Requirements for First-Year Writing Syllabi

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The First-Year Writing Program reviews syllabi for all first-year writing faculty.  Once reviewed, current syllabi are kept on file in the English Department office.  During the first week of classes, veteran faculty should give the English department secretary a paper copy of their syllabi.  New faculty should send (via email or paper mail) a draft copy by August 15th or 3 weeks prior to the beginning of the first semester of teaching.  All syllabi will be reviewed; if there are omissions or concerns, faculty will be contacted.

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.

You should establish:

• Basic information about you: name, office location, email address, 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 in as much advance as possible so that they can post the cancellation on the web site.  
• Basic Blackboard Information
• Required texts.  See textbook selection guide.
• 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: Very briefly over such issues as length and number of essays and other writings, expectations for readings; requirements on revision, peer review, attendance, participation, timeliness, etc. Note, however that much of this information is covered in the first chapter of the Handbook, to which your should refer students explicitly in your syllabus.
Note: Although you want to be clear about your requirements, you do not need to take on a punitive tone.
• Writing expectations.  Refer students to the essay criteria and grade descriptions that are provided on this website and also in the Handbook
• 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 also a point during the semester when MLA material will be reviewed.
• Conferences.  Some faculty choose to cancel classes for one week, 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.  If you choose to have conferences and to also cancel classes, be sure to cancel no more than one week for a full round of conferences. You may cancel two weeks (though not consecutive ones) during the semester.
• Grading Calculation.  You need to make clear how it is that you determine final grades.  Although the vast majority of students accept grades that are given to them, a few do dispute grades and it is therefore in your interest as well as students to have a clearly articulated grading policy.  Your grading calculation is essentially a breakdown of how grades are determined (i.e., 15% journals; 10% attendance and participation; 50% major essays, 25% portfolio).
• Plagiarism:  Although this information is provided in the Handbook, you should briefly underscore the Program's intolerance for plagiarism.

The university's policy, as articulated in the MSU Student Handbook, is as follows:

Plagiarism is defined as using another person’s words as if they were your own, and the unacknowledged incorporation of those words in one’s own work for academic credit.  The following guidelines for written work will assist students in avoiding plagiarism:

a.  General indebtedness for background information and data must be acknowledged by inclusion of a bibliography of all works consulted;
b.  Specific indebtedness for a particular idea, or for a quotation of four or more words from another text, must be acknowledged by footnote or endnote reference to the actual source.  Quotations of four words or more from a text must also be indicated by the use of quotation marks;
1. A project work shall be considered plagiarism if it duplicates in whole or in part, without citation, the work of another person to an extent that is greater than is commonly accepted.  The degree to which imitation without citation is permissible varies from discipline to discipline.  Students must consult their instructors before copying another person’s work.

SANCTIONS: Academic dishonesty is punishable by sanctions up to and including probation, suspension, or expulsion from the University.
       
The best way to avoid problems with plagiarism is to speak with students about it at the beginning of the semester, and by including explicit reference to plagiarism in your syllabus, and by creating original assignments and collecting early drafts of work along with final drafts. 

If you suspect a student of intentional plagiarism (see discussion elsewhere on the website), and would like help in dealing with the student, please contact the director.   In general, I recommend that students fail the course, without discussion, and be referred to the Dean of Students’ Office for disciplinary action.  I suggest that you put this language into your syllabus.  For more information and guidance, see the section on academic dishonesty, located on the web site.


Isaacs, June 2009