Your Course Syllabus

A course syllabus is one of the most important documents you will receive from your instructor, and will play a vital role in the overall success of your course.

What is a Course Syllabus?

A course syllabus is an important document that can be looked upon as a road map of your course -- it contains valuable information that will help you succeed and stay organized throughout the entire term.

In order to fully benefit from the course syllabus, it is important for you to read it, understand it, and keep it handy as you will be continuously referring to it throughout the duration of your course.

Your course syllabus will be distributed by your faculty and can be located in the Course Modules section of your Canvas course. Be sure to review this document before classes begin.

How to read a syllabus?

Below we will breakdown how a course syllabus is structured at NEIT and what information you can expect find in each section:

Course Information:

In this section, you will find important information regarding your course including: Course Title, Credit Hours, and Meeting Days/Times.

Use this information to start building yourself a schedule for success!

Instructor & Contact Information:

In this section, you will be able to find the name of your faculty, their contact information (email, phone number, etc.), and their office hours. Office hours are a time set aside by your faculty to meet with students. You should take advantage of this access to your professor.

Course Description:

In this section, you will gain an understanding of the course topic. It will give you an overall description of what the course will entail and information from the student handbook.

In addition, any course prerequisites will be listed. A prerequisite refers to a certain skill or topic you are required to have mastered prior to enrolling in a course. This is demonstrated by having earned credit in a specific course.

Textbooks & Resources:

In this section, the faculty will indicate what textbooks and materials are required for your course. Textbooks can refer to print or digital books and course materials may refer to different items such as calculators, clickers, computer software, etc. In most cases, textbooks and course materials can be purchased or rented from NEIT's bookstore.

Course Learning Outcomes & Assessment Measures:

In this section, you will find a list of goals and learning objectives that the university expects their students to meet through successful completion of the course. This will outline both the objective and how it will be met.

Evaluation & Grading Criteria:

In this section, the faculty will inform you of the factors that will be considered when determining your final grade for the course. These factors can include assessments, discussions, assignments, special requirements, and participation. Be sure to explore the weight distribution of each category, this tells you how much each category is worth.

Class & College Policies:

Each student is responsible for becoming familiar with all classroom policies, college policies, and online learning policies.

Class policies include topics such as attendance (tardiness), what do to if you miss a class,
College policies outlined in the course syllabus come directly from the NEIT Student Handbook. We encourage you to review the Student Handbook.
Online course policies include topics such as time zone indicator, guidelines for contacting your faculty, computer requirements, use of student email account, student technical support information, digital citizenship and Institutional Resources.

Course Schedule:

Within the course schedule, the faculty will provide students with a list of their assignments, along with the scheduled due dates.

The course schedule will be extremely beneficial in keeping you organized. The course schedule allows you to look ahead and see when assignments are due, when exams will occur, and allow you to plan accordingly in order to balance your work load appropriately. It is always important to remember that the professor could update/change some items on the course schedule, so be sure to stay flexible, take notes, and ask your professor questions when needed.

Some faculty may include a table listing for their course schedule. Explore this section of the syllabus thoroughly and make note of important due dates!

If you have questions about your syllabus, be sure to contact your faculty. They are not only the content experts for the course but they have established the course expectations. Learn more about how to contact your faculty here.