Lafayette College’s student syllabus repository, released in March, has continued to see low usage from faculty and students, with less than 10% of courses listed on the site containing syllabi.
The tool — intended to replace student access to course evaluation results — allows students and faculty to access course descriptions, class syllabi, schedules and required class materials of Lafayette courses, but participation is optional for faculty.
“When people are doing registration, the course descriptions don’t usually give you enough information, especially in upper-level classes,” said Rebecca Miller, senior lecturer in the department of chemistry. “You want to know what the expectations are.”
The repository contains 1,216 courses, all sourced from the college catalog, but the vast majority contain no uploaded documents. Only 115 courses include at least one file, according to Sarah Yencha, the project manager of advising and co-curricular programs.
The resource’s March release date came two months before the following fall course registration period, with the Class of 2028 registering for classes on Apr. 15.
Yencha wrote that the repository saw its peak usage on May 27, with 44 students and 24 faculty members accessing the resource that day. She also added that the current median access per day is five students, with only 10 days when no students accessed the resource.
Sahana Balasubramanya, a mathematics professor, is one of the few professors who chose to upload their syllabi. She said having the syllabus out was a good way for students to learn about a class.
“But of course, that only makes sense when the syllabus is also very expansive and gives all the information that a student may need,” she continued.
Before the syllabus repository, students could learn about classes by looking at previous student-created course satisfaction evaluations as a score system, though student access to that information was restricted in 2023 after a faculty-led committee raised concerns of biased evaluations, discrimination and increased competition among faculty members.
In March, faculty involved with restricting student access to the evaluations maintained the necessity of the restriction and its suddenness, despite a yearlong delay in creating the alternative.
Despite the repository’s low usage, Balasubramanya said that the previous student evaluation system deprived faculty of “making a unique bond with an incoming class,” adding that student evaluations can be “extremely subjective.”
Dean of Advising Tim Cox acknowledged the limited use of the repository, but pushed students towards other methods of information gathering.
“Indeed, the syllabus repository can be used as a resource,” Cox wrote in an email. “But the conversations with advisors and faculty members provide greater opportunities to explore potential course material and discuss academic expectations.”
Miller has posted the syllabus for her general chemistry course, but said she believes the resource has not been advertised well, “especially for new students.”
“When you come in as a first-year student and get ready for the first registration period in the spring, you’re hit with a lot of information,” said Miller, noting that the syllabus repository “just gets lost in the shuffle.”
Camille Voo ‘26 said she did not know about the new syllabus repository, adding that she would use Moodle to see her class syllabi once enrolled in a course.
Kira Baker ‘27 said she learned about the repository by “word-of-mouth,” but did not know that it was ready for students to use.
“I don’t think it’s been very well advertised,” she said.
“Students who have questions about courses are always encouraged to reach out to their advisors and/or the course instructor directly to learn more about the course,” Cox wrote.