COURSE OUTLINES FOR GRADUATE COURSES
As soon as possible and in any case no later than two weeks prior to the course’s start, Faculties, Departments, Schools or Programs (hereafter called “Academic Units”) must post on the appropriate Web site a course outline for each course offered. At the start of each course this outline also must be available electronically and/or in hard copy form.
In order to allow students to make informed decisions on their course selection and the scheduling of their studies, each course outline must include the following information or direct students to an appropriate course Web site where these details are available:
1. Course Information
This includes the course name and number, and the location and days and hours that the course is scheduled (including all required components of the class: lectures, seminars, colloquia, labs, etc).
2. Instructor Information
Full name, title and appropriate contact information of the instructor and, if the course is taught by more than one instructor, the name of the person responsible for the course [course coordinator].
3. Course Description
A description of the objectives and content of the course, which shall include a statement of what is expected of the student by way of preparation, tests, exercises, essays, laboratory reports, etc. (hereafter called "assignments"), and any specific requirements for attendance and participation.
4. Course Materials
A description of the materials that are required (or recommended) for the course, including textbooks, supplemental information, notes, manuals, laboratory or safety materials, and any specific electronic devices.
5. Methods of Evaluation
A statement of the methods by which student performance will be evaluated and the weight of each, including an exact timetable and schedule of assignments. When exact dates cannot be supplied, a tentative schedule must be issued with an exact schedule to follow as soon as possible. This regulation does not preclude the administration of surprise assignments and quizzes, as long as the total number, approximate frequency, and value of such assignments are specified in the course outline.
Any course-specific conditions that are required to pass the course must be outlined. For example, conditions might include (i) minimum attendance at lectures or laboratories, (ii) minimum overall grade on laboratory or essay components of the methods of evaluation, or (iii) minimum required grades on a final exam.
Course instructors who wish to change the evaluation procedure shown in the course outline must receive prior approval to do so from the graduate chair of the program concerned.
6. Statement on Academic Offences
The statement: “Scholastic offences are taken seriously and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following website: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_grad.pdf
Additionally,
A) If written work will be assigned in the course and plagiarism-checking software might be used, the following statement to this effect must be included in the course outline:
“All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism-detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between The University of Western Ontario and Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).”
B) If computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams will be given, and software might be used to check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating, the following statement must be added to course outlines:
"Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams may be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.”
Retention of Electronic Version of Course Outlines (Syllabi)
At the same time that course outlines/syllabi are posted on the appropriate Web site, each program must forward an electronic version of items 1-5 of each course outline to the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (SGPS). By the fourth week after the start of term, SGPS will forward all of the collected outlines to Registrarial Services, where they will be maintained in electronic form in the faculty/staff extranet for a minimum of ten years after the completion of the course. (Final retention periods and disposition will be determined by the relevant records retention and disposition schedule approved by the President's Advisory Committee.)
S.2-16
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ACADEMIC INFORMATION 