Step-By-Step Simple Syllabus Guide

1. 1. Select Simple Syllabus from the Course Tools menu on the left in your Canvas course. This will open the Simple Syllabus tool for you to edit your course syllabus.  
   2. If you do not see Simple Syllabus on the Course Navigation menu:  
      1. Select the Settings link at the bottom of the left-hand menu.  
      2. Select the Navigation tab at the top of the page.  You will see a list of the tools currently enabled in your course. Scroll down to locate the Simple Syllabus link and click on the three vertical dots to enable it.  
      3. Once you have enabled Simple Syllabus, continue to scroll to the bottom of the list and select Save.  
      4. Simple Syllabus will now be active in your Canvas course. 

Cross-listed Courses: If your courses are cross-listed, please follow the steps below to access each individual syllabus directly in the Simple Syllabus Dashboard. 

1. 1. Go to fiu.simplesyllabus.com 
   2. Log in with your FIU Username and Password.   
   3. Select the syllabus you wish to edit and click the Edit icon.  

Some syllabus sections will allow you to toggle the visibility and public settings, ensuring that your students have access to the necessary information.  

• • • Visibility Settings: Navigate to the syllabus section you want to modify and use the visibility icon to toggle between visible and hidden. Visible determines whether this section will be displayed on published syllabi. This allows you to control which sections are visible to students. 
    • Public Settings: Ensure that the sections you want syllabus viewers to see are set to “Public.” Toggle to “Private” to only display this section’s content to users who have the granted access such as enrolled students.  

Many sections of the syllabus will save as you go. However, for certain required sections such as Instructor, Student Learning Objectives, and Textbook, you will need to select a Blue Pencil icon to edit them, and then select the Save button to save your changes.  

Note: For modifications to be visible to students, the syllabus must be published after changes are saved.  

To edit a textbook entry, select the Blue Pencil icon. You may see a message indicating that editing will override the details imported from AIP. This is expected. Select “Confirm” to begin editing the textbook. After making your changes, select Save to apply them.

If any textbooks or materials were auto-imported into the syllabus and are not needed, you can hide them by selecting the Hide button while editing the textbook details.

For textbooks that you’ve manually added, a Delete button will be available to remove them entirely.

If no textbooks are required for purchase, please enter “No Textbook Required for Purchase” as the title. For all other required fields, you may enter “N/A” to complete the submission.

Please note that all required fields must be completed in order to fulfill the syllabus section requirements. You will not be able to publish the syllabus until this section is properly filled out.

If you want to add content that is not already in the syllabus, you can create a new syllabus section (component). There are no space restrictions for adding additional syllabus sections, so you can add content to meet your individual course needs.

To add a new section (component), you can do one of the following:

• Select the “Add” button (it has a plus sign) on the top left-hand side menu.
• Use the “Add new component” button by scrolling down to the very bottom of the editing page.

Your new syllabus section will automatically appear at the bottom of the page, but you can move it to any location within the syllabus using the “Reorder” feature.

Tip: If you want the new content to blend seamlessly into an existing section, you can hide the heading of the new component.

This makes it appear as though the content is part of the original section, allowing for a more integrated and cohesive presentation.

Reordering syllabus sections (components) allows you to customize the flow of your syllabus. 

 To reorder your syllabus,  

1. 1. Select the “Reorder” icon found at the left-hand side navigation. 
   2. Drag and drop the syllabus sections in the desired order. 
   3. Select “Save” to keep your changes. 

The Reset Content feature allows you to clear the content of a syllabus section (component) or multiple sections at once. When you reset a section(s), all added content will be removed, and the section(s) will return to its original default state.

Please note that once the reset is confirmed in step two, this action cannot be undone.

The Rich Content Editor of some syllabus sections (components) includes a button to add a custom table.

To add a table to your syllabus,

1. 1. Select the “Insert Table.”
   2. Select the number of rows and columns you need.
   3. Fill in the table cells with your content.
   4. Select the table to access additional table formatting: table header, table footer, remove table, row editing, column editing, table styles, cell formatting, cell background, vertical align, horizonal align, cell style, and table captioning. Insert a table header and caption.

The Rich Content Editor of some syllabus sections (components) includes a button to embed or link images.

To add an image to your syllabus,

1. 1. Select the “Insert Image.”
   2. Choose to upload an image from your computer or enter an image URL.
   3. Adjust the image size and alignment as needed.
   4. Select “Insert” to add the image to your syllabus.

The Rich Content Editor of some syllabus sections (components) includes a button to embed or link videos.

To add a video to your syllabus,

1. 1. Select the “Insert Video.”
   2. Choose to upload a video file from your computer or enter a video URL.
   3. Adjust the video size and alignment as needed.
   4. Select “Insert” to add the video to your syllabus

Special characters can be accessed by selecting the Ω icon in the toolbar when editing syllabus content.

1. 1. In Canvas, access the course that you would like to import the existing syllabus into.  
   2. Select Simple Syllabus from you left-hand course navigation menu.
   3. Once loaded, near the top of the window, you will see “Replace with a different syllabus”.  Use the arrow to access the dropdown menu. From the dropdown list, select the course from which you wish to import.   
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   4. Edit the new syllabus as needed. Make sure to add/update content specifically to the section and modality. 
   5. Publish the syllabus. 

Please note you must have access to both syllabi to complete this action.

Simple Syllabus creates a unique syllabus for each section. Faculty should log in to fiu.simplesyllabus.com to copy and publish syllabi across all sections, including cross-listed ones. While Canvas shows the parent syllabus, copying ensures students see the correct version if they access Simple Syllabus directly.

1. 1. Login to fiu.simplesyllabus.com.  
   2. Complete and publish the first/parent section’s syllabus.  
   3. Select the second/child section that you would like to import a syllabus into. 
   4. Use the pencil icon next to the section you want to edit. 
   5. Select the “Replace with a different syllabus?” question near the top of your Simple Syllabus.   
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   6. Use the arrow to access the dropdown menu. From the dropdown list, select the course from which you wish to import.   
   7. Edit the new syllabus as needed.  
   8. Publish the syllabus. 

Each section (component) in your syllabus includes help text to provide guidance as you make modifications including noting UCC requirements, if a section (component) is optional or proposed sample language.

Note: If you’re using a smaller screen, the help text might not be immediately visible. To view it, select the blue arrow icon to the right of the syllabus section. Once selected, this will expand the help text. 

Your syllabus also includes “Note for Faculty” sections (components). These notes are visible only to instructors and provide additional information or guidance for completing the following section (component). These notes are not visible to students.   

• • Phone: 305-348-2814 
  • Email: etshelp@fiu.edu 
  • In-Person: Green Library 150 at MMC and  AC1 148 at BBC (available Mon-Fri, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm). 

• • Select the Question Mark icon at the bottom left of the Simple Syllabus tool.
    • Allows you to access the Knowledge Base. 
    • Allows you to leave a note for support (available Mon-Fri, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm)
  • Phone: (813) 279-5443 ext. 2