Last Thursday, the Student Government Association signed its first legislation of the year, Senate Resolution-Fall-03-101. This first piece of business calls for the implementation of a new university policy that would require all classes taught at Northeastern to create an online version of the traditional paper syllabus. The author of this legislation has brought this issue forward for several reasons.

As any undergraduate will tell you, the syllabus is your guide for the semester, letting you know when your assignments are due and when your tests and quizzes are approaching. However, if this guide becomes lost — let’s say on a long weekend — you’re in trouble if you’re unsure of next week’s assignment. Having the syllabus available online would solve that problem without a frantic couple of hours tracking down classmates to check the assignment.

Some people have asked where the syllabi will be online. On department Web sites or professors’ personal Web pages? The answer is that I have no idea. The legislation does not call for a strict regulation of this aspect, but rather is careful to point out that Northeastern already has a platform capable of handling this request. Blackboard at Northeastern, while a comprehensive academic tool, can, among other things, house an electronic version of a syllabus for your class. What’s better is that using Blackboard means all you need to access your syllabus is your MyNeu log-in. Still, it will be the prerogative of each instructor to decide where the syllabi will be housed.

As some of you reading are already aware, this is not a new idea. Several professors in many colleges already utilize online syllabi. Rather, this legislation is meant to finish an effort already started. This is just the next logical step in the integration of technology into the classroom.

So there it is, everything you need to know about online syllabi. The next step is the Faculty Senate. SGA is hoping for an affirmative vote out of the Faculty Senate and then the legislation will go on to President Freeland. If he signs off, online syllabi will be up in running to 50 percent implementation by the end of the academic term in question, and 100 percent implementation the next term.

Anyone who is interested in the passage of this legislation should stop by the SGA office in room 332 of the Curry Student Center.

— Peter S. Antonellis is a senior political science major and is VP for Academic Affairs for the Student Government Association.