In May 2025, the University System of Georgia notified USG institutions of a new public syllabus requirement effective as of the 2025-2026 academic year.

Per this new policy, USG requires all institutions to post course syllabi publicly. While this is a new USG requirement, many peer institutions, like UGA, already make their syllabi publicly available. Public access to syllabi helps students make more informed decisions during course registration, better understand course expectations in advance, and identify courses aligned with their academic goals.

Summer and Fall 2026 Courses

By April 13, 2026, every Summer and Fall 2026 course with a CRN — including undergraduate, graduate, and nontraditional courses — must have a syllabus uploaded to the public syllabus site.
The public syllabus website will reopen for submissions on March 17, 2026, using an updated submission format.
The syllabus uploaded to syllabus.gatech.edu must be identical to the syllabus distributed to students in class.

After Submission
Faculty may continue to update their syllabi after submission, as course preparation often evolves.
Any updates must be reflected consistently in both locations (the public-facing syllabus and the version provided to students).

Georgia Tech syllabi must meet both University System of Georgia (USG) requirements and Georgia Tech’s Scholastic Regulations. Faculty retain full academic freedom to design their courses and syllabi, but all syllabi must include the minimumelements listed below. 

The items below indicate whether a requirement comes from USG, Georgia Tech (GT), or both. 

Minimum Required Syllabus Elements 

• Course prefix, number, and name(USG)
• Semester and academic year(USG)
• Course description(USG)
• Course objectives / approved course learning outcomes(USG + GT)
• Required course materials (e.g., textbooks with ISBNs, articles, lab supplies) (USG + GT)
• Grading policy and weighting(USG)
• Attendance policy(USG)
• Additional criteria for successful completion of the course(GT)
• Academic honesty / academic integrity statement (Georgia Tech Honor Code) (USG + GT)
• Statement about acceptable student conduct (StudentFaculty Expectations Agreement) (GT)
• Statement about services offered through the Office of Disability Services(GT)
• Core IMPACTS statement(USG, if applicable) 

These elements reflect the combined requirements of USG policy and Regulation VI.I.1 of the Georgia Tech Scholastic Regulations. 

While faculty may choose to include additional information, the following are not required to appear in the syllabus itself and may instead be shared via Canvas or other instructional tools: 

• Detailed reading lists
• Daily or weekly course schedules
• Assignment instructions or grading rubrics
• Instructor office hours or contact information
• Course policies beyond grading and attendance
• Supplemental or support resources (besides the Office of Disability Services) 

Georgia Tech has updated the syllabus submission process in response to recent guidance from the USG. 

Beginning with Summer and Fall 2026 submissions, instructors will submit syllabi as PDF uploads rather than entering syllabus information into a webform. 

Submission steps 

To submit your syllabus PDF: 

1. Log in to the Syllabus website by clicking the “My Account” button in the upper right corner of the homepage.
2. After you are logged in, you will see a prepopulated list of “Draft syllabi for review” on your My Syllabi page. The courses on your page are those for which you are listed as the “lead instructor” for either Summer 2026 or Fall 2026.  

• If you do not yet have a CRN for an upcoming course or you do not see your course listing in your account, do not worry. We are updating the site listings on a rolling basis, and courses will show up in your account as they are made available in Banner.  
• The syllabus team will contact departments to handle courses that do not yet have instructors assigned to them. 

3. Open a course listing in your account by selecting the “Edit syllabus” button for that course.   
4. Click the “Edit” button at the top of the course page. 
5. Upload a PDF of your syllabus by clicking the “Choose File” button at the top.  

• Please see the section below, “Make Sure Your PDF Is Accessible Before Submitting,” for steps to check PDF accessibility prior to submission. 

6. Change the tab at the bottom of the course page from “Draft” to “Publish” and then save. That’s it! 

That’s it — no separate webform submission is required. 

What is prefilled for you 

Basic course information will be automatically populated from Banner, including: 

• Course prefix
• Course number
• Semester
• Academic year
• Section
• CRN
• Instructor first and last name 

Each CRN will populate once, under the account of the assigned lead instructor. 

No. You are required to submit the required elements of your syllabus for each section being taught. However, if all required components—such as grading and required readings to be purchased—are identical across sections, the same syllabus information may be reused for each submission.

Yes, the required components of your public-facing syllabus must match what is provided in the in-course syllabus you give students. When you prepare your complete syllabus, you must update your submission to reflect these changes.

For example, if you decide to change the required course materials that must be purchased by students after you have submitted, you must then revise your submission to reflect that change.

“Match” means that the publicly posted syllabus and the syllabus you distribute to students must be identical.
Both versions must:
Contain all required syllabus components mandated by the University System of Georgia (USG) and Georgia Tech, and
Include the same content throughout, with no differences between the public version and the version used in class.
You may include additional information beyond the required components—such as detailed schedules, assignment descriptions, course policies, or explanatory notes—but any additional content must appear in both versions of the syllabus. If information appears in one version, it must appear in the other.

To reduce the need to update your syllabus in the system, we recommend posting information that is not a required syllabus item as separate content in Canvas. Using any of the Georgia Tech syllabus templates provided on the syllabus website will help streamline this process and ensure your syllabus meets all requirements while remaining easy to maintain.

You are able to edit your submissions anytime through this website after you've submitted. We ask that faculty please finalize any changes prior to the course add/drop deadline each semester.

