Santa Clara University

Must EVERY faculty member teaching in the new Core submit a new syllabus?

No. Some departments plan to submit group syllabi or templates, that is, syllabi that will be taught, with minor variations, by several faculty members. In these cases, several faculty members in the department will teach the course from a syllabus or template submitted by the department and approved by a Faculty Core Committee. Examples:

• In the Economics Department a single syllabus will be submitted for Econ 1.
• In the English Department, several groups of faculty will be teaching Critical Thinking and Writing 1 and 2 from common (“group”) syllabi.
• In the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, a common template for Core Math courses is under development.

How do I indicate whether I plan to develop an individual syllabus or teach from a template or group syllabus?

Faculty who will be teaching courses in the new Core may:

• Submit a new template, a group syllabus, or an individual syllabus to the Office of Undergraduate Studies and to your department chair, or
• Tell your department chair that you would like to teach from a departmental template, a group syllabus, or an individual syllabus submitted by others.

How and when do I submit an individual syllabus, group syllabus, or syllabus template for the Core?

See the syllabus approval guidelines.

What if my syllabus will remain virtually unchanged from old Core to new Core?

Please submit your syllabus even if your course will not change substantively. Be sure to indicate, either on the syllabus or a cover sheet, how the learning objectives for the Core area will be addressed in course assignments. See the syllabus approval guidelines for more details.

Why must we include learning objectives for the Core area on syllabi?

The primary goal is to help students learn and to help them see the way that individual courses fit into the curriculum as a whole, i.e., to promote an integrated education. Here's the vision:

• We know that student learning improves when professors are clear about goals and expectations. We want to support student learning.
• We want students to understand that their courses are part of a larger vision of knowledge, habits, and engagement characterizing a Santa Clara education.

A secondary goal is reaccreditation. See the WASC questions below.

Where can I find the goals and objectives for each Core area?

You can fin further information by visiting the Learning Objectives website.