sure to identify the documented essay and a point during the semester when MLA material will be reviewed.

Conferences (optional). Some faculty choose to cancel classes for up-to-two non-consecutive weeks, during which time they meet with each student individually. Typically students are still doing a week's worth of work--perhaps completing a final draft of one essay and bringing a first draft to the conference for discussion.

Accommodations (optional).  Many instructors find it helpful to include a statement similar to the following: "Reasonable accommodations are available for students with a documented disability. 
If you need accommodations to fully participate in this class, please visit the Disability Resource Center (DRC) to receive a letter for me requesting accommodation. All requests must be approved by the DRC (Morehead Hall 305, x5431, https://www.montclair.edu/health/drc/faculty.html)

Grading policy. You need to make your grading policy clear. Although the vast majority of students accept grades that are given to them, a few do dispute grades; it is therefore in your interest (and in your students') to have a clearly articulated grading policy. Your policy should include a breakdown of how grades are determined (i.e., 15% journals; 10% attendance and participation; 55% major essays,20% portfolio).

Plagiarism Policy. Include an explicit statement on plagiarism, both to inform students of MSU's definition and policy and also to warn them off of the practice. The prefatory chapter in MSU's Hacker Handbook clearly defines and explains the university's policy, so rather than repeating this information you might consider pointing to these pages (MSU-9 and MSU-10).

To avoid problems with plagiarism, speak with students about it at the beginning of the semester, include explicit reference to it in your syllabus, and most important, create original assignments and collect early drafts of work along with final drafts. If you suspect a student of plagiarism and would like help in dealing with the student, please contact the director or one of the faculty plagiarism advisors. In general, the director recommends that students fail the course, without discussion, and be referred to the Dean of Students’ Office for disciplinary action.  The Teaching Writing web page contains helpful definitions of accidental and intentional plagiarism, recommended consequences, and procedures.

Updated June 2010