1. Visit www.syllabus.gatech.edu and select “Edit my syllabi” button in the gold box.
2. You will be prompted to login via Duo with your Georgia Tech login information.
3. After logging in, you will see a “My Created Syllabi” page that lists any submissions you’ve made.
4. To edit an existing submission, select the “Edit Syllabus” button next to the course listing that you would like to edit.
5. Once you have made any necessary changes to your syllabus, select “Save” at the bottom of the page. *Note: Please make sure that the drop-down option directly above the “Save” button has been changed to “Published” and NOT “Draft” when you click the “Save” button.
6. Your published syllabus will be immediately updated and when you refresh your browser page, the PDF version will also be updated. If you have technical issues with syllabus updates, please send an email to provostsoffice@gatech.edu.

Some academic units prefer to have academic support staff submit syllabi on behalf of instructors. Departments may designate staff to assist with submissions or faculty support, at the discretion of unit leadership. The Office of the Provost will work directly with departments to ensure appropriate access is provided.

If your unit would like to request site access so that an academic support staff member can assist instructors with submissions, please contact Brittany Aiello in Institute Communications (brittany.aiello@gatech.edu).

Important reminders

The syllabus uploaded to syllabus.gatech.edu must be identical to the syllabus distributed to students in class.
Faculty may update syllabi after submission, but any changes must be reflected consistently in both the public-facing version and the in-class version.
Syllabus design is at the discretion of the instructor, provided it includes the minimum required elements outlined in this FAQ.
If you are unsure where to start, the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) provides a syllabus template that includes all minimum required elements.

For courses that do not typically have a syllabus (e.g., thesis or dissertation sections), pre-approved syllabus templates are also available.

Yes. Under the USG public syllabus requirement, Georgia Tech will collect and post syllabi on an ongoing, semester by semester basis.

Starting with Summer and Fall 2026

All courses with a CRN — including undergraduate, graduate, and nontraditional courses — will be required to have a syllabus submitted each semester.
Instructors of record will be prompted to submit or update their syllabi for each applicable term.
Ongoing (steady state) expectation

Instructors will submit a syllabus each semester they teach a course.
If a syllabus is largely unchanged from a prior term, instructors may reuse and upload an updated PDF (e.g., reflecting the new semester, dates, or CRN) rather than creating a new syllabus from scratch.
Any syllabus posted publicly must be identical to the version distributed to students for that term.
Georgia Tech will continue to communicate submission timelines and reminders prior to each semester and will provide tools and resources to make the process as efficient as possible.

A Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) syllabus template that includes all minimum required elements is available on the Instructors page.

For courses that do not typically have a syllabus (e.g., thesis or dissertation sections), preapproved syllabus templates will be available for use when the site reopens for submissions on March 17.

A committee of faculty has developed pre-filled templates for course types:  

1. Research Assistantships
2. Teaching Assistantships
3. Thesis Research
4. Special Problems 
5. GT 1000
6. GT 2000
7. Undergraduate Research 

These pre-filled templates are in process of being updated based on updated USG guidance and will be posted for your use on the site when it goes live for the next round of submissions, on March 17. 

Export to a tagged PDF. This step will preserve your heading structure, lists, and reading order.

Mac:
Open Word.
Go to File → Save As or Export.
Choose PDF as the file format.
Check the box that reads: Best for electronic distribution and accessibility. This option automatically includes document structure tags in the exported PDF.
You may encounter a dialog box that asks you, “Allow online file conversion to open and export to certain types of files?” Select “Allow.”

Windows:
Open Word.
Go to File → Options.
Select Advanced from the left menu.
Scroll down to the General section.
Find the checkbox labeled: Enable accessibility (document structure) tags when saving as PDF.
Make sure this box is checked.

If you have questions about the new requirement or concerns about the specific content of a syllabus or your submission, please contact Senior Vice Provost Larry Jacobs (laurence.jacobs@gatech.edu) or Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Steven Girardot (steven.girardot@gatech.edu).

If you run into technical issues with submission or have other questions, please contact provostsoffice@gatech.edu.

If you have questions about USG policy, please contact Secretary of the Faculty Adam Steinberg (adam.steinberg@gatech.edu).

The Office of the Provost is working closely with faculty governance to implement this policy and has convened a committee to manage the multiphase process. The implementation committee is chaired by Larry Jacobs, Senior Vice Provost for Education and Learning, and includes: 

• Adam Steinberg, Professor in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering and Secretary of the Faculty
• Andy Eichel, Senior Managing Strategy Consultant
• Andy Frazee, Director of the Writing and Communication Program
• Brett Boatright, Director of Institute Creative Strategy
• Brittany Aiello, Faculty Communications Program Manager
• Dawn Baunach, Associate Vice Provost for Faculty
• Jeremy Gray, Senior Associate Registrar
• Joel Sokol, Professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Chair of the Institute Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
• Laura Carruth, Associate Vice Provost for Transformative Teaching and Learning and Executive Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning
• Louise Russo, Assistant Vice President for Strategic Marketing and Communications
• Michelle Rinehart, Vice Provost for Faculty
• Roberta Berry, Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Student Success
• Steven Girardot, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Student Success 

We understand that the implementation of any new academic requirement can pose challenges, and we ask for your patience and continued flexibility as we work in tandem with colleagues across USG to implement this new policy.