Provost Starnes provided an update on the UNC System Regulation on Publication of Academic Calendars, Grading Policies, and Related Materials in his April 2026 Academic Affairs Newsletter:
Syllabus Regulation
The UNC System recently updated a regulation to define a syllabus and establish a requirement to make syllabi publicly available. In partnership with members of Faculty Senate and the Division of IT, the Office of the Provost has been working to establish what implementation will look like for WCU. An FAQ page is being prepared which will help faculty quickly get up to speed on the requirements. This page will go live in the coming days, and further details will be released over the summer. For now, here is an overview.
- There is a template for faculty to use to prepare syllabi that meet the requirements. (See below)
- Additional details that have been part of the syllabus in the past (like access to support services, class policies, etc.) should be shifted to a separate (or multiple) document(s) to be distributed to students through Canvas or other means. These documents can be titled as faculty see fit. Suggestions include class resources, course expectations, additional course information, etc.
- This policy goes into effect for Fall 2026. (Summer 2026 courses are not impacted by the regulation.)
- For Fall 2026 courses, syllabi will need to be uploaded to a publicly accessible repository no later than one week prior to the start of classes (Aug. 10, 2026).
- The mechanism for uploading syllabi is in development, but it will be a simple process through myWCU and look similar to the menus faculty are used to seeing for obtaining class rosters or reporting grades.
You can download the editable word document of the syllabus template (Version: 4.20.2026).