UNC syllabuses will be available as soon as Jan. 15 — and there are already requests – The Daily Tar Heel

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UNC syllabuses will be available as soon as Jan. 15 — and there are already requests

By Regan Butler, University Editor

The UNC System made it official on Dec. 19: all syllabuses that instructors create at constituent universities are now deemed public records — not instructors’ intellectual property and exclusive copyright. 

Per the regulation, UNC System universities must also create a public online database to house all course syllabuses for a given semester. Institutions must create the databases before the 2026-27 academic year, meaning syllabuses won’t be readily available in this manner until Fall 2026.

But the entire policy goes into effect on Jan. 15, meaning almost any syllabus at System universities will soon become available through a public records request. 

Peter Hans, the UNC System president, issued the regulation. Only the president signs regulations, which do not require approval from the UNC System Board of Governors, according to the system’s policy manual.

The Daily Tar Heel first obtained and reported on a draft of the regulation on Dec. 10 while it was circulating among System faculty for feedback. The day after the story broke and System-wide discourse ensued, Hans published an op-ed in the News & Observer  in which he took a final stance:

“Public university syllabi should be public records, and that will be the official policy of the UNC System,” he wrote.

Leaked draft vs. finalized regulation

The finalized regulation includes a couple of changes from the initial draft obtained by The DTH. For one, it dictates that instructors must post a syllabus to their university’s searchable database no later than one week before the course’s start date. The draft would have allowed for uploads weeks into the session, when registration started for the following semester.

The final regulation also includes a new requirement that syllabuses feature a disclaimer: the inclusion of a required course reading does not equate to a professor’s endorsement of the material. This change came following feedback from the UNC System Faculty Assembly, Chair Wade Maki, who was consulted throughout the regulation’s creation, said.

The disclaimer amendment also comes after faculty expressed concerns about campus safety and the chilling of academic freedom by way of harassment and doxing. In a petition opposing the policy, the North Carolina Conference of the American Association of University Professors argued publishing syllabuses invites “inexpert” and “politically-motivated actors” to target professors and students.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

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