The following information was previously included in a March 2025 Teaching Resource created by the Teaching and Learning Center.
The syllabus is an essential part of instruction that communicates the objectives, expectations, and structure of a course. This teaching resource provides guidance on creating a syllabus to convey important course information and to establish a respectful, collaborative classroom environment. It will introduce the UCLA Academic Senate syllabus guidelines and suggest specific practices and language you might use in alignment with the syllabus guidelines to support student success and convey your approach to teaching and learning.
UCLA Academic Senate Syllabus Guidelines
The UCLA Academic Senate (2025) has approved guidelines on required syllabi components for all UCLA courses. Beginning in Fall 2025, all courses offered must have a syllabus, including undergraduate tutorials, independent study courses, and graduate research courses. Syllabi must include the following:
- Course title, number, and course description
- Instructor and TA contact information and office hours
- Learning objectives
- Schedule or overview of meetings, topics, readings, and assignments
- Methods of assessment (including final exams and papers)
- Clear explanation of course requirements, how final grade is determined, and weight of each grading component
Additionally, if a course is offered at both undergraduate and graduate levels concurrently, the workload expectations for graduate students must be specified separately from those for undergraduates.
Suggestions for Required Syllabi Components
As you incorporate the Academic Senate requirements into your course syllabi, we encourage you to consider the best practices below to create syllabi that promote inclusivity and support student learning.
Course title, number, and course description
The course title and number must match the listing in the Registrar’s Schedule of Classes. However, you may make the course description more inclusive by using plain language and minimizing jargon whenever possible. This is particularly important if your course title is complex and/or if you are teaching introductory and general education (GE) courses, as students from different disciplines and with varying levels of experience with the content may be enrolling. For example, in your course description, you might explain that your introductory course, Sociology 101: Epistemic Paradigms and Theoretical Underpinnings: Critical Trajectories in 20th-Century Sociological Theory, presents key ideas and theories in 20th-Century sociology. If specialized terms are essential to your course, we encourage you to introduce them to students throughout the term. Consider providing a list of key terms, their definitions, and how they will be used in order to ensure clarity and accessibility.
Instructor and TA contact information and office hours
Student surveys indicate that students often skip instructor office hours because they believe they need specific questions in order to attend. However, research shows a positive correlation between office-hour visits and higher course grades and student outcomes, including academic persistence. To make office hours more approachable, consider renaming them “drop-in hours” to lower the barrier to attendance. Additionally, you might include in your syllabus a list of examples of why students might attend drop-in hours, along with questions they might ask in their conversation with you. These might include learning more about the content covered in lectures, questions about your research, your road to becoming a researcher, or just to say hi. If possible, you may consider holding your drop-in hours directly before or after class, encouraging students to come in groups, offering snacks, or even inviting students for a more informal and relaxed setting, such as walking drop-in hours.
Beyond drop-in hours, you might consider how you encourage students to reach out to you and your instructional team for support and guidance. For example, instructors may reduce students’ hesitation to connect with the instructional team by adding brief bios to the syllabus, and offering tips on best practices for communicating with instructors. In addition, below are three sample statements you might include in your syllabus to encourage students to reach out, especially when they encounter difficulties:
“Your success is important to us, and we encourage you to reach out to me or your TA whenever you need support or guidance—no question is too small.”
“We’re available to help you navigate this course and any challenges you may face. Don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re here to support your learning journey. You can contact me or the instructional team via email, during student drop-in hours, or by scheduling an appointment. We’re here to provide the support you need to excel in this course.”
“Remember, seeking guidance is a normal and important part of the learning process. Don’t hesitate to contact me or the instructional team—we’re here to support you every step of the way.”
Learning objectives
The syllabus serves as a key document for clearly communicating course learning objectives. Learning objectives communicate the knowledge, skills, competencies, and affective gains (e.g., confidence, interest, concern, value, etc.) students are expected to develop in your course. Learning objectives also provide transparency about how students will acquire and apply their learning. This is particularly important for students who are historically underrepresented in higher education and low-income or first-generation students to ensure they have a clear roadmap for success. Effective learning objectives are specific and time-bound, clearly stating the knowledge, skills, competencies, and affective gains students are expected to develop, which are then demonstrated on course assessments. Ensuring that objectives are explicitly stated in the syllabus helps students understand course expectations.
As you craft objectives that, taken together, reflect not only the content, but also the skills and dispositions students may acquire in your course, Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning may serve as a useful guide. Fink identified six domains of “significant learning” that include cognitive, metacognitive, and affective elements. For more information about Fink’s taxonomy and crafting learning objectives, please see the TLC Bulletin: Learning Objectives.
