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Simple Syllabus FAQs

Simple Syllabus FAQs

Fall 2025 marks the “soft launch” of Simple Syllabus, which is a Canvas-integrated system designed to (1) pre-populate common syllabus language; (2) guide instructors to incorporate all the required syllabus components, per PS 03A29’s checklist; and (3) publicly post UHD syllabi for the wider world, on the Simple Syllabus website, in compliance with HB 2504. Further, the Simple Syllabus will serve as the comprehensive syllabi archive, thus greatly reducing the administrative burden on academic departments.

The Office of Academic Affairs spelled-out the plan for the “soft launch” in a letter circulated to instructors on July 24. Since then, the TTLC has produced the following Simple Syllabus Guide

All instructors will be required to post their syllabus via Simple Syllabus, starting this forthcoming Winter Mini session.

In addition to the above guides, a short introduction video is available
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FAQs

A: There are two reasons why you would want to use Simple Syllabus: (1) the system will likely save you time, prepopulating much of the required information, such as Course Subject Code, Number, Title, Prerequisites, Meeting Place, Time, Day, etc. and  (2) if you use Simple Syllabus, you will not have to post your syllabus twice. If you don’t use Simple Syllabus, you must publicly post your syllabus using the e-Syllabus system.

A: No, we are following a Soft Lauch protocol for Fall 2025, with it in mind to do a hard launch for the Winter Mini.

A: Yes. You can access Simple Syllabus by clicking on the Canvas navigation item labeled “Simple Syllabus.” You may need to enable it from the Course Settings tab, under “Navigation.” Simply drag the Simple Syllabus item to the top grouping to make it visible in your course. If you are creating a syllabus for the first time, the module should automatically open in edit mode the first time you click on it. UHD will be in an implementation phase during the fall semester, and the tool has been enabled in all of these fall courses.

A: Faculty photos are stored in Watermark Faculty Success and populate to each faculty member's online web profile as well as your syllabus in Simple Syllabus. To update your photo, log into Watermark with your UHD credentials (via AccessUHD). From the Activities Screen, choose "Personal and Contact Information." Scroll to the bottom of the resulting screen and drop your photo file (jpeg or png) into the designated field. Save your changes! Your photo will immediately appear on your faculty web profile AND on all active syllabi in Simple Syllabus.

A: Students in combined sections will only see the syllabus for the specific course for which they are enrolled. Therefore, the instructor must edit all associated syllabuses for a combined course. Instructors will see a list of their courses and can choose to edit the specific course from the list. Once one syllabus is completed, the information can be imported into the syllabus for the other combined section!

A: The TTLC has created this {Link to “Simple Syllabus Guide” PDF Guide}. We also invite you to consult UH’s publicly available Canvas Module on “Simple Syllabus” (note that this open course provides all sorts of topics relating to Canvas, in general).

The Office of Academic Affairs will continue to host office hours, too.

A: The original Simple Syllabus will be passed to the new instructor, via the Canvas course shell. The new instructor will have to reset the syllabus to factory settings, if they want to start fresh. We noticed that the instructor is unable to reset the other instructor(s) who were originally listed. Please call the CTLE to remove the incorrect instructor names.

A: Yes, starting this forthcoming Winter Mini Session, all syllabi must be put into the Simple Syllabus system: it will be the repository of past syllabi and chairs will no longer be required to create and maintain an archive of past syllabi.

A: Yes, in the Simple Syllabus editor there is a “Reorder” option to move components around. If you feel that an existing component doesn’t do justice to the topic, you can also add a new component, make the heading invisible to readers, and nudge it immediately below the existing component, to create the additional language or formatting that you desire

A: All syllabi are public facing and can be accessed at any time. Please do not include any information in your syllabus that may be sensitive as it will be publicly accessible. Use the Canvas homepage or announcement function, for example, as an alternative to Simple Syllabus for sensitive information.

A: The standard syllabus language that you edited, such as the use of technology, might have to be re-edited in subsequent semesters by you: the common syllabus language is fed from the template.

Note, however, that all the other free-text components, including your book orders and assignment descriptions, for example, will be roll-able to subsequent terms and sessions.

A: Yes, a print button is available for the students to print their own copy of the syllabus at any time

A: A reset button is available to wipe individual components to default settings. You can also select all, to revert the entire syllabus to default settings.

A: Yes. Syllabi can be edited at any point during the course by clicking the “Edit Syllabus” button. However, it takes some time for both the Canvas version and the public facing documents to sync.

A: Yes, any type of required material can be listed on the syllabus.

A: No. Since Simple Syllabus is linked to Canvas directly, any assignments that are uploaded to the course will populate automatically within the syllabus.

A: No. This table cannot be made in Simple Syllabus currently but may be added in a future update. However, we are looking to see if this feature might be integrated in the future.

A: Syllabi can be viewed at this link: https://uhd.simplesyllabus.com/en-US/syllabus-library

A: Any title can be manually typed into the book fields, even article bibliographic materials.  If the book has an ISBN, you can type it into the search field and the details should auto-populate. At present, there is nothing flagging an OER title as OER, unless it is in the title or publishing information.

If you have a ton of non-standard readings, you can create a new component, called, “Additional Required Readings,” and paste the bibliographic information into this subsection (component).