Purdue has launched Simple Syllabus as the university‑supported, system-wide syllabus management system for Fall 2026 courses. 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 helps reduce duplicated effort related to institutional information and student- versus…
Purdue launches Simple Syllabus in Brightspace: FA26 instructors-of-record use it to post public-/student-facing syllabi
Purdue has launched Simple Syllabus as the university‑supported, system-wide syllabus management system for Fall 2026 courses. 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 helps 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.
Each instructor-of-record of a credit-bearing course will develop and publish a Fall 2026 course syllabus using the Simple Syllabus tool. Each participating campus – Purdue Fort Wayne, Purdue Indianapolis and West Lafayette, and Purdue Northwest – has its own syllabus template, designed in collaboration with instructors from that campus.
The template includes required components, some of which are auto populated from Purdue’s systems to provide consistent information across platforms. Some of these required components will meet Indiana State Law HEA 1001, which asserts “A faculty member shall prepare and post on the institution’s website a syllabus for each course the faculty member is teaching.” Other components are required and pre-populated with Purdue policies specific to each campus.
Completing and posting a syllabus using Simple Syllabus in the Brightspace course will automatically provide both public- and student-facing versions. Students and others enrolled in a Brightspace course will see the student-facing version under the Syllabus tab. The public-facing versions of all syllabi posted across the university are viewable by anyone at the Purdue University – Simple Syllabus repository.
The implementation of Simple Syllabus does not affect department processes in the development and/or review of syllabi at Purdue Indianapolis and West Lafayette locations or at Purdue Northwest. Departments and instructors will continue with their own internal processes before each instructor-of-record posts their course syllabus in Simple Syllabus. Purdue Fort Wayne will follow the processes outlined in the updated OAA Memorandum 25-03.
The Fall 2026 launch of Simple Syllabus is the culmination of the phased implementation announced in May. Training, documentation, and campus-based support are available at each participating campus (see details below).
For technical questions, contact Purdue University Information Technology. For questions about the Simple Syllabus implementation on your campus, contact:
The Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE) invites instructors to join Purdue’s teaching and learning reading groups this semester. These reading groups bring together faculty from Indianapolis and West Lafayette in small groups to discuss how recent books about teaching, learning, and the classroom may inform what they do. Our book selection for the Fall 2026 semester is Designing Impactful College Courses:…
Fall 2026 Teaching & Learning reading group to discuss Designing Impactful College Courses
The Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE) invites instructors to join Purdue’s teaching and learning reading groups this semester. These reading groups bring together faculty from Indianapolis and West Lafayette in small groups to discuss how recent books about teaching, learning, and the classroom may inform what they do.
Our book selection for the Fall 2026 semester is Designing Impactful College Courses: Applying Self-Determination Theory to Unleash the Potential of Autonomy-Supportive Learning by CIE’s Emily M. Bonem, Daniel Guberman, and Chantal Levesque-Bristol. The book is available through Purdue Libraries.
Participants will read and discuss the book over four sessions throughout the semester. Sessions will be held both in West Lafayette and virtually through Teams on the second week of each month. Participants can choose their date and location according to their schedules for each week:
Thursdays, 3-4 p.m. Sept. 10, Oct. 8, Nov. 12, and Dec. 10, on the West Lafayette campus
Fridays, 1-2 p.m. Sept. 11, Oct. 9, Nov. 13, and Dec. 11, virtually through Teams
Those who would like to participate during Fall 2026 should fill out an online questionnaire by Friday, Aug.28, providing information about interest and availability.
Those who cannot make it this semester but are interested in faculty reading and learning communities, or who have suggestions for future books/topics, should contact Annika Kraft at arkraft@purdue.edu.
CIE is a member of Innovative Learning, a hub approach to connect Purdue instructors in Indianapolis and West Lafayette, to the resources they need to engage students, develop courses in any instructional modality, and enhance learning across the University. Other members include Libraries and the School of Information Studies and Purdue University Online. To learn more, visit www.purdue.edu/innovativelearning or email InnovativeLearningTeam@purdue.edu.
As part of Purdue University’s system-wide initiative to support instructors as they transition their course materials in alignment with the new digital accessibility standards issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Purdue has implemented YuJa Panorama as the centrally supported digital accessibility remediation…
Panorama Available for Digital Accessibility Remediation Support in Fall 2026 Brightspace
As part of Purdue University’s system-wide initiative to support instructors as they transition their course materials in alignment with the new digital accessibility standardsissued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Purdue has implemented YuJa Panorama as the centrally supported digital accessibility remediation tool in Fall 2026 Brightspace for Purdue West Lafayette and Indianapolis locations, Purdue Northwest, and Purdue Fort Wayne campuses.
Yuja Panorama has remediation capabilities to support instructors with the ability to:
Scan instructional materials within Brightspace to identify potential digital accessibility issues
Provide clear, actionable feedback on common concerns such as document structure, color contrast, and alternative text.
Allow remediation of course content without leaving the Brightspace environment.
The tool was selected after Purdue conducted a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a digital content remediation tool to integrate into Brightspace and assist instructors in identifying and addressing accessibility issues in instructional materials.
For additional information, getting started guides, and FAQs, instructors can visit the Yuja Panorama webpage. For information about upcoming training opportunities, please visit our workshops website. Availability for Panorama outside of Brightspace is coming soon with updates to follow.
For further questions and support at your campus, contact:
For questions about accessibility compliance and resources, please contact the Office for Civil Rights Compliance (OCRC): civilrights@pfw.edu.
