Student Association and UB officials hope to have a program in place by August that would post course syllabi online and allow students to better plan for classes.
SA President Anthony Burgio, who made the syllabi program a goal of his last fall, has been working with Michael Ryan, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, to promote the idea around campus.
If implemented, course syllabi would be available months before the start of the semester, allowing students to prepare early for classes and judge what they are getting into.
Burgio and Ryan outlined their proposal at a Faculty Senate meeting last Wednesday and fielded faculty questions. Many of the faculty's concerns focused around getting the syllabi online early enough to benefit the students.
"The spirit behind this project is to allow students to look at the syllabi in advance of registering, to give them all the information necessary to make an informed decision," Ryan said. "We're hoping to have high compliance for the faculty. We really think it's a good idea for the campus."
According to Burgio, many students have responded positively to the idea.
Alex Caven, a sophomore psychology and philosophy major, said he's among those who find the plan to be a good idea.
"It would definitely be helpful because you'd be able to learn what to expect of courses in terms of structure as well as workload," Caven said. "It would also help with course selection and, if you're motivated, preparing in advance for the next semester and individual classes."
Maria Fox, a senior English major, said the plan's strength is that it would allow students to see what a course entails before they enter the classroom.
"I don't know how many times I've shown up for the first day of a class and it's not at all what I signed up for," Fox said.
While proponents point out how the system would help students, some questioned whether it would also present problems for teachers.
"I think that it would be good for students, because they can see what a course will be like and how much outside time will be spent on work for that class," said Jeana Miller, a senior business administration major. "It's definitely a good idea for electives, because you don't want to end up taking an elective that requires a lot of work. The system could be hard for professors, though, if they want to change the course material."
While faculty members at the meeting were generally receptive to the idea, its concept has raised some concerns.
"If I post a syllabus in April saying I'll be teaching a certain text book, by August I could be pulled out of that course to teach something else," said Samuel Schack, chair of the mathematics department. "Does that professor then have to use my course material?"
History professor Roger Des Forges said he almost never plans his syllabus early enough to have it posted online.
"From year to year, we want to update our courses with the best possible material and information," Des Forges said. "My syllabus really doesn't gel and become final until late summer."
According to Ryan and Burgio, no one would be forced or required to use the new system, and all professors would reserve the right to change their plans for the good of the class.
"I think if we include a disclaimer saying things are subject to change, students will understand," Burgio said. "The idea is to provide students with as much information as can reasonably be provided."
Exactly when that information will be available has still not been determined. Finding a place online for the syllabi has proven to be a more difficult task than expected, according to Ryan.
"We originally thought we could do it very simply through MyUB, but it turns out there are a lot of issues preventing that - primarily space and security," Ryan said.
The most viable option at this point, he added, is to make the syllabi available through the little-used course registry. That plan is still in the works.
"There's a real possibility the program will be up by August, but there's no guarantee," Burgio said. "There are a lot of factors involved - faculty participation, technology, developing policy. Realistically, I think we can expect syllabi to be up for sure by next spring."
Burgio added he hopes to secure faculty participation by giving professors the freedom to choose what information they make available.
"My recommendation would be to create a template syllabus with maybe 10 areas - like grading policy, material requirements, exam schedule-- and giving the professors the option to fill out one or 10, whatever they feel is appropriate," Burgio said. "That way there's a certain degree of uniformity with the syllabi, and they'll be easy to read and accessible to students.
The participation of faculty members will be vital in getting the program off the ground, but ultimately student participation will be the key.
"It's the responsibility of the faculty to explore ways to help students as much as possible," Burgio said. "But in turn, it's the degree to which students utilize the syllabi that will determine how successful this program is."
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
