1. Web Based Syllabus Template Ezra Krumhansl Chief Information Officer

2. Selecting a solution  Faculty and course development staff requested a “user friendly” tool for creating a syllabus  After asking what was wrong with Microsoft Word, a search for potential solutions revealed very few options.  We looked hard at SALSA an open source solution developed at Utah Statehttp://salsa.usu.edu/. The code on github had some limitations and the professor behind SALSA wanted to charge for access to the source code.

3. Selecting a solution cont’d  We really did look at using Word and InfoPath and Sharepoint  With our list of requirements, we determined that we would have to build a syllabus software.  Some of the requirements we were asked to include were: pull course info from ERP, keep revision history, follow accessibility standards, and create archive of syllabi

4. Tools Used  Built on.NET in C# to run on a Windows Server  Bootstrap web design platform (http://getbootstrap.com/)http://getbootstrap.com/  Text editor WYSIHTML http://wysihtml.com/http://wysihtml.com/  Connects to Ellucian using the Ellucian Web API to pull course information

5. Development and Testing  Many faculty participated in the development and testing  Faculty who came to “Collaboratory” – faculty course development center on campus – were used as pilot for developing syllabus  Usually faculty cut and paste information from old syllabus to Syllabus Assistant  A number of changes were requested during testing

6. Make It Feature Rich  After launching the Syllabus Assistant Site, many new features were requested:  Impersonate a user  Share editing with another person  Tabbed Syllabus  PDF Version of Syllabus  Allow users to create templates  Copy syllabus forward to new course

7. Other enhancements  Password protection  Lengthen “time out”, some faculty left edits too long without saving so changes were lost  We added a login prompt if a session timeout to pick up where they left off  There is also a warning about time out when it is approaching

8. Other Considerations  Standardizing syllabi helps part-time faculty who have never created a syllabus  Students appreciate consistency in format  Creating a repository of syllabi will help with departmental and SACSCOC accreditation  Archiving syllabi will help faculty teaching a course for the first time or if a faculty member is replaced at the last minute

9. Login Screen

10. Home Menu

12. Icons

13. Sharing Syllabus

14. Create Template

15. Add Editor or Password Protect

16. Questions?  If you would like source code or have questions Ezra Krumhansl ekrumhansl@spalding.edu 502-873-4545