Simple Syllabus

is a syllabus-management tool that integrates with Canvas.  Simple Syllabus is a syllabus management tool and repository.  Simple allows automatic population of institutional information such as policies and course information (schedule, description, etc.), easy copying of information across syllabi and semesters, automatic population from the Canvas assignment schedule, and centralized institutional syllabus management/reporting.  Simple Syllabus is only available to Faculty and Students via Canvas.
The Simple Syllabus guides below will require you to login with your UNA credentials.

Faculty Guides

Frequent Questions and Issues

  • Are syllabi in Simple Syllabus visible to the public?
    • No. Only Only faculty and administrative users have access to the Students can only see syllabi for their own courses via Canvas.
  • Can I change the Course Description?
    • The Course Description is pulled from the UNA Catalog. If your course description is inaccurate or outdated, please contact your department chair to ask about updating the Catalog.
    • You can also add an additional syllabus component, such as a "Detailed Course Description" to include information specific to your course
  • My credit hours are not accurate
    • Please contact your departmental admin and ask them to verify the hours are correct on the SSASECT screen in Banner.
  •  I need to merge my sections or I have multiple sections that share the same syllabus content.
    • You will need to complete/copy the syllabus to all child sections of the course in Simple Syllabus for any merged sections in Canvas. You can do this in Canvas or by logging directly into Simple Syllabus.
  •  I want to link to Simple Syllabus from elsewhere in Canvas.
    • When looking at the Simple Syllabus page in your course, you can copy the URL from the address bar of your browser and then add it as a link to pages in Canvas. Links created this way will need to be updated each semester since the course number changes.
  • How do I see if students have viewed the syllabus?
    • At the top of the syllabus is a blue horizontal bar. This indicates that students in the class have viewed the syllabus. Hovering over the blue bar will show the number of students who have viewed it. Clicking on the bar will open a window with a list of students enrolled in the class, the total number of times the student has viewed the syllabus, and the date and time they last viewed it. When a student opens a syllabus, it is considered viewed
  • How long can changes be made to a Syllabus?
    • You can edit the syllabus until the end of the term
  • How can I update the required components?
    • The required components are updated at the University level.  If the required components are updated at the administrative level during the semester, your syllabus will update with those changes.
  • Does the Textbooks link connect to the UNA Bookstore?
    • No. Enabling the "Textbooks" link in your Canvas navigation allows students to connect to the UNA Bookstore.
  • If I copy my course in Canvas, will it overwrite the Syllabus?
    • No.  Simple Syllabus is not affected by copying courses in Canvas.
  • Items in my Course Schedule with the same due date are in alphabetical order.
    • You can manually sort/reorder these.
    • You can also manually refresh the course dates

Administrative User Reporting Guides

  • How do I retrieve all syllabi for my department? 
  • How can I verify the differences between courses such as graduate and undergraduate?
    • Compare the downloaded files from a Syllabus collection Report
    • Search for syllabi in the Syllabus Library
  • Can I pull specific information from a Syllabus?
  • What is the easiest way to give someone access to a syllabus (in the event of an emergency or a concern)?
    • Search the Syllabus Library for the syllabus, then “Print” the save the PDF  or share the link