The Montclair Syllabus is a template that ensures instructors provide all the essential information to their students. This template is seamlessly integrated into Canvas and should be used by all instructors.
Montclair Syllabus is supported by a third-party tool, Simple Syllabus, which is managed by ITDS and accessed via Canvas. This tool enhances instructors’ ability to provide a clear, organized syllabus by offering some pre-loaded content, including course information and resources that update as needed. The heart of the syllabus is created by individual faculty, with components suggested by the template and the ability to add additional components. Today’s students are not interested in reading syllabi like an assigned article, top to bottom; rather, they see the syllabus as a reference text, and this tool allows them to navigate the syllabus more efficiently.
The Syllabus template is determined by the University Syllabus Committee, made of the following people:
- Tammy Castro, Bloomfield College
- Elliot Hu-Au, School of Computing
- Gabriel Jung, Management
- Irina Koroleva, Assessment & Accreditation, Provost’s Office
- Dana Levitt, Counseling
- Marylou Naumoff, School of Communication and Media
- Bisola Neil, Educational Leadership
- Sheldon Steiger, Theatre and Dance
- Kate Temoney, Religion, Senate rep
- Pamela Fallivene, ITDS, ex-officio
- Patrick Scioscia, ITDS, ex-officio
- Catherine Keohane, OFE, ex-officio
- Emily Isaacs, OFE, ex-officio
For Spring 2025 courses, the Montclair Syllabus by Simple Syllabus will be the default menu option in Canvas. For more information on the syllabus template that instructors are asked to use in Spring 2025, see Provost communication_Nov. 6, 2024, to allusers.
Crafting Your Syllabus
The syllabus is a tough document to write well as you need to communicate essential rules and policies while also communicating your enthusiasm for your course topic and your values and beliefs about learning. It’s not easy. We spend a lot of time helping faculty write strong syllabi because it’s difficult, and they affect student success.
- See Write Your Syllabus Right
- Use OFE’s Syllabus and Assignment Review service.
- Download your own Pre-Launch Teaching Checklist to make sure you plan well to teach well.
- Browse the Clear Course Design section of the website, the first principle of the Montclair Teaching Principles.
- To work on your syllabus first in a Google Doc template, choose your version below:
Need Help?
- Register for a session with OFE and ITDS: Default Syllabus Template for Spring 2025: What You Need to Know.
- Visit ITDS for
- Want a how-to video? Watch Courtney Crimmins’s short video — and yes, you can do it in about 10 minutes.
- Note: If you “course copy” from a previous semester, be aware that this will overwrite the new template unless you either selectively course copy or enable the Montclair syllabus in the navigation after you perform the course copy.
Last Modified: Thursday, January 30, 2025 4:49 pm
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