Purdue Syllabus Guidelines

Your Purdue syllabus, Simple Syllabus, FAQs for instructors

At Purdue, the syllabus is a foundational resource that connects activities and assessments to course learning outcomes, communicates expectations, and facilitates a student-centered learning environment. Research shows that when syllabi clearly articulate purpose, structure, and rationale, students are more engaged and better able to navigate their learning (Perrault 2026). 

For instructors, the syllabus can serve as a learning tool, course plan, and teaching artifact. It is often the first thing requested by other instructors and advisors eager to learn about a course. These primary documents, especially when considered together, also assist with program planning, curriculum development, and accreditation.

To support all these functions, and meet state and federal requirements, Purdue is implementing Simple Syllabus as the university‑supported syllabus management system. Integrated directly within the Brightspace learning management system, this new tool streamlines syllabus creation and updates while preserving instructor control over course content, structure, and tone. The platform will help reduce duplicated effort related to institutional information and student- versus public-facing viewing. It also offers flexibility in design while providing a built-in accessibility checker.  

This page offers general FAQs about Simple Syllabus. These FAQs will be updated as questions arise and feedback from instructors is shared.

General FAQs on Simple Syllabus use

In response to instructor requests for a single point of access to efficiently and effectively develop syllabi, a competitive bid process was launched to identify and implement a syllabus management tool across all Purdue campuses. Following a comprehensive evaluation process that included instructor input, Simple Syllabus was selected. 

To comply with the Indiana law requiring a public-facing syllabus, Simple Syllabus is the tool that will be used by every instructor at the West Lafayette and Indianapolis locations who is teaching a credit-bearing course in which students are enrolled and that normally includes a student-facing syllabus. Exceptions include non-credit-bearing educational experiences, courses in which no students are enrolled, or certain types of courses such as independent study and research courses that are typically covered through contract and/or individual agreements with students rather than with a syllabus. Simple Syllabus allows you to post a single document for both the public-facing requirements and your student-facing version in Brightspace. 

The Course Insights database, where public-facing versions of syllabi were previously posted by Purdue instructors, will be changed to read-only after implementation of Simple Syllabus, about July 24, 2026. Instructors can post their syllabi in Simple Syllabus and simply indicate which six components are public-facing.  

The required elements of Indiana HEA 1001 will be identified in Simple Syllabus and some components auto-filled such as course information (number, name, CRN), course description and learning outcomes from the university catalog. The other three required elements – learning resources/texts list, types of assignments/assessments, and grading scale – will be added by the instructor and indicated as public-facing. Duplicate versions of a syllabus will no longer need to be made. See Frequently Asked Questions – HEA 1001 for details on these requirements. 

Yes. Simple Syllabus provides instructors with a built-in accessibility checker. 

Additional required internal language is not available at this stage of Simple Syllabus implementation at the university level. Follow your existing internal protocols. Any language required by individual units should be communicated directly to instructors so they can add it to their syllabi.

A multi-stage syllabus approval process is not available at this stage of Simple Syllabus implementation. Follow your existing internal protocols. Any verification or approval processes should be managed internally by individual units. 

The University is conducting a phased implementation with full launch for Fall 2026 courses, when all syllabi will be posted by instructors using the new tool.  

May 2026: Technical integration of Simple Syllabus with Brightspace and development of training materials.   

June 2026: Pilot of Purdue “sandbox” and training.  

July 2026: Refinement of training materials and instructor support resources from the pilot. For West Lafayette and Indianapolis courses, Course Insights will move to read-only on July 24.  

August 2026: Full launch for Fall 2026 courses, with ongoing support available to instructors. 

As outlined in the Summer 2026 Syllabus Guidance and Resources email sent April 14, please follow your existing syllabus development process and be sure to post the public-facing version of your course syllabus into Course Insights within one week of your first class meeting. For your student-facing syllabus, see the Word document, Summer 2026 student-facing syllabus guidance. 

As with all enterprise-supported tools, detailed training materials are being developed specific to Purdue’s use of Simple Syllabus. Training on the tool will be available as drop-in assistance and workshops, including customized sessions for departments. As the tool is configured, information will be added to the  Instructional Technology website. 

This webpage will add information on each component of the Simple Syllabus template as the Purdue “sandbox” is built out for instructors to use in training. Additional FAQs on content and policies will be added as they arise, so please bookmark this page.

Questions about the implementation can be emailed to InnovativeLearningTeam@purdue.edu. 

Feedback and Updates

Instructor feedback is welcome and maybe submitted to innovativelearningteam@purdue.edu.