Syllabus Changes for Accreditation
In AY 2013-2014 the CoursePlus Syllabus tool was updated to allow faculty to overwrite several fields that had previously been editable only through the JHSPH course system (the system of record for JHSPH course information that serves as the basis for the JHSPH Catalog). The goal was to give faculty more flexibility to make changes in real time but unfortunately confusion about the process resulted in a number of inconsistencies between CoursePlus and the course system.
Reconciling the information is obviously important for ensuring students have the correct information about courses. Further, as part of the School's upcoming CEPH accreditation site visit, reviewers will be evaluating course descriptions and assessments to evaluate how they support SPH degree competencies.
In preparation for this site visit, a number of changes have been made to the CoursePlus syllabus tool. Most important is that it is no longer possible to edit any of the fields linked to the JHSPH course system from CoursePlus. These fields are: Course Description, Course Learning Objectives, Methods of Assessment, Intended Audience, Prerequisites, Required Text(s). Changes to these fields must be made in coordination with your departmental academic coordinator. Additionally, the information shown in these fields in all CoursePlus syllabi is pulled directly from the JHSPH course system. This way, individuals looking at course information see the exact same information in the JHSPH course system, the JHSPH course catalog, and CoursePlus. Departmental academic coordinators have spent hundreds of hours in the past few months ensuring that changes to these fields made in CoursePlus were carried over to the JHSPH course system.
Additionally, a number of smaller changes have been made to the syllabus tool in CoursePlus to ensure consistency of information display across systems at JHSPH. Empty sections of syllabus content and sections with "From Old Syllabus" in the title have also been removed. The new "why take this course" section on the JHSPH course system information form is now also displayed in CoursePlus for courses which provide this information.
If you have questions about the content of the Course Description, Course Learning Objectives, Methods of Assessment, Intended Audience, Prerequisites, or the Required Text(s) fields in your CoursePlus syllabus, please be sure to contact your departmental academic coordinator.