Navigating Ohio’s SB 1 Syllabus Transparency Mandate
Ohio’s Advance Ohio Higher Education Act (Senate Bill 1), now in effect, introduces sweeping reforms across public colleges and universities—including a clear mandate for syllabi transparency. By June 2026, institutions must post course syllabi online with detailed information like instructor qualifications, course calendars, required readings, and contact details. These documents must be easily accessible—within three links, searchable, and available without login—and retained for at least two years.
Failure to comply risks serious consequences, including funding reductions.
Why Syllabi Transparency Matters—and How CourseLeaf SYL Delivers
CourseLeaf SYL offers a robust solution for institutions navigating the new SB 1 mandates. Designed for higher education compliance, SYL centralizes syllabus management and ensures workflows that align with legislative requirements.
Here’s how SYL helps campuses stay ahead:
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Centralized and Standardized Syllabi Management
SYL consolidates syllabi into a single, institution-wide system, eliminating silos and ensuring consistent formatting and availability. -
Automated Public Access
The system supports publicly accessible repositories that meet SB 1's accessibility requirements—searchable, within three links, and no login needed. -
Compliance-Friendly Version Tracking
Automated version control ensures syllabi are retained and updated appropriately, in line with SB 1’s retention policies. -
Faculty-Centric, Compliance Workflows
SYL streamlines syllabus creation and updates within faculty-friendly workflows, aligning content with underlying curriculum management systems like CourseLeaf CIM. SYL enforces required syllabus fields and guides updates. -
Transparency-Driven Tools
With SYL, institutions demonstrate academic accountability and transparency, key SB 1 objectives, through intuitive syllabus publication strategies.
Granular Control of Public vs. Private Content
One of SYL’s most powerful and unique features is its ability to separate mandated public information from non-mandated internal content.
This means required elements (e.g., instructor name, outcomes, textbook list) are published publicly. Optional or sensitive content (e.g., late policies, office hours, grading rubrics) can be kept private, visible only to students, advisors, or internal stakeholders.
This dual-mode publishing capability helps institutions comply confidently while preserving academic integrity and protecting privacy where needed—something generic LMS platforms or static PDF uploads can’t offer.
Summary: Meet SB 1 with Confidence
Ohio’s SB 1 represents a new era of accountability in higher education—one that demands transparent, accessible course information. CourseLeaf SYL is purpose-built to help institutions rise to this challenge:
- Public Accessibility: Comply with legal access requirements effortlessly
- Automated Compliance: Retain and track syllabi without manual oversight
- Faculty Empowerment: Simplify workflow while meeting institutional oversight
- Institutional Confidence: Demonstrate clear commitment to transparency and student access
About CourseLeaf SYL
CourseLeaf SYL is part of CourseLeaf’s broader academic operations platform, integrating syllabus management with software that supports curriculum management, catalog publication, academic scheduling and analytics, and student advising and registration. To explore how SYL can ensure your campus meets Ohio SB 1 requirements seamlessly, schedule a demo today.