Online Course Planning & Syllabus

Copy & paste from the UM course catalog, or add a brief paragraph describing the course from your perspective.

Many departments require students to earn a ‘C’ or better on courses that count toward a minor or major. Check your department’s policy for your course.

Name, email, phone, office location, live office hours, virtual office hours.

A standard statement is:

Computer Requirements
While there are no campus-wide requirements, the IT Helpdesk provides general computer recommendations with links to recommendations from specific schools and departments.

You must have consistent access to a professional word processor and a presentation program such as Microsoft Office.  Microsoft Office 365 is available to all faculty, staff, and students at no charge

Internet Access
You must have access to the Internet, preferably high speed Internet, for the duration of this course.

Browsers
Refer to Blackboard’s list of Supported Browsers.

The IT Helpdesk, centrally located in Weir Hall, is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The helpdesk offers assistance to Ole Miss students and employees with technology-related issues involving software, hardware and networking. It provides support for email, Wi-Fi, Microsoft Office and other campus-wide applications. Come by Weir Hall or call us at 662-915-5222. Email helpdesk@olemiss.edu, or visit their website for more information.

List of texts, hardware, and software needed for your class with links or instructions on how to obtain it. When selecting these materials, please be sure they are accessible to all students, particularly those with visual and hearing disabilities.

A statement about your preferred communication method(s) and when you will reply to email or texts or return phone calls. A standard reply is: I will reply to email, texts, and phone calls within 24 hours.

Learning objectives are brief descriptions of specific things students will know or be able to do as a result of completing your class. They should be observable and measurable.

Such policies include participation, student-student communication, late work, missed assignments, time frame for returning graded work, and academic integrity.

A statement about how students should progress through your course.

An example from our training course:

Students are expected to read assigned materials, submit assignments, and participate in discussions. Students should follow the modules sequentially from first to last. The modules and their assignments are intended to emphasize the primary concepts from each section. Expect to spend 4-5 hours per module. Because of the intensive nature of this class, it is essential to allocate adequate time to work on each module. Do not get behind!

If you have at least one proctored assessment, please contact Distance Education Testing Lab (DETL) in the Jackson Avenue Center at (662) 915-1267 or detl@olemiss.edu for latest information on available proctoring services and proctored testing statement to be posted to your online course. Online students are responsible for scheduling appointment(s) for any proctored assessment(s).

Statement taken from SDS:

Disability Access and Inclusion
The University of Mississippi is committed to the creation of inclusive learning environments for all students. If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your full inclusion and participation, or to accurate assessment of your achievement, please contact the course instructor as soon as possible. Barriers may include, but are not necessarily limited to, timed exams and in-class assignments, difficulty with the acquisition of lecture content, inaccessible web content, and the use of non-captioned or non-transcribed video and audio files. If you are registered with SDS, you must log in to your Rebel Access portal at https://sds.olemiss.edu/rebel-access-portal to request approved accommodations. If you are NOT registered with SDS, you must complete the process to become registered. To begin that process, please visit our website at https://sds.olemiss.edu/apply-for-services. SDS will:

1. Complete a comprehensive review to determine your eligibility for accommodations,
2. If approved, disseminate to your instructors a Faculty Notification Letter,
3. Facilitate the removal of barriers, and 
4. Ensure you have equal access to the same opportunities for success that are available to all students.

If you have questions, contact SDS at 662-915-7128 or sds@olemiss.edu. 

Statement taken from policy summary:

This policy sets forth the privileges of and restrictions on students, faculty, staff, and other users with respect to the computing and telecommunications systems offered by the University of Mississippi (UM). This is not limited to desktop/laptop systems, hand-held/mobile computers, lab facilities, centralized servers, classroom technology, the wired and wireless campus networks, cloud-based services, etc. This policy defines and gives examples of various sorts of activities which are detrimental to the welfare of the overall community and which are therefore prohibited. It also describes the process by which violators are identified, investigated, and disciplined. It should be noted that certain legal activities are in violation of this policy and are prohibited with respect to University computing and network systems. This policy is designed to protect the University community from illegal or damaging actions by individuals, either knowingly or unknowingly. Inappropriate use exposes the University to risks, including virus attacks, compromise of network systems and services, legal issues, and possible financial penalties. This policy directly addresses copyright issues related to illegal downloads and peer-to-peer file sharing. IT Appropriate Use Policy

Sample statements:

Materials used in connection with this course may be subject to copyright protection under Title 17 of the United States Code. Under certain Fair Use circumstances specified by law, copies may be made for private study, scholarship, or research. Electronic copies should not be shared with unauthorized users. Violations of copyright laws could subject you to federal and state civil penalties and criminal liability as well as disciplinary action under University policies.

The materials on this course website are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course and may not be retained or further disseminated.

The M Book contains many of the University’s values and standards. Annually, the Office of the Dean of Students and the Office of Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct publish the M Book to assist students with understanding their rights and responsibilities. While the M Book is a compilation of many different policies, it is an abbreviated guide of University policies and not a complete digest of all policies. For a complete listing of policies, please visit the University Policy Directory.

Note to Instructors:

You must verify your online student participation based on some type of participation. The period for instructors to verify attendance will be up to the last day to add a course for that term.

Online participation may include submission of an online assignment or other course related contact with the instructor. (However, simply logging into Blackboard will not count as an academically related activity.)

Please identify what you will use to verify student attendance, and add it to your online syllabus. For verification methods, see Attendance Policy for Online Education.

Note to Instructors:

Federal regulations, our accrediting agency (SACS), and university policies require that safeguards are used to ensure that the student who receives the academic course credit is actually the person doing the work.

Per guidelines outlined in UM Student Privacy Policy, please implement a student identity verification method in addition to individual secure login and password for Blackboard.

How each assignment contributes to a student’s final grade, if you use the +/- system, what the criteria is for final grading, if grades will be a score or a percentage.

Every syllabus should contain a list of all graded assignments and what their point value or weighted value is.

When students should expect you to post grades and what kind of feedback you’ll provide on assignments.

This could be in calendar form, a list, or a simple chart. A course schedule clearly marks due dates for all assignments and scheduled dates for all quizzes, tests, and exams.