Dear colleagues,

The GSLIS Curriculum Committee has revised the syllabus template. Please use this template to format your syllabi for the Spring 2026 term and onwards.

The changes include a number of simplifications:

• We have removed the Expanded Course Description section as redundant. Please note that the Course Description in your syllabi should match exactly the description included in the GSLIS Course Catalog. If you believe the course description for your class needs to be revised, please propose a change to the Curriculum Committee.
• Syllabi no longer need to include the GSLIS Student Learning Outcomes, and should instead link to them as shown in the table at Section 2 of the revised template.
• The Assignments, Due Dates, and Grading Plan section has been moved ahead of the Schedule section so that assignments and due dates are more prominent.
• The final sections of the syllabus have been combined and shortened, pointing to policies and resources rather than detailing them.

Many of these changes have been informed by recommendations made to the department by Understood.org after they reviewed our learning materials for neurodiverse accessibility. Understood.org noted that the more our department’s syllabi adhered to a standard format, the more accessibility would be improved, so we encourage all instructors to revise their syllabi in line with the template and implement its format to the extent possible for their classes.

Best,

James

for the GSLIS Curriculum Committee

Dr. James Lowry (he/him)

Professor

Information Studies, Queens College

City University of New York

Ellen Libretto and Adam Conrad Endowed Chair in Information Studies,

Affiliate Faculty, MA in Digital Humanities and MS in Data Analysis and Visualization, CUNY Graduate Center

https://us02web.zoom.us/my/jlowrycuny