Why The University 101 Syllabus is Important

Think of your first day of high school in comparison to your first day of college. All the new people and experiences, all the different rules and expectations; now think of the similarities between the two. The first time you attended a class in either college or high school there must have been some sort of guidelines. Whether those guidelines are in the form of a PowerPoint, syllabus, or even verbally, these guidelines and expectations were and are crucial to your overall understanding and success in the course. For instance, how do you expect to know what your instructor expects from you if you aren’t fully aware of his/her guidelines? The best way to excel in a class is to first figure out how your instructor will run the class. Most of my instructors in the past have given out a syllabus. This syllabus is one of the most important documents in the class.

The syllabus is the root to the entire course; it holds everything together and builds on the foundation of the course. The course in mind is University 101; the syllabus just barely makes it into a category that could be considered a syllabus. With five pages strong the syllabus leisurely slides everything you would need to know about the course into two and a half pages. The other two and a half pages are reserved for the schedule, which after observing, lifts my spirits and reassures myself over succeeding in the course. The schedule is dry and gives the impression of an easy course from its shorter nature. Though a shorter syllabus can be a false sense of security in the sense that a student can expect much less than what he or she can receive. The University 101 syllabus is as general as syllabus can get. It would be slightly difficult to get any sort of a read on the instructor from just reading this syllabus. It gives off the impression that a robot wrote it. Though it is very informing with an almost nonexistent tone that says work hard, but enjoy your college experience. A lot can be said about the instructor on how they compose their syllabus.

The instructor for my University 101 class is a TA, so I never expected a long syllabus. But with a four-page syllabus you may start to question how difficult the actual course is. I mean come on the last two pages are meant to underline the schedule. So that leaves you with two pages that contain the information that is supposed to inform you on the entire course. The actual class itself is no more difficult than your hardest class in high school, which isn’t saying much. Though in these two measly pages she really underlines how exciting the course can be. Using numerous amounts of vibrant punctuation that shows she will enjoy teaching the course.

The instructor for my University 101 course seems very organized and proper on how she conducts her business. When writing the syllabus she made it easy as pie to navigate and understand, she runs a tight ship. The way in which an instructor constructs their syllabus can add or take away respect from the instructor. I have much respect for her for keeping it short and sweet. She starts off by admitting to the small course size and gives a brief outline on what the course is all about. “ This small course is about YOU and KU- understanding not only what a KU education is, but how to earn and find it on the path to timely graduation” (Quote, UNIV 101 Syllabus, Lina Goldenberg). It is made clear that the course introduces students to the university, university resources, and university expectations through the syllabus introduction. The syllabus then outlines the learning outcomes for the course, which are: academic planning and personal wellness planning, academic skill development, information literacy, and experiential learning. The syllabus then goes into the required course presentations, which include the various services that the University of Kansas offers. After this the syllabus underlines the importance to your grade putting 65% of your grade in three research assignments. This emphasis on the importance to your research assignments put some major weight on my shoulders. If anything in the syllabus added a mood or tone it would be the grading portion. Next, the syllabus goes over the attendance policy, which is 100% similar to every other attendance policy I have read in college. Finally, the syllabus goes over the academic misconduct policy. This policy underlines the rules but fails to add a sense of demise that most other policies of this nature enjoy providing. But why should they have to?

From the syllabus, University 101 seems to be an enjoyable and informing course. But why would one take said course? Think back to your first day of high school, the new traditions, rules, and services offered by your high school. I guarantee you that if anyone said they weren’t at a little bit overwhelmed they must be fibbing. So it makes sense that in college the challenges would become more intense. Hopefully most universities would provide a course that introduces you to college life. At The University of Kansas we have University 101, students take this course to become more accustomed with the university and how things operate. Also, the course outlines the different services that are available on campus for students to use. These services can be used to better help KU students and help them graduate in a timely fashion. All these services are outlined and expressed in the syllabus. The University 101 syllabus is a binding document, which also serves as a basis of communication between the course students and instructor. The syllabus could be one of the most important documents in any course. It gives the class more authority and reason. It also outlines all the key do’s and dent’s of the class which helps the course run more smoothly in the end.