Schedule or overview of meetings, topics, readings, and assignments
As students plan their course schedules, clear information about the amount of reading, frequency of assessments, and major assignments in your course helps them balance their overall workload effectively. Including this information in the syllabus promotes transparency and helps students prioritize their efforts and manage their time more effectively. For example, consider listing weekly readings in order of importance or impact, and even provide the estimated time it might take to read an assignment. You might also consider a brief description of how assigned materials prepare students to demonstrate proficiency on the course assessments, as well as how course materials relate to one another and the course learning objectives.
Methods of assessment (including final exams and papers)
Course assessments are opportunities for students to demonstrate progress towards achievement of your course learning objectives. It is important to note that methods of assessment vary by discipline. For example, an exam or paper might be inadequate when gauging student learning in performance-based disciplines such as art, theatre, or music. We encourage you to identify assessments that best align with your student learning outcomes and the norms of your field. By making the purpose of your chosen assessments transparent in your syllabus, you provide tools for students to monitor their learning progress and gain agency in their learning. To that end, in your syllabus, you might consider briefly discussing how each assessment maps to your learning objectives.
Clear explanation of course requirements, how final grade is determined, and weight of each grading component
Even when communicating course requirements, using warm and non-punitive language in the syllabus may help create a supportive learning environment, help students feel welcomed, and set an inclusive tone for the course. For example, we encourage you to use first- and second-person language (i.e. “I” and “you”) to refer to yourself and students, respectively. This relatively small choice, rather than using third-person language (“students”), helps to situate the syllabus as the foundation of a learning community, rather than as a contract. In other words, through this language, your class shifts from being a space of transaction to a space in which individuals have a shared commitment to learning.
As you design your course, we also encourage you, when possible, to consider incorporating flexible policies around deadlines to recognize and accommodate the diverse and complex realities of students’ lived experiences. Rigid policies prohibiting late work or accommodations, though intended to foster student accountability, often disproportionately harm students juggling responsibilities or hardships, whereas policies such as flexible deadlines can better support learning and success, particularly for those facing significant challenges like homelessness or food insecurity. However, your course policies will undoubtedly be informed by your student learning objectives and by your capacity to accommodate flexible deadlines.
The tone of the syllabus and the presence of statements normalizing help-seeking behavior reduced stigma and positively influenced students’ intentions to seek mental health resources and help as needed. Here are some examples of statements you might use or adapt to signal a range of course policies:
If firmer deadlines are integral to student learning in your course, you might consider including on the syllabus: “I want you to be successful in this course. In order to support your learning and provide you with timely feedback that you may incorporate into future course assignments, all assignments are due by the start of class on the dates listed. I encourage you to visit me in drop-in hours ahead of deadlines to discuss questions you may have about the assignment.”
If you can provide some flexibility around deadlines, you might consider including on the syllabus: “The timely submission of assignments supports your learning. By submitting your assignments on time, you will receive timely feedback that you may incorporate into the next assignment. However, I recognize that occasionally circumstances may arise that prevent you from meeting a deadline. Please contact me to discuss your particular circumstance, and we’ll find a solution that supports your success.”
If you can provide flexible deadlines, you might consider including on the syllabus: “The assignments in this class provide you with opportunities to demonstrate your progress toward the course learning objectives. I also recognize that you have diverse experiences and responsibilities outside of class. If you need accommodations or flexibility around deadlines, I encourage you to contact me so we can work together to ensure your progress.”
For Your Consideration: Syllabus Length
It should be noted that as you add the components described in this resource, your syllabus will likely get longer. You might be concerned that a longer syllabus will be unwieldy for students and they will be less likely to read it or read it in its entirety. However, research suggests that, surprisingly, students actually prefer longer, more detailed syllabi. A comprehensive syllabus—typically around six pages—containing “assignment details, study tips, and campus resource information can positively influence student perceptions of the course and professor,” boost student motivation, and encourage help-seeking behavior. In addition, when course expectations and policies are clearly outlined, students perceive instructors as more competent and approachable. A more thorough syllabus also helps to ensure equitable student access to crucial course information and campus resources, benefiting students who may need additional clarity and support. Therefore, as you consider what content to include in your syllabus, we encourage you to “err on the side of inclusion rather than exclusion.” If syllabus length is a concern, we recommend having a colleague or a TA review it for conciseness, and the TLC is also available to consult with you regarding your syllabus.
More Syllabus Resources
Policy on Course Syllabi: Academic Senate guidance outlining required syllabus components for UCLA courses.
Preparing to Teach: TLC resources, including additional teaching bulletins designed to support instructors as you prepare your classes.
Designing an Inclusive Syllabus: Guide for designing inclusive syllabi from the Center for Educational Innovation and Learning in the Sciences (CEILS).
Suggested Syllabus Statement: Sample statement from the Center for Accessible Education (CAE) directing students to contact them for disability-related academic accommodations.