Edit Your Simple Syllabus Document

The College for Creative Studies utilizes a third-party tool called Simple Syllabus that integrates with our Canvas LMS (Learning Management System). Simple Syllabus contains all the elements you need to create your course syllabus that your students can view within your Canvas course. Faculty update their Simple Syllabus document, and then it is approved by the Chair/Program Manager of the associated department.

To access your Simple Syllabus document within your Canvas course, in Course Navigation, click the Simple Syllabus link. (The location of this link may vary from course to course depending on how you’ve organized your course navigation.)

A partial screenshot from the Canvas Learning Management System, showing the global navigation menu on the left and a course navigation menu on the right. The global navigation displays "Account," "Dashboard," and "Courses." The course navigation menu lists items like "Home," "Simple Syllabus," "Modules," and "Assignments." A thick, dark purple arrow points directly to the "Simple Syllabus" link, indicating its location.

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Simple Syllabus Not Visible in Course Navigation?

If the Simple Syllabus link is not visible in your Canvas course, use the following Guides to enable it within your course:

Configuring Course Navigation

Generally speaking, upon viewing your Simple Syllabus document for the first time before/during the semester, your Simple Syllabus document will automatically copy from a previous semester course into your own current semester course…as long as you have access to the previous course and the current course in Canvas/Simple Syllabus. However, if this does not happen, please reach out to the ET+I team at CCS to get assistance.

When editing your Simple Syllabus document, some components will already be filled in for you and will not be editable while other components will be editable. Information in gray boxes above each component provide further instruction with some having a 🚨 red siren icon to indicate those items need your attention. Some components may be required while other components are optional.  Required components will have a Required label shown in the bottom left-hand corner similar to:

A screenshot of the "Instructor Information" section in the Simple Syllabus interface. An instruction banner at the top specifies adding office location, hours, and an optional Calendly link. The section itself contains a partially redacted email, an orange warning that "Faculty Office Hours and Days is required," and an "Add new instructor" link. A prominent purple arrow points to the word "Required" in the bottom-left corner of the section, indicating that this component of the syllabus is mandatory.

Some components, such as the Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs), have data that is automatically brought in from other College systems. However, you can still use the text area below those components to add in your own information. In this example, a separate text box has been provided below Course Learning Outcomes to add additional CLOs that are specific to the course section.  Help text with a 🚨 red siren icon displays above the text box.

A screenshot from the Simple Syllabus interface, displaying a "Course Learning Outcomes" section. A bulleted list of five learning outcomes is visible at the top. Below this, a purple information banner states: "Use this area to add in any additional Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) that are specific to this section of the course." A rich text editor with various formatting options follows, including bold, italic, underline, font size, alignment, and list tools. A dark purple arrow points to the text entry field at the bottom, which contains the placeholder "Type something" within a purple outlined box.

Once you have made edits to your Simple Syllabus document, submit the changes for approval from your Chair/Program Manager.