next »

[helpinterview]

When asked to submit sample syllabi, how much detail do you provide?  Do you list out the weeks and all the assignments or just give an overview of the course? 

Do you list all the necessary sections on academic honesty and disability services that a university requires? 

What about courses that one has not taught yet?  Do you make a complete hypothetical syllabus? 

Does the SC committee pour over these or just require them so they can see that you have made them before?

Thanks.

[philadelphonic]

I have sent syllabi both for courses that I've taught and for hypotheticals. The format of the latter is based on the former...it includes a paragraph course description, course goals, required texts, list of assignments, and a weekly breakdown of readings (very general, not on the page number detail level). I was told to include at least some sort of breakdown of the readings, just so it was clear I can design a course with a manageable amount of readings (i.e. I'm not thinking we can get through Ulysses in the last 2 weeks of the course). Of course, that's a decent amount of work for a hypothetical. I just chalk it up to spending a few hours fantasizing about awesome books I'd like to teach, or a new way to teach a survey that would be a lot more fun than the way *I* had to take it.

[helpinterview]

Thanks.

I will do a week breakdown even though I usually do not do this when teaching to allow more flexibility.  This is a second round interview stage request for more materials, so I think they will really look over the syllabi.  Therefore I want to get it right.  I have read in other threads to not include superfluous details like plagiarism but am not sure.

[seniorscholar]

Do you list all the necessary sections on academic honesty and disability services that a university requires? 

Even though many universities (including ours) now have an online template including all the mandatory stuff so that we can download it every semester and don't need to create it, those of us who have learned by long experience before the university stepped in that not having these things often makes for major hassles and long-drawn-out struggles with students/parents sometimes wonder, when seeing a candidate's syllabus that has nothing except a list of assignments, if that person actually is prepared to go into a classroom. Don't know if we'd downgrade an applicant for it, but it might be one of several things that leads us to the conclusion that this person is not prepared for a big university with a very diverse student body.

And as a nasty English professor, I personally would be wondering what you're planning to pour over the syllabus, since as a reader I might (or might not) pore over it and worry about the sticky stuff on the paper.

[helpinterview]

Thanks seniorscholar,

If you were not a nasty English professor I would have probably made that mistake forever.  I did not know it was pore not pour.  I guess now I am out of the applicant pool with that one.  Maybe my stellar syllabus will save me from my lack of skills in my own language. :)

Nothing to do but revise, create and send.

[der_gadfly]

I went for an interview, and fully expecting to be asked "And how would you approach the Basketweaving of Local Region?" I took an old syllabus for a similar course (Regional Basketweaving), and changed the description to match the catalog description, adjusted my course objectives and goals, left in all of my fairly bulletproof policies (attendance, late work etc), and laid out the class schedule in 'learning units' rather than in 'weeks'. I made a separate sheet for some possible textbooks, sans specific reading assignments, and when the question came up, gave copies of the documents to the SC so they could review them with me.

Of course, in the limited timeframe of the interview, I simply pointed out my objectives, and a few other sections such as teaching/delivery methods, and the 'plan' for the order of the content. I invited them to review it at their leisure and they seemed quite pleased. The obvious downside is that I do not get the job, and someone there uses my work as a jump-off point, hence, this is why I did not put in specific reading assignments, OR the project description (I may be young and stupid, but I am not a fool).

As for course syllabi templates, I am very much in favor of these, especially when they have all institutional policies in place. For example, some places have a defined A=90+, A-=87-89, etc, or an institutional attendance/drop policy. This helps newbies and adjuncts alike NOT make glaring errors. Usually, when a course is approved by a curriculum committee, it has some initial objectives. These are helpful for newbies and adjuncts alike and do provide some direction for how the course was conceived.

I have also seen some courses that as a result of an assessment committee review, have a specific project that all instructors use. This is especially useful in foundation courses (or those in a sequence e.g. BW101, BW201, BW301) and provides demonstrable evidence to show that the degree program adds 'value' and it is a great way to show student growth over time. Some places like this, others do not, YMMV.

Advice to OP: yes, prepare something that shows that you can plan a semester, and have given some thought to the possibilities.

Good luck!