The UWM Syllabus Template (Word) contains all the required and many recommended statements, follows the Uniform Syllabus Policy (PDF), and passes Word’s Accessibility Checker.

Academic Affairs: See the main page for faculty/staff resources and/or the policy page.

Academic Freedom: Free expression is a core value at UWM. As a public university, UWM must constantly balance the right of free speech on campus with ensuring that we are caring for all members of our community. More information:

• Regent Policy Document 4-21
• SAAP 7-13 Public Expression of Opinion (PDF)
• Office of Legal Affairs Resources: Academic Freedom

Campus Cares: The Campus Cares website includes support and resources for faculty and staff, and information on the UWM culture of care. Campus Cares is a campus wide initiative guided around strategically building and analyzing systems through relationships, collaborations, and connections; identifying gaps and strengths in the work and physical campus; and developing solutions that can help advance towards the Campus Cares Framework and Vision. If you are interested in getting involved or have questions, email Interim Dean of Students Rebecca Freer (bfreer@uwm.edu).

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning: CETL provides pedagogy and instructional technology support services and resources for instructors. Model life-long learning to your students by taking advantage of CETL to improve your teaching.

Course Materials: Increase accessibility of course materials. Providing multiple ways to access class materials and reduce textbook costs lead to improved student success.

Course Reserve: Please consider putting a copy of your textbook and other course materials on Course Reserve. See the UWM Libraries Equipment and Reserve Services for more information.

Dean of Students: The Dean of Students offers consulting, training, and assistance to faculty and staff on student-related issues, including Support U workshops. To consult with the Dean of Students Office, use the incident reporting form or dos@uwm.edu or 414-229-4632.

Trauma Informed Care Toolkit and Workshops: Campus Cares team has developed Trauma-Informed Toolkits. These Toolkits utilize resources from the national higher education community as well as materials developed here at UWM. They will help instructors gain awareness of how trauma can impact students (what to look for) and how to respond. These same lessons can also help faculty and staff interact with their colleagues who may be feeling stress, distress, and perhaps trauma. Request workshops and information.

UWM Police Department: For emergencies or immediate assistance, call 414-229-9911 or 9-911 from a campus phone. Download the Rave Guardian Mobile App to your smartphone to connect directly with UWMPD through texting, confidential tips, location sharing, emergency button, and other campus safety resources.

Consistency across all courses can have a significant, positive effect on student success. When used effectively, Canvas provides a quick and easy pathway for students to find all relevant course materials, such as readings, assignments, and instructor feedback. To this end, instructors teaching face-to-face, online, and blended/hybrid courses should incorporate the following strategies into their course sites. It is particularly important for instructors to consider how regular and substantive interaction is integrated in their online course(s) and to provide multiple ways for students to contact them.

Assign Due Dates in Canvas: All assignments with specific deadlines should be listed in Canvas so that students can easily track upcoming assignments in the course. As much as possible, deadlines should be consistent from week to week.

Interact with Every Student at Least Weekly: Regular and substantive interaction between students and instructors is a hallmark of good teaching and a federal requirement for all courses, including fully online courses. While welcoming students and building classroom community are important, interactions must contribute to students’ progress toward course learning objectives.

Organize Materials Chronologically: This allows students to quickly navigate to a given week or module to find what they need at that moment in the course.

Provide Multiple Ways for Students to Contact You: For example, post video office hours or a phone number, in addition to email and the Canvas inbox.

Publish the Course Site Prior to the Course Start Date: This allows students to orient themselves to the course materials and sites. One week prior is recommended.

Use the Gradebook: Provide timely and accurate grades to students using the gradebook in the LMS so students can determine where they stand at any point.

Use Student-Friendly Naming Conventions: Use this strategy for all documents, assignments, and other course components to help students easily identify the materials and resources they need to be successful. For example:

• Change “HONORS-250-Smith-Spring-22-Syllabus.docx” to “Course Syllabus” or “Syllabus”
• Instead of “Week 8 Video” provide the title of the video
• Include a description, such as “Creating a Game in Tabletopia” rather than listing the full URL

Academic Integrity Policy: Review UWM’s Student Misconduct procedures. Contact the Dean of Students Office (dos@uwm.edu or 414-229-4632) with related concerns or questions. In communicating with students about your expectations, please include information on expected behavior for using and citing the work of others, ideally providing examples that are specific to your discipline. For online courses, please also reference CETL’s guide on Academic Integrity Online.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities and Universal Design: In the pursuit of equal access, and in compliance with federal and state laws, UWM and instructors are required to provide accommodations to students with documented disabilities. The Accessibility Resource Center (ARC) offers faculty and staff support and education for working with students who have disabilities by sharing important resources and links on their Faculty/Staff webpage, including specifics on how and where to submit requests for media captioning.

Note: If a student requests an accommodation and their Accommodation Plan isn’t in your PROFconnect portal, please encourage the student to apply for accommodation services with the Accessibility Resource Center (ARC).

Dean of Students: The Dean of Students Office helps connect students to resources, including emergency grants, food pantry, mental health, and other resources. The Support U website lists support resources available to students.

Coping with Stress and Mental Health Challenges: Most college students who dropped out during the past year cited mental health as their main challenge. Instructors are often a primary point of contact for students. Please be observant about students’ stress levels or personal crises, and compassionately refer students to resources.

• To learn more about how to support students in emotional distress, please visit https://uwm.edu/redfolder/
• Student Health and Wellness Center (414-229-7492)
• Medical Services
• Counseling Services, including:
  • Individual and group counseling
  • “Let’s Talk” –  brief, informal, virtual, confidential consultations with counselors
  • Expanded Counseling Services, such as after hours and teletherapy
• Health Promotion and Advocacy (including You@UWM – a digital resource for students in proactive emotional self-care and connection with campus resources) provides many proactive health promotion programs and services
• Contact Lori Bokowy (labokowy@uwm.edu) about class and department presentations on stress management, self-care, and campus resources.

Hate/Bias Incidents: UWM is committed to creating and supporting a campus climate that is respectful and supportive of all who study, live, or work on campus, or participate in campus activities. UWM students and employees who have been subjected to, or who have witnessed, an incident of bias or hate are encouraged to submit a hate/bias incident report. UWM can provide support or resources to those involved in the incident.

Find more information about hate- or bias-motivated incidents, as well as UWM’s Discriminatory Conduct Policy and other resources, on UWM’s hate/bias webpage.

Sexual Harassment/Sexual Violence:

• Title IX: Familiarize yourself with critical UWM and UWS Title IX related policies, Title IX resources and reporting options, and UWM employee reporting obligations online, or contact the Title IX Office (titleix@uwm.edu, 414-229-7012).
• The SHAW Victim Advocacy Coordinator (victimadvocacy@uwm.edu or 414-229-4582) is a confidential resource for survivors of sexual harassment or violence, will provide support and resources, and does NOT report to Title IX.

SupportU: Supports of all kinds for students, including support by case managers. Workshop information and schedule is available on the SupportU site.

In an emergency, the health and safety of UWM students, employees, and visitors depends on being prepared and knowing what to do.

Campus Safety Page: This page provides up-to-date information on campus health and safety issues and how to register for emergency alerts.

Emergency Preparedness: University Safety and Assurances provides detailed information on preparing for an emergency, a one-page Emergency Preparedness guide (PDF), and training in safety and emergency preparedness.

Quick Tips: The UWM Report provided students and employees with some quick tips for emergencies.