For accessibility concerns, please the Office for Civil Rights Compliance (OCRC): accessibility@pfw.edu.
For pedagogical support related to accessible course design and instructional best practices, please contact CELT: celt@pfw.edu.
Purdue Northwest:
For technical support: contact the PNW Customer Service Center at csc@pnw.edu
For support with the digital accessibility of instructional materials: contact the Instructional Accessibility Specialist, Melissa Maldonado at mamaldon@pnw.edu, or the Center for Faculty Excellence atcfe@pnw.edu
The six-week Fall 2026 session of the Certificate of Foundations in College Teaching runs Tues., Sept. 8, through Fri., Oct.16, and is open to all Purdue West Lafayette, Purdue in Indianapolis, and Purdue Polytechnic Statewide faculty, graduate students, postdocs, and staff. Register here. Foundations is offered by the Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE)….
Sign up for FA26 Foundations in College Teaching program, starts Sept. 8
The six-week Fall 2026 session of the Certificate of Foundations in College Teachingruns Tues., Sept. 8, through Fri., Oct.16, and is open to all Purdue West Lafayette, Purdue in Indianapolis, and Purdue Polytechnic Statewide faculty, graduate students, postdocs, and staff. Register here.
Foundations is offered by the Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE). It provides an overview of evidence-based teaching practices and strategies.
The online program is delivered in an asynchronous format, covers central topics in college teaching, and asks participants to reflect on concepts, experiences, and applications at the end of each topic. The program consists of four main modules: Reflecting on Teaching & Learning, Defining and Assessing Student Learning, Creating a Learner-Centered Environment, and Building Upon the Foundations. Participants should plan to devote approximately three hours during each week of the program.
What a typical week will look like:
Engage with content in each unit module.
Share a short reflection in a small discussion group.
Optional: Join facilitators for weekly Coffee Hour Discussions.
Questions about the Certificate of Foundations in College Teaching Program may be emailed to Annika Kraft and Emma Callahan at teachercertificate@purdue.edu.
CIE is a member of Innovative Learning, Purdue’s hub approach to connect Purdue instructors to the resources they need to engage students, develop courses in any instructional modality, and enhance learning across the University. Other members include Libraries and the School of Information Studies and Purdue University Online. To learn more, visit the Innovative Learning website or email InnovativeLearningTeam@purdue.edu.
Following Purdue’s selection of Simple Syllabus as its system‑wide syllabus management tool, the University is conducting a phased implementation with a full launch for Fall 2026 courses, when all syllabi will be posted by instructors using the new tool. The implementation emphasizes instructor input, flexibility, and support as all Purdue campuses transition to a shared platform for creating, managing, and sharing course syllabi. Simple Syllabus will be integrated directly…
Purdue begins phased implementation of Simple Syllabus in Brightspace
Following Purdue’s selection of Simple Syllabus as its system‑wide syllabus management tool, the University is conducting a phased implementation with a full launch for Fall 2026 courses, when all syllabi will be posted by instructors using the new tool. The implementation emphasizes instructor input, flexibility, and support as all Purdue campuses transition to a shared platform for creating, managing, and sharing course syllabi.
Simple Syllabus will be integrated directly within the Brightspace learning management system and is intended to support instructors by streamlining syllabus creation and updates while preserving their 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.
Internal development and/or review processes for syllabi will not be affected by the implementation this summer, which will proceed in stages to allow time for feedback, training, and refinement. (Summer Session instructors in West Lafayette and Indianapolis will continue to post their public-facing versions to Course Insights. All fall 2026 syllabi will be posted via Simple Syllabus).
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 be viewable and editable for Summer 2026 and prior sessions; however, Fall 2026 syllabi must be posted via Simple Syllabus.
August 2026: Full launch for Fall 2026 courses, with ongoing support available to instructors. All public-facing syllabi components required by Indiana HEA 1001 will need to be posted using Simple Syllabus. The same document, but with additional student-facing information provided by the instructor, is shared with students via Brightspace.
Throughout the rollout, Purdue will offer training, documentation, and campus-based support.
For technical questions, contact Purdue University Information Technology. For questions about the Simple Syllabus implementation on your campus, contact:
Following the recent announcement of Purdue’s selected digital accessibility remediation tool, YuJa Panorama, several workshops will be available for all instructors at all Purdue campuses starting May 26. This milestone marks an important step forward in supporting instructors as they work to ensure course materials meet evolving ADA digital accessibility requirements. YuJa Panorama, integrated directly within Brightspace, is designed to…
Accessibility remediation tool Yuja Panorama in Brightspace: join an upcoming workshop
Following the recent announcement of Purdue’s selected digital accessibility remediation tool, YuJa Panorama, several workshops will be available for all instructors at all Purdue campuses starting May 26. This milestone marks an important step forward in supporting instructors as they work to ensure course materials meet evolving ADA digital accessibility requirements.
YuJa Panorama, integrated directly within Brightspace, is designed to help instructors identify and address accessibility issues in course content more efficiently, supporting the creation of accessible learning experiences for all students.
To help get started, all instructors are invited to attend one of several upcoming workshops. These sessions offer a practical introduction to YuJa Panorama, demonstrate how to interpret accessibility reports within the tool, and highlight workflows and strategies for prioritizing and remediating your course content.
Each session will cover the same material, so please select the time that best fits your schedule. The training will be recorded and available on the YuJa support website afterward. If you are not teaching a course this semester, there will be future workshops in the Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 semesters.
Questions about YuJa Panorama may be emailed to innovativelearningteam@purdue.edu.
