Simple but effective change for UTRGV

Film studies sophomore Edward Thomson works on his film class assignment Wednesday, at the Liberal Arts Building South on the Edinburg campus. “My suggestion would be to go into Simple Syllabus, look at those syllabi, you know, from either this semester or the last time that they were taught … because most of the time faculty are teaching the same courses from one year to the next. So, you would be able to have a sense of what the workload was going to be like,” said Jonikka Charlton, senior vice provost for Student Success & Academic Affairs and dean of University College.
Adrian Hernandez/ THE RIDER

The university introduced Simple Syllabus, a new software designed to improve students’ and faculty’s experience with course syllabi in Summer 2026.

Simple Syllabus has already been integrated into Brightspace and features UTRGV’s Simple Syllabus Library, a new way the university provides the public and students access to all of its course syllabi, according to the university website.

Jonikka Charlton, senior vice provost for Student Success & Academic Affairs and dean of University College, said Simple Syllabus is the new platform replacing the university’s previous management tool, which featured various syllabi and broken links complicating the system for students and faculty.

Robert Dearth, interim vice provost for Faculty Affairs, said a few issues with the previous software included slow updates to syllabi and concerns about “finding different versions of [syllabi] in a lot of different places.”

Dearth said there are no changes being made to the syllabus requirements. The reason was to simply provide a more user-friendly system and minimize faculty’s time managing syllabi.

He said although faculty can still utilize previous syllabi, they must now use Simple Syllabus regardless.

Regarding how this compares to previous syllabi, Dearth said Simple Syllabus features one template and automatic adjustments to dates, vastly improving the efficiency when adjusting and interacting with it.

Charlton said the automation of the software is especially useful for students, providing them with the “most up-to-date information.”

She said this maintains compliance with House Bill 2504 issued on Sept. 1, 2009, which mandates higher-education institutions make course syllabi publicly accessible.

Visual Communication design junior Hector Serna Cerda checks for class updates for spring registration Wednesday, at the Visual Arts Building on the Edinburg campus. “I like to check ‘Rate my professor’ while registering for classes, but sometimes there’s only one professor for that one class that I need. I think it’s cool that there’s tools to show the assignments that professors previously have made students do. It gives me an idea of what to expect when I’m enrolled or if there’s another option to go with option B,” Cerda said.
Adrian Hernandez/THE RIDER

Despite their access to the university’s course syllabi regardless of enrollment, students may underutilize this when evaluating potential courses.

Charlton said she encourages students to utilize Simple Syllabus for not just current courses, but future courses as well.

“My suggestion would be to go into Simple Syllabus, look at those syllabi, you know, from either this semester or the last time that they were taught … because most of the time faculty are teaching the same courses from one year to the next,” Charlton said. “So, you would be able to have a sense of what the workload was going to be like. You’re able to plan your full schedule with a deeper understanding beyond just the course description.”

Juan Escamilla, a computer engineering sophomore, despite feeling mixed about Simple Syllabus, said using syllabi to evaluate courses could be extremely beneficial when registering.

Escamilla said he had previously struggled with finding course syllabi, noting improving accessibility outside of the course could be crucial in filling in that gap.

He added when utilizing syllabi, expectations get a lot clearer and minimize instances where students’ expectations for a course are not met.

Thomas De La Cruz, lecturer III in Writing & Language Studies, said Simple Syllabus is a lot easier to use as it automatically adjusts specific dates and he has fully switched over to using it.

De La Cruz said while he is satisfied with and has made a full switch to the new software, he highlighted the fact many of his students don’t look at the syllabus in general, which may lead to unnecessary confusion.

“If you look up my syllabus, you see the assignments, … my … learning outcomes, … my teaching philosophy and [whether] it all aligns with [your preferences,]” he said. “I think … there’s issues when we don’t do that, and … the expectations that you had when going into my classroom [aren’t] met.”

Charlton said the transition to Simple Syllabus may reflect similarities to UTRGV’s transition to Brightspace last year, by also simplifying a system through feedback and, despite not as major a change as Brightspace, can also make a major difference for the university.

Charlton said Simple Syllabus is especially crucial right now given that registration had opened up a few weeks ago.